AP & Fertility

jonesygrrl

I'm a lurker of several boards, but hope you ladies don't mind my posting a question here. My daughter is 17 months old.  She still nurses about 4-5 times between 8pm and 630am, but not at all during the day. She starts off in a toddler bed, but we bedshare for most of the night.  I needed Provera to kickstart my body for DD (I didn't get a cycle from it, but I conceived about 3 weeks later), and I still haven't gotten a cycle since she was born.  My doctor prescribed Provera again a couple of months ago, but it didn't cause a cycle.  She said to come back when I have weaned DD entirely, but I feel very guilty weaning DD completely just to TTC. I would very much like to get pregnant again, but it seems like AP -- nursing, babywearing, bedsharing -- delays fertility (according to Dr Google). Have any of you gone through this?  Any ways to boost fertility that don't include weaning or changing my relationship with DD?  Did you have to wean completely to conceive again?  Thanks for any feedback, answers, or really just anecdotes.  I don't have any friends who nursed past a year and none who bedshare, so I find there are very few people I can chat with about this...

BabyButler2010

I wish that I had some good advice, but my cycle returned to normal after ds was only 7 months old and we were still nursing around the clock on demand at that time.  If you haven't checked out Kellymom.com, I recommend it- there is info regarding fertility while breastfeeding that you might find helpful.

 Keep your head up momma!  You may have to cut out a couple nursing sessions to get your AF back....but then again, I'm certainly no expert.  All I can say is don't rush weaning if you don't feel that you or your LO are ready for it yet...I took my time with my DS and I'm happy that I did b/c it would have been extremely emotional otherwise.

 

Hugs!  I hope that you can find some good advice on kellymom.com 

jonesygrrl

Thanks BabyButler--most of the sites suggest night weaning (the idea of which DD does not seem too fond of), so I am hoping it doesn't come to that!  Congrats on your BFP! Wishing you a wonderful 9 months. :-)

nosoup4u

I never got a period while my kids were night nursing, so went about two years without one with each kid. Some people's bodies are just more sensitive to the hormones.

I would try cutting back to just one session at night, bc that would still be one per 24 hour cycle.

blu-eyedwife

I got my period back when I stopped pumping at work after a year, but I know in the strictest sense, working isn't necessarily AP.

I promise I'm not trying to talk you out of TTC, if all goes as planned, I'd like to be TTC before 24 months, but I think there is a reason that AP delays fertility.

AP follows most closely with primitive/natural breastfeeding (I'm searching for words here, so I hope you understand what I mean by that!).  In other words, biologically, for the survival of species back before we had bottles/formula/etc. babies were breastfed until they naturally weaned.  And during that time period, a woman's body sent hormones/signals to delay fertility.  Giving her time to raise the child and replenish her body's nutrient stores for the next child.  Children naturally wean if left to their own devices (and obviously not in all cases) between 2 and 3, which is probably how long it takes the body to gear up for the next one.

Pretty much nobody follows that anymore (obviously I didn't), so the hormones/signals don't delay fertility as long.  However, if you're practicing AP more strictly, you are more closely following the ways of those earlier days and potentially having a longer anovulatory period.

Twizzle

This probably isn't what you want to hear but I do think night nursing and bed sharing affected my fertility. I didn't get AF back until my first son was 18 months old. I started charting an I was having very short luteal phases, like 6 to 9 days. I also had a long follicular phase so my cycles were like 34 days, about a week longer than normal. About 3 months after weaning my cycles seemed normal again but I was still not able to conceive. I finally did and then miscarried. I ended up doing acupuncture to get my hormones back in line.

I think my case is a little extreme but I do think that night nursing and bed sharing lower your fertility. I have a friend with similar parenting style that also had a harder time conceiving her second child.

jonesygrrl

Thanks everyone for your input.  While I would like to TTC, it's not so much what I want to hear or don't want to hear -- it's more just wanting to hear from other people in the same position.  I read so much that says, "you don't have to wean to conceive," but since I don't know of anyone in this position IRL, I wanted to hear from others (particularly those who BF past a year and co-sleep) if, in fact, they did need to wean to conceive. It's hard to balance DD's needs right now along with what I think she will still need in 9 months and my own life timeline and such.  I really appreciate the feedback.  Twizzle, I am very sorry for your loss and appreciate you sharing your story, esp as we approach the 18 month mark ourselves.