Getting pregnant while breastfeeding

aisy-daisy · August 2016

My daughter is just under 6.5 months and as I'm 31 years old, my husband and I would like to get pregnant again right away (we'd like to have 3 kids by the time I'm around 35....yikes!). I know I'm not in my first trimester, but this topic did not seem appropriate for the "Trying to get Pregnant" board as I am looking for experience and suggestions. My daughter is breastfeeding, just starting solids now. I pump once in the evening and give her a bottle of EBM. I have not had a period yet. Did any moms purposefully get pregnant this soon while EBF? Did you have to wean? Cut one feed? My goal is to get pregnant but to also continue BF my first during pregnancy and postpartum. Thanks!!

emilyalso · August 2016

I don't know that I have many answers for you, but I'm in the same boat! I was a C-section and LO is 9 months old. My OBGYN said to PLEASE wait at least 6 mos (preferably 12) to try again. My period came back at 4 mos pp, and we've been trying since 6 mos. No luck yet, but I'm definitely ready!

I have a friend who had 3 in under 3 years and was breastfeeding probably the whole time. The only specific thing I remember her saying was that with one of her pregnancies, her 5 month old immediately weaned himself. She said her milk tasted different to him, so after that she would pump and cut it with formula to get him to drink it.

Good luck!

Caressa1 · August 2016

Got my period back 3 month PP. BF my 7 month old and I'm 6 weeks pregnant. I haven't had to wean yet. I'm hoping DD will continue to nurse as long as possible but I've read that they usually wean by 20 weeks because of a drop in supply + taste change

goldie987 · August 2016

Everyone is different, some people manage to keep their milk supply while pregnant, some don't. Some people get their period back while EBF at 3 or 4 months pp, some don't get it back for 12-18 months even after their kid is on solids. There's no way to really know how your individual body will respond until you try to get pregnant again.

clairemwalker · August 2016

OP - i dont know if you got your answer yet or not, but this is my experience and limited knowledge. Disclaimer i am not a doctor. My LO slept through the night at 7 weeks, and my period came back at 8 weeks. All research i did suggested that the sudden 12 hour gap in BF forced my cycle back into action, which is my many morthers report their cycles come back around 6m pp, as that is the average age that babies start to sttn. So maybe you could try cutting night feeds, maybe use bottle instead, and see if your cycle comes back, while maintaining bfeeding during the day. Exceptions do happen, but it is reasonable to assume that you may have trouble getting pregnant until your cycle has resumed.

delujm0 · August 2016

My periods came back at 6 months PP. we were NTNP for 7 months and just started actively trying again this month. While I was still breastfeeding or pumping throughout the day (I didn't do anything between 7pm and 5am), my LPs were short, which would have made it difficult to get pregnant. Every time I dropped a pump session they got longer. My cycles were pretty irregular and still aren't what they were before I had DD. I used to ovulate day 19 or 20 and now it is any time from day 20 to 26, and i even had an anovulatory 21 day cycle at one point when i had a bout of mastitis. I don't pump anymore and only nurse her in the evening...once on each side. I hope she will wean herself whether I'm pregnant or not, but she's 14 months now and eats more than enough solids and cow's milk, so anytime she wants to would be fine.

Many women can and do get pregnant while breastfeeding, but many also have trouble. You need to start ovulating again first...maybe drop an evening feed or pump to get things going. DD started STTN at 3 months but I was waking up MOTN to pump to get a stash going. About 5 weeks after I stopped doing that my period showed up.

hbombano · August 2016

Iv always got period back approx 7/8 months and been pregnant at approx the 11/12 month mark. I usually feed though to about 5 months preg and just down to a morning night feed by then too. Good luck. I pregnant with baby number 7 and my eldest is 11. So feed during most pregnancies.

SpencerSimental · September 2016

@Caressa1 did you have any breast tenderness While BF and newly pregnant?

MrsN092714 · September 2016

I got my periods back at 8m PP. I wanted to get pregnant again soon and by 6m PP I was anxious to have my period back. After my first period I had 2 more, each 16 days apart (anovulatory) and got pregnant my first real cycle after that. I found out 2 days after my son turned 10 months old. They will be almost exactly a year and a half apart.
I didn't wean him any more than he weaned himself. As he got older and started moving he had less intrest in the boob during the day. I just followed his lead and was happy (as a person can be) when ol Aunty Flo made her return. I knew I didn't want to sacrifice my breastfeeding relationship with my son to conceive and it ended up working for me. I hope it does for you as well! Choose what's most important to you. There is no shame is doing some supplementing... if ebf is most important then ride it out. Your body will know when it's ready, it's to busy supporting the one you've got right now!

LinziLoo09 · September 2016

I didn't get periods my whole time breastfeeding. I weaned DD at 14 months, ovulated 3 weeks later, and had a positive test a few weeks after. It's different for everyone. I've heard that some women may ovulate during BF without having periods or vice versa. BF is different for every body. It's very difficult to plan a pregnancy around it because you don't know what your body is going to do.

blackasnight · September 2016

Everyone is different but it is possible to get pregnant while still breastfeeding. I got pregnant while breastfeeding. My son was 13 months and just started sleeping through the night when I got my first PP period. I was tracking my basal temp and I did ovulated a week late. I'm currently 8 weeks pregnant.

momomsess · September 2016

I have read if your baby is eating solids, STTN, and or is not fed on demand to consider yourself fertile. Now how long it will be till ovulation resumes, I am not sure. I became pregnant with my second while nursing my first. She was 14 months at the time though, and nursing two times a day (nap and bedtime). I did not have a period so I was unsure on dates when it came down to my pregnancy. Early US helped pin it down though. Good luck!!!! I hope you catch that egg quickly;)

iamcaro · September 2016

I was in your position at the start of this year, waiting for my PP period to arrive after my daughter was more than 12 months old. It finally did, and it took 3-4 months for my cycle to slowly normalize. We started trying again this month (daughter is 16 months) and got pregnant right away! I didn't try to wean her at all, she still nurses 3-4 times a day. Like others have said, it really varies from person to person. I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to conceive without weaning, but mostly the BFing affected my cycles, making them irregular and difficult to determine when I ovulated. But once your body IS ovulating again, then it's possible!

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