Any hope of getting pregnant while breastfeeding?

[HappyWife90]

So I understand the science/hormone stuff. It makes sense. But I LOVE that I am breastfeeding so successfully and don't want to cut it short. Ideally, I can breastfeed until at least 9 months. But I want to try for 2nd baby earlier than that and surprisingly my DH is ready for #2 as well! Would love to hear your experiences!

 

[Tui]

Hi. My son is 10 months old, still breastfeeding and I am 5w4d pregnant. My midwife said its perfectly fine to continue and many women tandem feed after new baby is born. Personally I intend to stop at 1 year though.

As soon as your periods come back you can conceive, or sometimes just before, lol. Mine came back at 5 months pp despite breastfeeding, but everyone is different. How old is your baby?

 

[jessmke]

I got my period back at 5.5 months postpartum and I was exclusively breastfeeding. We got pregnant with baby #2 on our first month trying when my daughter was 9 months old (we only waited that long because we were getting married and I wanted to have a drink at my wedding!) and I am now 7 weeks along. I am still breastfeeding my daughter and will continue for as long as she wants to, and I am open to tandem feed both babies if that's what ends up happening.

 

[justplay91]

OH and I had an oopsie and got pregnant when my breastfed daughter was about 7 months old. So yes, it can and does happen! Do you have your cycles back yet? Mine came back when I was still exclusively breastfeeding my daughter round the clock.... At like 2.5 months pp.

My daughter and I made it breastfeeding until she was 9 months old. And then sadly my supply dried up completely, as it often does with another pregnancy. I'm still sad and disappointed that we didn't make it all the way to a year, but it is what it is. I just hope that I can breastfed this next baby for at least 12 months, if not longer.

 

[noon_child]

Breastfeeding is only reliable contraception till 6months post partum, and even then has to be no pacifiers, no pumping etc. Of course some people can't conceive while breastfeeding, but many do - even on their first fertile cycle (i.e they haven't seen a period yet!). Maybe when you are ready you could start trying and see what happens (because it can take a few months to a year to conceive with no breastfeeding anyway, so that could be normal) and then a few months down the line revisit how you feel about breastfeeding vs conceiving quickly. Of course there is no guarantee that stopping breastfeeding will allow you to conceive more quickly so I guess it is a question of weighing up what is most important to you.

 

[love.peace]

Everyone is different with when there cycles return. After DD1 I went on the mini pill and came off when she was around 8 months and fell pregnant first cycle while still BF'ing. I continued to BF until she was 1 (3 months pregnant) After DS2 we didn't go back on contraception with the hope to conceive baby#4. I had my first pp af at 14 months and conceived the first cycle after. I continued to bf my son throughout the pregnancy and am now tandem feeding DS2 and DD2. No sign of ppaf yet but hope it returns soon or to catch the first egg. Good luck. It can totally happen x

 

[Twinmum87]

Honestly, it can be very easy or impossible. We are all so different. I have known ladies who have not gotten cycles back until months after stopping feeding, not even gotten them back when baby reduced feeding as they got older. I got mine back at 6 weeks despite fully breast feeding and I do get signs of ovulation.

Edit to add: I have not been on any form of contraception at all so that wasn't a cause for me to get cycles back so early.

 

[thexfadingpat]

Breastfeeding my 8 month old and I'm about 5 weeks pregnant. I got my period back at 5 months pp

 

[Snoopee]

I am 13 weeks pregnant with #3 and still breastfeeding my DS who is 13 months old. My periods hadn't returned yet so we were surprised, to say the least, but also very happy. Proof that it can happen x

 

[HappyWife90]

Thank you ladies. I am only 2 months pp. No period yet. However, DH and I dtd last week for the first time without any contraception and then a few days later I had a few days of cramping. Not saying I'm pregnant but something is definitely going on down there! Hopefully my fertility will be back sooner than later. From all of your responses, it sounds like 6 months is the average time for fertility to come back so I will use that as a benchmark reference. Happy to hear that it can happen even earlier though Thanks!

 

[Reiko_ctu]

I'm in this boat! My almost 1 year old nurses so much at nighttime that even though I'm back at work a few days I still don't have my cycles back yet. We were hoping to have 22-24 months in between but that hope is starting to fade! I guess it makes sense. With how little sleep I'm getting my body would be in trouble if I were to get pregnant.