TTC/Pregnancy while Breastfeeding and Tandem Nursing: Information and Support

[swampmaiden]

My lo is nearly 10 months old, and my so & I had planned to wait till she was a year old before ttc#2. However, I still haven't gotten my period yet! I want to bf as long as lo wants, but I also don't want to wait forever for af to return, as I'm already almost 35.

How many of you were able to conceive while still bf?

 

[BunnyN]

I got my period back at 8.5 months with #1 and got pregnant again after 3 periods despite the fact DD was a very frequent feeder day and night (but she did eat a lot of solids too).

I got my period back 7 months after DS. I started him on solids a little earlier at 5 months he ate a lot right away and quickly began to drop a lot of milk feeds in favor of solids. Unfortunately we lost that baby at 10 weeks so are back to TTC again.

While BFing my cycles are longer than normal, not very regular and I have a short LP but it doesnt seem to have stopped me from getting pregnant. I've read lots of posts and info about BFing and TTC. A few women dont seem to get pregnat at all while breastfeeding. A few get pregnant even before their first period. Most common seems to be after 3 or 4 cycles. When cycles comes back varies a lot. They say 14 months is average.

 

[swampmaiden]

Thanks, if I get pg around 14 months or so pp, I'll be happy! I think once dd turns a year, we'll just stop using bc and let mother nature take her course.. Just hope it doesn't take forever!

 

[BunnyN]

I hope it works out for you. I am similar to you with not waiting too long because of age. I'm 36 now and we still hope to have one more. If af doesnt return on its own there are a few tricks that work for some to jump start cycles without having to stop BFing altogether, like night weaning or making one gap between feeds much bigger. They say sudden changes work best. Stopping feeds for just 24hrs works for some. Or a high calorie diet for a couple of weeks.

Most women have a dramatic reduction in supply by mid pregnancy. DD dry nursed a lot to start with, which made my toes curl, but we did make it through the whole pregnancy, though she reduced feeds a lot by the end. She only fed a few times after ds was born and then decided she didnt want to anymore.

 

[BellaRosa8302]

:wave: Hi Swamp! My husband and I wanted to have 3 year age gaps between our children. My DD is still nursing at 2.5 years old, and I was able to conceive our first month trying, which was at the end of June in 2015. I got my period back at 6 months PP, and it was fairly regular straight from the beginning.

Bunny gave you some great advice about how every woman is different though.

Good luck to you!!! I'm here and happy to answer any other questions you may have

 

[newlywedtzh]

I had a very frequent "boobie monster" never took a paci etc so I thought I would never get af! She finally showed up at 15 mos pp which is around average. Af will come!

Question for u ladies

My first cycle pp was actually pretty mild and only lasted 5 days. My periods have always lasted on the longer side. Like 6 or 7 days of bleeding followed by a few days of spotting. I am currently experiencing my second period (30 day cycle - most regular I've ever had!) BUT i was still bleeding (not heavy but bright red blood) yesterday at cycle day 9! And spotting today at cycle day 10! Do u think it's just my hormones regulating out? Google said lots of scary things about peri menopause I am 29. Thoughts? I had 3 losses before my DD so the fear of problems is creeping back in...

 

[BunnyN]

My 1st PP period after DD was pretty light, my 2nd was heavy and longer than normal, my 3rd was normal and I got pregnant on my next cycle.

 

[mowat]

Just wondering if anyone can offer any advice. Currently nursing 9 month old twins 6 times a day and I'm hoping to go for quite awhile longer. I've been tandem nursing them since about 4 months and it has worked quite well even though DD nurses for way less time than DS. Now that she's on the move it has become a bit of a problem as I nurse them on my bed and I'm constantly worried she's going to fall off. In addition my geriatric cat likes to hang around when I'm nursing and I'm afraid DD is going to get badly scratched. My only thoughts were to try and stop nursing DS while I transfer DD to the floor and then try and continue nursing (I can't imagine he'll be too happy about that), or sit on the floor and nurse from the start (doesn't sound particularly comfortable). Anyone have any experience or ideas?

 

[BellaRosa8302]

Just wondering if anyone can offer any advice. Currently nursing 9 month old twins 6 times a day and I'm hoping to go for quite awhile longer. I've been tandem nursing them since about 4 months and it has worked quite well even though DD nurses for way less time than DS. Now that she's on the move it has become a bit of a problem as I nurse them on my bed and I'm constantly worried she's going to fall off. In addition my geriatric cat likes to hang around when I'm nursing and I'm afraid DD is going to get badly scratched. My only thoughts were to try and stop nursing DS while I transfer DD to the floor and then try and continue nursing (I can't imagine he'll be too happy about that), or sit on the floor and nurse from the start (doesn't sound particularly comfortable). Anyone have any experience or ideas?

Can you sit on the couch instead of the bed? Then maybe you can show DD how to turn around and lower her legs down to the floor, and support lowering her with one arm, while you continue feeding DS? Just an idea...

 

[mowat]

Thanks for the response. They're not walking or standing yet, but I might be able to help her lower herself. My pillow is so large I don't know if I can fit it on the couch, but it's worth a shot.

 

[BunnyN]

I often nurse sitting on a fold out matress on the floor that we have in the living room, might that work?

 

[mowat]

Thanks! Yes, I guess I need to accept that they're not little babies anymore and I can't just plop them on the double pillow forever! Need to google and find some new possibilities.

 

[kissingtoast]

Hi girls, my LO is 4 1/2 months old and I'd like to start TTC but my periods haven't returned. Ideally I'd like to keep BF throughout my next pregnancy. Any tips about catching while BF, BF during pregnancy etc gratefully received! Thankyou x

 

[BellaRosa8302]

Thanks for the response. They're not walking or standing yet, but I might be able to help her lower herself. My pillow is so large I don't know if I can fit it on the couch, but it's worth a shot.

Didn't think they'd be walking, but maybe pulling up/standing while holding onto something? If not, you can still probably lower her to the ground so she's in a sitting position?

Did the pillow work on the couch?

 

[newlywedtzh]

Bummed. Was hoping to have normal periods but Second cycle pp while bfing seems to be exactly opposite of that. 10 days of bleeding and now cd 20 and no sign of ovulation. (Dry cm n no pod opk). From what I've read if af returns while bf later (like after 12 mos post partum they are usually fertile cycles. Maybe just my body getting back on track ?

Mowat so happy to see you are still nursing!! And Twins! That's awesome!

 

[BellaRosa8302]

Sorry kissingtoast & newlywed.... I got my period back pretty regularly at 6 months pp, and didn't start TTC until after my DD turned 2 (even though she was still breastfeeding). Just didn't want to ignore your questions - I just don't think I can help

AFM... been having a hard time... I'm fairly certain that DD has officially weaned. It was hard to tell, because she has gone up to a week without nursing. It was kind of weird though, because she went from nursing morning and night to doing this thing where she'd put her mouth around me, but not actually latch (morning and night). Then she'd make this weird face and get upset, and finally move her mouth off of me. She kept saying things to indicate she doesn't want to hurt me ( I think she finally figured out that initial latch on is painful in pregnancy). After about 5 days of doing that, and me trying everything to get her to nurse (because I felt like it was MY fault/my discomfort that she wasn't, and I want her to self-wean on HER terms) she finally latched and nursed for about 30 minutes when she was really upset - she was sick & sad. She hasn't nursed since that one time, which was January 14. I've offered, but she keeps saying "No na-nas" and has even run in the other direction around the time we used to nurse before bed. I've cried a few times over it, but she did make it to 32 months, which is a lot longer than our original goal of 12 months! And, she did wean on her own terms. I feel a bit better about that since she did have that one 30 minute session... and I can say that I remember it well, I took a picture and everything. Then again, who knows... maybe she'll want to try again when DS is born. But, in the end, I'm okay with this. Thanks for letting me share

 

[mowat]

No, my guys aren't standing yet Bella, they're a little behind---we have giant heads in our family so my babies don't do anything early. Using the bed has been going better all of a sudden so I haven't changed anything. I did lower DD off the bed and it worked alright. DS is suffering really badly with teeth coming in so I'm having to nurse him separately some days anyway.

Well done for making it to 32 months! I would love to make it that long---I can't imagine being done. I will definitely cry.... a lot! So nice that you got a photo!

Sorry Kissingtoast, no experience. Still no AF here.

 

[chocolala]

I haven't posted on this forum for ages!

Anyway, I hope someone can help.

We're trying for baby number3, I'm still feeding me 2.5 yr old, only about 3 or 4 times in 24 hrs. We're in the second month of trying now. So, not long.

Now, ive always had lp issues, length ok, but a good few days of spotting and temps dropping. For first and second babies agnus castus and b complex sorted this out.

So, last year I started taking them again as I was getting quite fierce pms and a very short lp. Those issues were sorted, lp lengthened, though was less than 10 days, I think.

Last month we start trying, I get a small red bleed at 5dpo, followed by brown spotting and cramping and an 8 day lp! I put it down to running out of agnus castus.

Exactly the same happened this month, though I started cramping 4 dpo, then the single bleed at 5 dpo, still brown spotting, but possibly less than last month. Wtf is happening?!

I'm 8 dpo now, and spotting has increased, pretty sure I'm going to start any time.

I can't go on temps, as I've only started taking th3m the last few days. Not sure how reliable they will be with a still waking toddler.

Any ideas?!

 

[BunnyN]

I never had spotting but bfing made my lp only 6/7 days and I still got pregnant twice so it can happen.

 

[sharnw]

I'd like to join this thread X