TTC and breastfeeding?

I guess if theres no way of being able to track your cycle, you should just BD as often as you want and hope for the best? I know its not impossible to not get pregnant just because your AF hasn't returned so maybe you could try opks and see what happens?

What if you started taking your temp or using OPKs every few days or something to track if you are ovulating?

Linzy wrote: For me I had to completely stop bfing

Same for me. Stopped BFing DS when he was 13 months, pregnant by the time he was 14 months. But I've heard of lots of people getting pregnant while still BFing.

Good luck! I'm another one who had to stop BFing completely before I ovulated, although we weren't TTC yet when DD weaned (at 13months). I got pregnant when she was 18months.

But I do know of a few people who got pregnant while still BFing so it can be done

You can get pregnant when breastfeeding. You may be able to get UTD just before the return of AF when you ovulate again. But if not getting AF then you won't be ovulating. You can still chart and watch your CM that way you may be able to spot when that first ovulation occurs.

For the record. I didn't get AF back til 22 months after the birth of DS1. Only returned once I had completely weaned. And then I got UTD the first cycle after my first AF.

I got my AF back the day before DD was 11 months. I was on the minipill and still BF a lot! It took 6 weeks before I had another one, at which point I came off the pill - and conceived exactly 14 days later! I'm still BF DD, although since my milk has changed with pg, it's mostly only morning and night now. I did night wean her at the same time I came off the pill, but was feeding probably 4-5 times per day still.

I'm pretty sure that the inhibitory effect of lactation is to stop you cycling, but once you are cycling again, you are as fertile as the next person.

And you can definitely get pregnant before you get AF, because AF is preceded by an ovulation and if you conceive to that ovulation, then you don't get that first AF that was coming. One of the ladies in my coffee group is in that boat.

If it were me, I'd just give it a go. I figure the delay in getting AF back was my body's way of saying that DD still needeed me exclusively for now, so I was happy to be that for her.

My Dr said something along the same lines. Actually what she said was "you'll need to stop BF'g if you want any chance of falling pregnant again". I really resented this, particularly since I was only there to get my ears checked! Anyway, I was BF'g and I got AF back when my daughter was 11 months. Only had one more than got UTD. She had dropped to about 3 feeds in 24 hours though by then. I was happy for my body to work it out itself, although I'm quite old so I was worried about how long it might take. Good luck. Do what you feel is right for your bub and your body.

Well, my sister fell pg while bf, also on her 1st ov so no af. On the other hand, I got af back when dd 6mths old, am still bf once every day or two and am not pg, despite never trying not to (would have liked two close together). My view on it was (is?) that I would be upset to wean her just to get preg again, then not get preg again, if you know what I mean.

No raspberry - he said for most women af will return when baby is on solids, drinking less milk and sleeping through the night. But for a few women (like me grrrrr) ovulation will not return until baby is weaned. He said as I'm only feeding 3 times a day and still no period, I probably will have to wait I'm not willing to deny jodie what she needs for the sake of another few months, so will just have to wait and see!

troutpout my daughter was feeding 3x/day for 2 months before AF returned.

I know how you feel. It's a real wrench when you want to have another child quickly but BF'g is working so well for you. I came to the same decision - that I would keep BF'g my daughter despite wanting to fall pregnant ASAP. And I was 38 when I had my daughter so I was quite anxious about how much time I had to try for number 2. But it happened really fast this time (2 AF's this time versus 3 years last time). Anyway, maybe set yourself what you think is an acceptable time limit (eg 12 months or something you feel comfortable with) and if you're still pushing for number 2 and AF hasn't returned by then maybe then maybe think of weaning.