As a mom who delays solids, nurses for an extended period of time and offers nighttime nursing for most of the first year, my cycle takes its sweet time returning.
However, I know that this isn't the case for every mom. I hear anecdotally from a lot of moms that even frequent nursing or nighttime nursing does not prevent their cycle from coming back, and plenty of moms conceive again when their baby is under a year old (and sometimes even less than 6 months old).
This often surprises me, because what I have read about the nursing hormone prolactin is that it should suppress the other hormones required for a woman's menstrual cycle to return. In theory, this means that during the early months and even the first year when nursing is baby's primary form of nourishment, she shouldn't be able to conceive again. Theoretically speaking.
Wouldn't it be interesting to explore the actual statistics of regular moms, to find out at what point and under what circumstances their own cycle returned? Inquiring minds want to know. Or at least, mine does.
So, I decided to conduct my own very formal and official survey. :)
It would be too complex to add too many more fields to the survey. I kept the survey relatively simplistic, which means that I won't be able to accurately take into account special circumstances, like a mom or baby being sick, going on vacation without baby for a period of time, a season of high stress in the mom's life, etc.
Would you fill out my survey and help to satisfy this curious little brain of mine?
I promise, I will share the results of the survey with you all!
Any guesses as to what my survey will discover? What do you think about the breastfeeding/Fertility relationship?
Image by Daquella Manera
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With my first i got my period back at 5 months. She was feeding on demand which for her was about 2-3 hours during the day. She started sleeping through the night at 4 months (7.30 pm – 7.30 am). No solids until 6 months. My second daughter i got my period back at 5 months & 1 week :( not happy! Im currently also feeding her on demand which for her is about every 2 – 2 1/2 hrs during the day. She is still waking at night between 2 to 4 times a night. No solids yet. I don’t know why mine have come back so early.
My daughter is 11months and yet no period and I want a baby now I only feed at night
I am currently breastfeeding my 14 month old daughter still about 10-12 times a day. We co-slept exclusively the first 5 months and then she would come to bed with us when she got up for her first nursing. She slept 7 hours straight ONCE in the first 3 months and my cycle returned at 3 months. My cycle has been 100% regular since then. She didn’t start sleeping through the night until about 10 1/2 months. Currently trying to get pregnant while still breastfeeding. We’ll see how that goes. I’m interested to see the results of this survey!
My experience has been similar to yours. I have practiced responsive, extended bfing with all of my babies (stopped at 17mos, 15mos, 35mos, 30mos, and still nursing at 6mo). My period has always taken a long time to return. I have only had about 6 cycles in over 7 1/2 years and I’ve been pregnant and/or nursing during that time. Too bad this is my last baby because I’ll have to go back to dealing with regular periods when he is weaned or close to it.
Nursed my first on demand until 13 months. Started solids at 6 months and she took to them so quickly and with such delight (she still loves food and has an incredibly open palate!) that she dropped to three feeds daily almost immediately. When she was 8 months, my period came back. She dropped her last feed at 13 months, I think because I became pregnant and the milk tasted different.
My second is now almost 9 months and feeding 3 times daily (5:30am, 3pm, 7pm). No night feeds. Similar story with the foods, though she started a month earlier because I was having milk supply issues. She is less of an adventurous eater. No period yet, so it’s later than with my first, which is surprising given that I needed to start her on solids earlier.
It seems that there are a few basic norms and connections within lactation/menstrual patterns, but a huge variation upon that theme.
There are SO many unique factors. While you can make generalizations I really think it depends on the Mamas body. My first didnt’ sleep longer than 45m-2 hours straight (co-slept) until she was 12 mos old. We didn’t really do solids untill 8 mos (and even then it wasn’t a big deal) My cycles returned at 7mos pp. My littles are 19mos apart.
My second daughter never slept longer than a few hours (also co-slept nursed at will): she gained 12lbs in her first 6mos…And we delayed solids until 9mos and she went right to table foods. My cycles returned at 5mos pp.
Neither took pacifiers, dd2 has never even had a bottle.
I did every thing “right” but cycles return early. however furtility so far hasn’t returned with dd2: my luteal phases are only 4-8 days long.
Thank you this will help me to finally sleep at night now that I kinda understand what I need to do for my baby. Thank you for this information and god bless:)
With my first two babies, my cycle returned at 3 months. With the next 5, it returned at 5 months (babies 6 & 7 were twins and it still returned at 5 months). With my last one, I was nursing every 2-3 hours (every 4-5 during the night) and it came back at 3 months. With all of them I was exclusively breastfeeding when my cycle came back, but every 4-5 hours all day long except for this last one.
AF returned at 22 months with one child, 21 months with the next. Very little pacifier use, no early solids, and feeding on cue even at night. Neither child slept thru the night til at least two years old, they were nursed back to sleep at night wakings.
I am still breastfeeding my 9 month old and no sign of my period yet. Feeding is usually fairly scheduled during the day and a feed about 10pm at night, but I will feed her if she wakes at night. Though normally she does at least 8 or 9 hours at night without a feed and has done since she was about 2 months old
My six children are all an average of 24 months apart. The largest space being 27 months and shortest 21. First was demand fed. Others somewhat scheduled. Most of my babies slept through the night within the first month, usually 8-10 hour stretches. Only one used a pacifier and he had the sister that followed 21 months later. That’s interesting.
My cycle returned about 2 months after birth (at this time I was also at my pre pregnancy weight). PP birth lead right into the period. I nursed my son on demand and co sleep or he will sleep in his crib in the same room. He nursed about every 2 or 3 hours day and night for the first year and then night feedings were less but he still nursed 2 or 3 times between 8 pm and 6 am till I had to wean him at 20 months because I had to take a med for a complicated migraine I got. I stated supplementing with formula at 4 months because I could not keep up. He would only get 6 oz at night before bed with his nursing at 8 pm. I had very little milk production. I started solids at 6 months so that I could get him off the formula and onto real food. I did not like to do formula but even with my little boy eating every 2 hours I did not have enough milk to satisfy him. He would want to nurse again and I would still be dry. I thought the formula and solids would help to hold him through the night but didn´t. I have not yet gotten pregnant but am trying now.
@Rachel, Even though he just turned 2 he still only sleeps though the night only about half the time. He wakes up asking for water. We have really stuggled with sleep so I do not think that your baby sleeping through the night and nursing less is why my cycle returned though for some this may be.
My son turned 3 in April, and I believe the last time he nursed was about 3 weeks ago. Granted, I’m not producing milk anymore, but he nurses for comfort. He has always been a light sleeper (aka did not sleep through the night until Christmas Eve, 2009 and JUST started sleeping through the night about 3 months ago.) Everytime he woke up, I’d nurse him back to sleep. Easy, because we cosleep. My period returned a month or so after he turned 1. My cycles have never been “regular” and we used fertility drugs to conceive. We’re now trying to conceive baby #2, and are looking for holistic ways to conceive. My cycles are now normal (every 31 days..) but just no ovulating.
Nursing my son was one of the greatest joys of my life, and I look forward to nursing our second child, too. :)
I have extremely regular and predictable cycles normally. We have planned all of our pregnancies and have conceived within one or two months of trying each time. I have 4 kids, ages 6.5, 4.5, 2.5, and 7 months. All have been exclusively breastfed, with the use of pacifiers, and all co-slept at least some, with nursing through the night at a minimum of every 3-4 hours until they were 7-8 months old (when I stopped nursing at night). With my first and third, my period returned when they were 4 months old, with my second, when she was 2.5 months old, and now with my fourth, it hasn’t returned yet. I’m quite surprised, as I haven’t done anything different with her than the others. I wonder if it’s just because I’m in my 30′s now and maybe my fertility is decreasing a bit. I have no idea.
.-= Rebekah´s last blog ..Spaghetti and Meatballs, Anyone??? =-.
I was intent on breastfeeding my son for a year or longer. Several factours interfered with my plan, unfortunately.
Firstly, I was forced to go back to work 6 weeks postpartum because my husband lost his job. Therefore, I was pumping and my husband would feed our son with a bottle while I was gone. Though often my son would refuse the bottle and my husband would have to end up driving up to my place of work (night shift) so that I could feed him.
Secondly, my son weaned himself without any suggestion or help from us at around 8 months. He just decided he didn’t want to breastfeed as much as he wanted to try our food. My milk supply was fine and I’d be producing like crazy, but he wasn’t having it. He’d nurse for a bit and then cry hysterically until we’d let him have a taste of whatever we were eating. I continued to nurse (and still do on occasion, when he wants the comfort), but he just wasn’t interested. This was exceedingly disappointing for me and now, pregnant (and almost due!) with our second child, I am determined to ONLY breastfeed for at least a year. Crying and fussing for other foods be darned!
Thirdly, we did offer a dummy, but he didn’t want it most of the time and he’s spit it out, so I’m not sure that is so much of a contributing factour. Also, we bed-shared, and I would feed on demand during the night (when I was home) and during the day.
That said, my cycle returned when I was about 6 months postpartum and my husband and I conceived (joyfully) at 7 months.
I have two boys (ages 5 & 3) and a girl (1 year). I nursed my oldest until 15 months when my dr urged me to stop nursing because I was pregnant. I nursed my middle child until 21 months and he stopped on his own. I am still nursing my little girl who is 19 months. I started solids with my oldest at 4 months, my middle about 6 months and my youngest closer to 8 months. With ALL three, my cycle returned at 4-5 months and I conceived my two youngest while nursing. So much for statistics huh…lol.
I like the idea of sharing ideas on fertility, Would you like to correspond on each others blog?
After my first baby, I never got my period-I got pregnant when she was 9 months old.
After my second baby, I got my period back a few days before he was 6 weeks old!
I must say that their births were extremely different. My first was full term. She was born all natural with a midwife. I breastfed exclusively. Started solids after 7 months. My second (surprise!) came 2 months early via c-section and was in the nicu for 5 weeks. He received only breastmilk, but I was only pumping during that time. He still is exclusively breastfeeding at 11 months old.
I wonder if the c-section had anything to do with it or if the pumping was what affected my hormones. I don’t know, but 6 weeks is rather early don’t you think?! I’ve heard some say that if you’re fertile, your body must be ready for another pregnancy. Um, sorry, but I was not ready for another less than 2 months after my preemie was born via c-section! (I know plenty of people stay unfertile for much longer.) At any rate, I personally won’t be relying on nursing for birth control if I have another child! You just never know!
I loved nursing my first one! She went for a year and a half until I weaned her as I was pregnant with her sister. She was on demand for the first year and, as long as it was practical for me, basically the same through 18 months. Then we switched to night time, nap time, wake-up, and through the night. She didn’t sleep longer then two and a half stretches until I night weaned her at 28 months, but as we co-slept it was no real bother. Her sister, on the other hand, has slept for a five hour chunk since birth so I am quite interested to see how long my fertility will be suppressed this time! She’s currently seven months and sop far, so good!
.-= Ambre´s last blog ..Learning to Live in the Shades of Grey =-.
I breastfed my son for 12 months (to the day) but stopped regular night feedings when he was 6 months. He also began eating some solids just after 4 months, and was down to 1 to 3 feedings a day by the time he was 10 months. My cycle is just returning 12 months and 1 week after my son was born so I guess I’m an exception to the rule.
I think this stuff is fascinating! Can’t wait to hear the results of the survey. I’ll go ahead and add my experience in with every one else’s. :) I demand fed both children. I didn’t co-sleep, but if they woke up at all at night, I would feed them. No solids until 6 months and no bottles. My daughter did suck her thumb, but my son didn’t (and we didn’t use a pacifier). My fertility came back after 4 months with my daughter and 3 1/2 months with my son. I personally think one of the keys (that other people have already mentioned here) is consolidated night time sleep. My daughter was sleeping 6 hour stretches at night from her second week and my son started consolidating his sleep around 6 weeks old. (Imagine my surprise that not all babies sleep as well as my daughter did!) I never wake a sleeping baby, so I am guessing that once they started going longer at night–even though we were still nursing a lot during the day–that my body decided it was time to be fertile again.
3 boys. 13 months between oldest 2, 16 months between youngest 2. Thought it was breakthrough PP bleeding with first. exclusivly BF but couldnt make it to a year with either of the oldest because my body couldnt keep up. hopefully can make it with the NB.
.-= Cristy´s last blog ..Sad, sick boys =-.
I nursed my daughter for 14 months and my cycle didn’t return until the week after she turned a year old. I have had issues with my cycles in the past (or lack there of) but am interested to see when things return with this little one due in December! Nursing also helped me lose all of my baby weight. I lost all 40 lbs I gained with my daughter + 15 lbs on top of that by the time she was 6 months old. It makes the baby weight not seem as bad lol.
As far as the breastfeeding fertility relationship, I learned about a study in Brazil from a missionary where a Brazilian doctor looked at the indigenous population who relied exclusively on breastfeeding to nourish their infants & toddlers. He noticed that their babies were usually spaced 2-3 years apart, so he began to look at their habits and found one common denominator—the amount of time between feedings. He noticed that once the moms went more than 6 hours in between feedings, for example, at night, they seemed to be highly, highly fertile—more so than under normal circumstances.
We experienced this when my daughter, who was 8 weeks premature, finally started sleeping through the night at 6-7 months old. The very next month I found out I was pregnant with our son. :O)
I breastfed all of my four boys, the first two are five years apart, and the last three all breastfed for about a little over a year. I got pregnant with all of them while I was breastfeeding and my menstrual returned all with the first couple of months. Not much of a conception for me, I have 3 year old, an two year old, and and about to be five year old.
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