What are my chances of conceiving while Breastfeeding?
ByI am still breastfeeding my 7 month old daughter and I don’t plan on weaning her anytime soon, yet my husband and I want to conceive our third child. What are my chances of getting pregnant? I have heard from friends that after 3 months of nursing you become more fertile, but from what I’ve reading I’m going against all odds. I had spotting once 5-6 months ago and no return of period. Any advice or information would be GREAT!
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8 Comments
April 25th, 2010 at 11:40 am
once she is going long stretches without breastfeeding (like sleeping thru the night) and eating more solids, then you’re chances are pretty good actually
you might not have a period yet but you will ovulate before you get one, so you’ll never know when its coming ! My last two kids are 17 months apart.. you guessed it, breastfeeding 
April 25th, 2010 at 11:44 am
I did not get my period until at least 3-4 months after I stopped breastfeeding. Good luck to you!
April 25th, 2010 at 11:46 am
try it and see.
April 25th, 2010 at 11:55 am
By no means is there any 100% definite answer. All women are different. Personally, I didn’t start my period after my almost 4 year old was born until he was 18 months. We tried for a few months but couldn’t seem to get pregnant. I think I had about 6 periods total before I finally did get pregnant. Now with the new baby being 14 1/2 months old, I still haven’t started ovulated. I am expecting about the same amount of time.
But here is the low down on it. The average time they will tell you online that you can assume is 6 months. But that all depends both on the woman and how much your child is breastfeeding. How much milk the baby is taking out of you (pumping included), how often the nursing sessions are, and how long they last. All rolled up into one. There are some cultures that have their children breastfeed every 2 hours or so dependent on age just to keep their period from coming back. There are many different beliefs and cultures that have come from this. But suffice it to say, the more your child eats, the less likely you are to ovulate. If you want to start ovulating, your best bet is to try to pump a little extra during the day and feed her a bottle at bed time. All night. Having that longer time during the night can help your period return.
However, personally, I would just wait. Enjoy your daughter right now. Breastfeeding is a wonderful experience and a great bonding experience. And if you get pregnant you can still breastfeed your daughter but if she is still under a year you could compromise her health. In the beginning your milk is still mostly the same, but as your pregnancy progresses your milk will turn to colostrum. Some women have this happen earlier and some later in their pregnancy. But you won’t know until it happens. So I would just breastfeed like crazy and enjoy not having periods and not having to worry about protection with your husband. Im sure he can appreciate that. And the trying part is the fun part. Right?
Oh, and I also tandem breastfeed. Which is really interesting. And it helps both children bond. Helps but doesn’t guarentee it. lol.
April 25th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Oh you are a good mommy!!! Way to go on breastfeeding for so long!!! You are a super mommy!!! Yayy for you!!! Your baby will be so much healthier the rest of its life because of you!! :]
I have heard after 6 months its ok to try again, but don’t you want to wait a little while to get your body back up to full 100% strength? I would wait at least a year. But talk to your doctor about what they think is best for you and your condition.
Good Luck!!! :]
April 25th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
My daughters are 13months and 1 day apart. The period was never seen. You can get pregnant while breastfeeding. There is an old wives tale that used to say you couldn’t. You can. It is great that you are still breastfeeding. That will help her so much in the long run. You may want to wait just a few more months before you try to conceive again. Your body has been through so much. Give it time to recover for the sake of the future child’s health.
April 25th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
It is very different from woman to woman…
If you are *completely* breastfeeding, the baby is less than 6 months old, and you haven’t had a period, the chances are very low–less than 2%. It is a more reliable form of birth control than taking the birth control Pill. For more details on this, please read _Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing_ by Sheila Kippley.
Once baby is getting some solids, or is over 6 months old, is where it gets fuzzy. Some women don’t get pregnant even if the baby is nursing a *little* bit–once a day at age 3 even. Some women get pregnant before their first period when baby starts solids. And everything in between is also possible.
To increase the likelihood that your fertility will return, it helps to have a long period of time *every* day when you don’t nurse. For many women, this means night weaning–stop nursing the baby *entirely* between 11 pm and 5 am (or any other 6- to 8-hour time frame). But you can just as easily do it during the day if that is easier for you by not nursing between 10 am and 4 pm.
Many women don’t ovulate before their first period while breastfeeding. And a lot of women who *do* ovulate still aren’t fertile. The return of fertility usually follows the following pattern:
1. a woman starts having vaginal bleeding
2. a woman ovulates
3. a woman’s cervical fluid becomes fertile
4. a woman’s cycle changes so that there’s time for implantation
The above steps can happen all at once the same cycle…or there can be months between the different steps. The only way to know where you are in the above is to chart fertility. For information on this, please read _Taking Charge of Your Fertility_ by Toni Weschler. If you aren’t fertile, it will let you know why. If you are, it will give you the best chance of getting pregnant.
Spotting when your baby was less than 8 weeks old, by the way, doesn’t count; it’s probably related to giving birth, not to returning fertility.
April 25th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Hi!
You’re in luck. I was able to concieve 6 months after the birth of my first child. I got my first period and then I was pregnant. I do advise on trying to track your cycle, though. I’ve read that a breastfeeding mother has an infertile and/or incompetant luteal phase the first couple of cycles.