Return of period?

[red crayon]

Hi, justed wanted to know when people's periods returned. It's been 5 months since I gave birth and still no period.

[jamb]

I know there was a thread going on this but I can't find it so.... Mine came back at 6 weeks VERY heavy and I was breastfeeding, not fair. Has been monthly since then and gradually going back to being lighter.

[Briannabear]

My daughter is 5 1/2 months old and I havent got my periods yet either!

[stilldreaming]

Hi,
I too was a breastfeeder and mine didn't come back until 6 1/2 months. They have been much better than they used to be as well, lighter and much less painful! woohoo....

Trish 29
Cooper 10 months

[jessica]

Hi, I got my first period this month - my little angel is 9 MONTHS OLD!! I was in no rush to get it back - it was great not having the hassle for the past 1.5 years!! :D

[ThomasMum]

just had my period last week (maybe because i'm combining bottlefeed and breastfeed as i dont produce much milk since Thomas was only 8 weeks old)

too soon i reckon!

[red crayon]

Thanks for your responses. I was wondering what was typical.

[H&B'sMum]

I breast fed for 11 1/2 months and nothing. In the middle of May I got them, very heavy and have been getting bleeds every 10 days or so. Very heavy for a day or 2 then nothing, then about 10days later heavy again. I got nearly 23 months without them so I was happy.

[alicesmum]

mine returned at 5 1/2 months, still breastfeeding like a cow and all! and just as heavy and painful as before. you'd think mother nature would cut us some slack.... :p

[RuthK]

I breastfed both mine til 9 and 12 months respectively, weaning them both onto solids at around 4 months.

With my son my period came back after 4 months and with my daughter it came back at 7 months.

If it's any help, you should know you're getting your period. Hopefully, like me, you won't get bad pains, but you'll feel off (just what you need when breastfeeding and looking after a baby).

[Emily's moocow]

hi dont panic and enjoy it while it lasts.
i had my son in Dec 99 so my last period was in March 99 When he was 10 months old I fell pregnant again my second son was born Aug 01 i got my period back in Jan 03. My daughter was born in September 04 and still no sign of them returning. Am I lucky or what?


Mum to Emily, Jacob and Brock

[willsmum]

There is another thread out there somewhere with this info but I couldn't find it either.

I was 10 mo with first and 4 with second. And they are HEAPS worse than pre-kid days.

[draught]

I didn't get my period after I had DD1 - I started to wean her at 11 months and got pregnant before I had a period, and after DD2 ( 8.5 months) I still haven't had a period, so I am at the 3 year mark without a period now - which I am fairly impressed with :D

Having said that I don't think anyone will beat my grandmother who once told me that she had 9 periods in 18 years - of course she did have 12 pregnancies, 10 of which survived, so that could be a rather drastic way to avoid your period!!

[sopolicha]

Theresa,

I am impressed by your grandma, but I think I would rather have a period than 10 kids!!

[Kirsty_Lane]

Hello,
Well i've been having a big stress , looking everywhere on the net for something about " When your periods go back to normal". Cause everyone has told me if you are breastfeeding then you wont get your period for ages. But i've started to bleed in the last day, and Hannah is only 8 weeks old. I did have a really light bleed last week and i told my GP when Hannah was having her 6 week check and she said its probably nothing. But we've got our needle appointment this wednesday so I"ll tell her again. Cause it actually does feel like a period and i'm getting cramps and stuff. After the birth I didnt bleed for long at all , maybe a week or so, but i did have a c-section. eeek!

[Milly]

My period came back very lightly when my daughter was 10 months (when we dropped a feed) and properly back at 12 months (when on three feeds). I only had one real period and we are pregnant again, so there it goes for up to another 2 years if I breatfeed a good 12 months again.

P.S: Kirsty. I have a good friend who has been successfully breastfeeding 10 months plus (She's still going) and her period still came back quite early. She got her period back at 3 months. I think it can really vary between women. I don't know how regular her periods are, buit she did say they returned then. If you are formula feeding and your period has not returned it could be worth a question to the doctor.

[lil monkey]

Hiya,

I stopped fully breastfeeding over 4 weeks ago and was expressing and now for the past week only expressiong once a day and still nothing. Not complaining though but have no supplies in my bag ready yet as it has been so long!!!

[AM]

When your periods resume depends on a lot of factors.

Your individual hormonal makeup
Whether you are breastfeeding on demand
Whether you use a dummy
Whether you demand feed at night
Whether you supplement at all with water, or formula
Whether you have started solids

I'm sure there are more, but can't think of them right now.

I read a book called ecological breastfeeding, and it pretty much guaranteed that if you bf on demand, do not use a dummy or any supplements, have baby sleep with you etc, that you would not get a period before 6 months on about 95% of cases.

However, something which seems to be a big trigger for a lot of women is the introduction of solids, because bf begins to decrease, and depending on how sensitive your body is to hormonal change, hey presto, you may get a period.

Women who practice the ecological feeding guidelines, I think the average length of time for no period pp was about 11 or 14 months, some women going as long as 22 or more months.

It depends how 'sucky' your baby is of course, as the more nipple stimulation you get, the higher are the levels of hormones going to be which supress menstruation.

FTR - I was one of the strange few who followed all the ecological feeding rules ( total co-incidence) yet still got my period 5 months exactly post partum.

So the short answer is that it is incredibly variable!!

Angie

[Kirsty_Lane]

Hey ya,

thanks for that information! i feel a bit better now knowing that it does happen to other people too. I am breastfeeding. I'm doing PDF, not sure if you know what that is? Its a cross between schedules feeding and feeding on demand, with parental assessment making the decision to when they baby is to be fed. But you do use the clock, to somewhere between 2.5-3 hours for the first 8 weeks , then 3-4 hours from them onwards till they are on solids. The routine is feed ( 20- 30 minutes), change bubba, wake time (anywhere between 10-45 minutes), then sleep time. Just repeating that all day, till the 6-7pm feed when the wake time doesnt happen anymore. And Hannah's been sleeping through the night for a week now ( at 7 weeks). Last feed about 11.30ish, then shes sleeping through till 6.30...which is awesome :)

But.....who knows. i was speaking to my mum tonight and she said the reason she knew she was pregnant with my sister was cause she missed a period..and she got pregnant with my sister 3 months after my brother was born...so my mum must of got her period within the 1st eight weeks too...so...who knows...i spose i'm just an unlucky one :( hehe. i'll just have to get pregnant again, haha......not for a year or so...my husband would freak out! i think i would too.

thanks again!!!!
Kirsty ,mummy to Hannah born 05/05/05

[AM]

To the pp, who does parent directed feeding, is that a babywise thing?

Angie

[monique]

For those mums who aren't breasfeeding...how long did it take for your periods to start again?

Will is only 4 1/2 weeks at the moment, but I had a caesar and only breastfed for 2 weeks, so I'm expecting my period to arrive a bit sooner than for mums who are breastfeeding.

Also, when did you all start taking the pill again after birth? I'll check all of this out at my 6 week checkup, but just wanted some idea. Thanks!

[Rainbowbrite]

I Breastfeed MJ who is now 6.5 weeks on demand and have done so since birth. I bled for about 3 weeks after the birth then when she was 5 weeks old, I had what i would deem a period for 4 days which used to be normal for me.

My sister also breastfed my niece for 9 months and bled more than she didn't (if you know what i mean). I guess it's just the luck of the draw. I'm going to the Dr this week and want to see about a mini-pill of some description as we don't want another one, definately not this soon :eek:

[Kirsty_Lane]

to apprenticemum.....yeah we are doing babywise....