Is it to soon to try again ?

[Heids]

:confused: Hi,

My son Brandon is a month old now ( born 09.09.05 ) and we are already planing for the next, much sooner than we had prevously planed.
I got a bit of a shock today as I learned that you aren't very fertile while you are breastfeeding ?? :(
We decided to try for our last and second bub straight away ( hoping for 1 year apart ), yet I wanted and though I could breastfeed Brandon up to six months.
Now I am not sure what to do ???
Thinking of breasting feeding Brandon to only 4 months and also starting him early on solids.....
I am worried Brandon may miss out on another 2 months of breast milk ( no solids ) and I am being selfish and should think about him first ?

Any Advice would be most helpful !

Many Thanks Heids :D

[tickle]

Hi,
I was always told there are health risks with conceiving really soon after having a baby. I think that is why you are supposed to be less fertile while you breastfeed. So you have some sort of natural contraception to stop it from happening.
My period came back after 4 months. For me it was really important to bf for the first year. You can still be fertile when you bf. My MIL conceived when her bub was 2 months.
I would talk to your doc.

Ellen

[Angel_baby_1982]

i am breastfeeding for at least a year if i can, ds is 14 weeks old and we were given the go-ahead to ttc#2 immediatly after his birth, a c/s!

no luck yet but here's hoping!

if you want another there's no harm in trying, you might be lucky!!!!!

[Heids]

Thankyou and Good luck to you toooooooooo....... Angel_Baby :D

[rynosmum]

Hey Heids,

Fancy meeting you here !! I started Ry on solids at 4 months and formula at 4.5-5months and whilst it doesn't follow World Health Organisation guidelines, I don't think it's caused any problems. Touch wood - he is clear of food allergies, is a healthy weight and is an intelligent little boy. Not sure what caused his shoe fetish though ;) ....

[petster]

Hi Heids

You can still fall pregnant whilst breastfeeding...

I found this article interesting - the web site link is here (http://**********.com.au/articles/post-natal/your-period-and-ovulation-after-baby)

Your Period
Of those who choose not to breastfeed, approximately 80% of women find their period has returned by ten weeks. Breastfeeding can delay ovulation and menstruation for around 20 weeks or more, however it is not uncommon to find your period returning much sooner or much longer than 20 weeks.

Every woman and her hormone levels are very unique, so it’s difficult to say when a period will recommence after childbirth. Some women find their period will return the very next month following birth and at the other end of the scale, some women wont have menstruated until well after twelve months. I found it to be even longer than this! I breastfed my first born until she was a little over two and then fell pregnant with baby number two. My son is now eight months old and I still haven’t seen a period since I conceived my first born. However I do know that I am ovulating even thought I do not have a period, which I will most certainly not complain about! Ovulation and menstruation doesn’t exclusively happen together – you may have your period without ovulation or no period with ovulation.

Ovulation
The chance that you will ovulate in the first six weeks post-birth is extremely low. When you see your Obstetrician for your six week post-birth appointment, this is a good time to discuss starting contraceptives if you wish to do so.

When a baby breastfeeds, the sucking sends signals to the pituitary to release prolactin. If you breastfeed frequently enough so that there are high enough levels of prolactin (of which the threshold is unique for each woman), ovulation can be suppressed.

Exactly when you resume ovulating is hard to estimate. The longer you continue to breastfeed and the lesser feeds your baby has (as baby becomes older), this increases your chance of ovulation. For some women, they may not ovulate until they stop breastfeeding altogether.

A good way to find out if you might be ovulating is by observing your cervical mucus – see this article about cervical mucus observations. When my first born was two, I learnt about cervical mucus observations. One day soon after that, I noticed that I had highly fertile mucus, so I was able to spot that I was ovulating again. As a result, I was able to fall pregnant with my second child on that cycle. Of course, mucus observation can be used as a tool to avoid conception as well as acheiving it.

Breastfeeding can be a good contraceptive (approximately 2% failure rate), as long as all of the following apply to you:

Your baby is exclusively breastfed (or very close to)
Baby is less than six months old
If you have not yet had a normal menstural period since birth
Breastfeeds are no longer than 4-6 hours apart

Hope this helps...

Cheers!

[Briannabear]

Hi! My friend fell pregnant while exclusively breastfeeding her daughter - and she was on the mini-pill! :eek: You can definately concieve while BF - it is an individual thing.
Good luck to you! :D

[JanetF]

If you go to http://www.woomb.org they have a whole section on how lactation affects fertility. I hope it helps :)

[jaydensmum]

I think that its a personal decision on when to try for children and how you want them spaced. In my opinion though i think you should probably wait a couple of months so your body can restore itself. Its been through a lot in the last year and it takes a while to get over everything. I personally like the thought of having the kids close together. Thats why my DP and i have been trying for the last 2 months. As i said before its totally up to you and you DH to decide. Its your body and your life and noone can decide it for you. Best of luck with your decision and maybe one day we will see you in the TTC threads. :D

jaydensmum.

[Heids]

Anymore feedback/comments would be most appreciated ? :D