Hello everyone. DH and I are trying to conceive baby number 3. I am still nursing [name]Vivienne[/name] who is 14 months, but only 2-3 times a day? I still haven’t gotten my period back yet since I had her in [name]March[/name] 2013. I nursed [name]Lilla[/name] till she was 22 months and I conceived [name]Vivienne[/name] when [name]Lilla[/name] was 18 months old, but I got my period back when [name]Lilla[/name] was 12 months. I am planning on meeting with my OB-GYN to talk about what’s going on but I thought I would see if anyone else has any TTC while nursing experience. Can you even do fertility treatments while nursing or will I have to wait until I wean [name]Vivienne[/name]?
This is a thread for me 
I got my period back when my DD was nine weeks old, despite exclusive nursing, ostensibly because she started sleeping through the night. It happened a week later. We started TTC’ing when she was 15 mos old and went six months before my doctor said it wasn’t working because I was still nursing. She was almost two and I was nursing twice a day or maybe three times on weekends, at the most (sometimes as little as once a day and three times I went away for work for a whole week). I weaned her at the beginning of [name]September[/name], started ovulating in [name]December[/name], had my last period 19 Feb and conceived that cycle. My doctor said my body was gearing up to ovulate but was not dropping the eggs because of the hormones as a result of nursing. I really feel like I am probably the exception, it seems EVERYONE I know can get pregnant while nursing but it put us a year behind and I’m 35, so it was pretty hard on me. Especially since we conceived the first time within a month. I’m sure everyone I different but because I was having a period and the OPK were showing an LH increase (although not a total surge), I thought we were fine. It all worked out - but that’s my story for what it’s worth. My doctor told me that no one would start fertility treatments until I stopped nursing but I’m in [name]Canada[/name], private American insurance might be different.
We also started ttc while I was still nursing [name]Leo[/name].
My periods returned when he was 8months old, but I think it was a case of having a period without ovulation as I was still BFing him if he woke in the night. Once we night weaned at around 13months or so I noticed that my cycles were far more regular and closer to my usual pre-pregnancy timeline of about 30 days or so. So I assume that my body actually only started ovulating again once I’d stopped night feeds.
We conceived when [name]Leo[/name] was about 15months old and I was feeding him maybe twice, maximum 3 times during the day.
We weaned him at 18months old.
Sorry I can’t help with the fertility treatment side of things.
I know an Irish twin who was conceived while her mom was exclusively breastfeeding. They’re 11 months apart, and their mom also had a miscarriage inbetween.
So I guess it depends on the individual woman.
Breastfeeding is a very imperfect, very variable, but effective means if birth control. Absolutely no one will offer any form of fertility treatment to a lactating woman, both because lactation suppresses fertility so that’s an entirely treatable cause, and because most medications will be passed through breast milk.
You will simply have to decide how important baby #3 is in the short-term versus sporadically nursing a child who is already a toddler.
Nursing while TTC and nursing during pregnancy are completely safe. http://www.lalecheleague.org/nb/nbpregnancy.html
If you need fertility treatments and aren’t nursing much, you can always just tell them that you weaned. I just got pg via natural cycle IUI with my third, while nursing my second. They never asked me and after a year it isn’t detectable in your day 3 b/w (prolactin levels specifically). My IBCLC friend recommended just telling them I’d weaned. You’d have to weigh your decision and look up the meds in [name]Hale[/name]: Breastfeeding and Medications - Breastfeeding Online
Good luck!
[name]Katie[/name]
My two cents:
Nursing while TTc is fine, but best to wean before embarking on fertility options. You can’t know how weaning might affect your menstrual cycle before doing so.
I suspect your OB/GYN doesn’t promote nursing and fertility treatments at the same time for good reason. Hormones are not something with which to be toyed. If you’d normally have had your period return by now, it’s probably worth looking into what else might be affecting your cycle.
I think you’re also best to be honest with your healthcare providers. [name]Even[/name] if you choose not to heed their advice, their reasons for or against treatment can help you make a more informed decision.
Nursing while TTC and during pregnancy is safe, BUT pregnancy can often make your supply tank and lead to premature weaning. I didn’t get my period back until [name]Mila[/name] was 18 months (we are still nursing) so for us it was a matter of just biding our time and waiting for fertility to return.
There is no evidence that clomid passes into your milk at significant rates (so is probably safe to use as far as the baby is concerned) but can cause a decrease in your supply - some people have found it affected their supply significantly and I’ve heard of others who only noticed a tiny dip and were able to continue to nurse. Here’s another thread on the issue: TTC with Clomid while breastfeeding | Mothering Forum and a post of mother’s stories: http://www.llli.org/nb/nbsepoct07p214.html
It’s also worth bearing in mind that clomid is NOT safe to take while pregnant, so if your period has not returned you will need to check regularly in case you have conceived - although chances are you would anyway, lol.
IVF drugs are likely safe for use during breastfeeding (there is not a huge amount of research) in terms of milk transfer, however most fertility specialists won’t proceed because of the high cost of IVF and the decreased chances of the process succeeding in a pregnancy/increased chance of miscarriage while breastfeeding.
You may wish to try NaPro as an alternative (http://mythnomore.blogspot.com/2011/02/facing-ivf-and-dont-want-to-wean-your.html)
Almost no drugs have really solid research on them regarding lactating mothers, and fertility drugs are no exception. So you will need to do your own digging to try and make an informed choice. The database LactMed is a good place to start (http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT)
All the best with your journey!
My previous 2 children were conceived while nursing, and I continued through each pregnancy and for a little while after as well. My periods tend to come back early though, despite exclusive BFing. [name]Every[/name] woman is different when it comes to BFing and AF… are you night nursing a lot? That usually plays a big role in keeping ovulation away.
Thanks for all of the links and info. Right now I nurse [name]Vivi[/name] when she first wakes up in the morning and before she goes to bed at night. Sometimes I nurse her in the late afternoon as well for a 3rd feeding, this is when she is tired and grouchy but a nap did not work out. So I don’t feel like I am nursing her that much. My main thing is with her older sister I was nursing a lot more when I got my cycles back and it took 3 years to conceive [name]Lilla[/name] so I’m worried that this might be related to whatever was causing the fertility issues we had getting pregnant the first time and not with nursing.
I am nursing my 16 month old and we are just starting the weaning process so we can start trying for #2. I think that for me, I want to wean before I am pregnant cause my first pregnancy took such a toll on me, even if I can conceive while nursing I don’t know if I want to.
I nursed my first child during the first trimester of my second pregnancy, so I don’t have any concerns about that. I’m just wondering if I have any options other than weaning in order to get fertility treatments. Also my second pregnancy was much easier than my first so nursing wasn’t an issue for me. I am also interested in when people have had their cycles return. I guess I naively assumed that the second time would be just like the first and when baby turned 1 I would get my period back.
I haven’t gotten mine back yet. I’ve been nursing for 16 months, but for so long I’ve been down to mornings/nights in bed & twice during the day for naptime. Now we’re at only 1 nap a day and I am trying to get her down by going for long walks instead of nursing. Still no period!
No, but look at it this way-- why would you want to spend thousands of dollars on unnecessary treatments? Lactation is suppressing your natural, endogenous fertility. If you don’t feel ready to wean yet, simply bide your time.
My only suggestion is to try dropping one of your nursing sessions with your dd. That may bring on your ppaf and then you can get a better idea of ovulation, if your cycle is regular, etc. I don’t know anything about fertility treatments while nursing or if your doctor would be open to that. I don’t think they can help much if you have not gotten ppaf yet – I have heard of women using clomid while nursing (but ppaf was back). I have nursed through pregnancies (all the way and then tandem nursed) and also had my toddlers wean during my last pregnancy so I have some experience nursing while pregnant. We were not actively ttc this past time, but when I nursed through the pregnancy (pg with #2, nursing #1), we were actively TTC and my ppaf had returned around 3 months that time (not exclusively nursing) and I was able to track my cycle and see I was ovulating. After #2, I was exclusively nursing and ppaf arrived at 7 months when we started solids- after that, I had several years of irregular and cycles where I wouldn’t ovulate or would have a very short (4-5 days) luteal phase.
Something here may help: Breastfeeding and Fertility • KellyMom.com