Breast Feeding & Period

UPDATE #2
I guess if I've given you that, I can cut and paste the table

oops - it appears not to paste
anyway:
0-6 months - 7% of BF moms have a period
6-12 = 37%
12-24 = 48%
over 24 = 8%

UPDATED ANSWER
I googled statistics of women breastfeeding who get their period

ORIGINAL ANSWER
I don't think you've looked. I just googled it and it was the very first result.

Everyone's bodies are different! I started about 7 weeks with my oldest and maybe three months if not less with my oldest. There is no way to tell what your body will do. I was so mad when I started. I was looking forward to not having one for a long time!

I don't know where you could look, but I got mine at the six-week mark too...both times!

I never had my period while nursing and got pregnant when my oldest was only 2 mos old.
This is natures way of reminding you that you can still concieve.
I'm sure it has a lot to do with hormone levels whether or not we start menstruating again.
It's not that uncommon to have one while nursing, several of my friends did as well, musch to their dismay.

To the moms who say this is a lie, I think we just need to remember that everyone is different. I have not had a period in over 2 years - I have been pregnant and then lactating since april 2010. (I plan on BF until DD is 2 in january). I pumped for a year for my oldest and never had a period until 32 days after I weaned. This is not unusual. But neither is getting your period back right away. It is all about individual hormone thresh-holds. My guess is that there are not a ton of percentile-type stats on this issue because no one has bothered to really collect the data. And there are lots of variables - child's sleeping pattern, supplementation, and so forth that would make it hard to really compare/contrast and attempt to get accurite data.

I am in the same boat! No fun. I notice my supply reduces during my cycle time.

You're hardly in the minority having gotten your period while breastfeeding. Breastfeeding (even exclusively) doesn't prevent menstruation and/or return of fertility, but it certainly delays it--more for some women than others. On average, women get their first period back around 14 months postpartum. This assumes ecological, rather than cultural, breastfeeding (no supplements, pacifiers, etc). For most women, the first period is a non-ovulatory menstruation--the period comes prior to ovulation. Once your period returns, you can assume you are fertile again. It's far more rare to get your period back in the first 6 months, before solids are introduced and the weaning process begins, but again, 14 months is an average. That means a lot of people, like you, get it back early, while others may be 2 years postpartum without having their period back. Your best bet for all sorts of information on breastfeeding and fertility is a little book by Sheila Kippley, "Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing" (available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breastfeeding-Natural-Spacing-Sheil.... She's written another book on the subject, also at Amazon, called "The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding" that might also help give you more information.

It's very common to get your period back. If you google it, you will see all kinds of data saying that.

Do you nurse throughout the night (at least every 6 hours)? I remembering reading if you don't nurse every 4-6 hours around the clock, your period could come back sooner.

Everyone is different. I know plenty of people that get their periods back within a couple months, to some not getting it back until after they stop nursing.

I exclusively breast fed both of my boys and I got my period with both of them at 5 months for one and 6 months for the other. I found that I got it when the breastfeeding decreased for some reason. For example, with my first I got it when he started eating solids and with my second I got it when he was sick with a cold (I breast fed both of them as I normally would have ie every 3-4 hours during each slowing period). Not sure what the stats are, but I'm sure it's much more common than you think. With my first I posted on here because I thought as long as I was breastfeeding it wouldn't come back, but not so. My supply didn't change at all after getting my period and my lactation consultant said that once you have breastfeed once before your body will give your baby what it needs. I know this isn't stats, but I hope it doesn't make you feel alone.

No clue on numbers, but "normal" is always just the middle part of a bell curve. And you are NOT alone-- 2 weeks after the post-partum bleeding finally stopped, my period started. And the same thing happened to my sister....

I nursed our daughter for 21 months; period came back 7 months into it. Every body is different.

Every woman is different. So if this is what your body is doing, so be it. Just be sure to use birth control. I know plenty of women who became pregnant while nursing (some were trying and some were not).

It's very, very common to get your period while exclusively breastfeeding. It's a myth that it's "not common." Ask any OB or midwife worth their salt and they'll tell you.

It's happened to every woman I know in real life (aka not online). It's NOT ever a foolproof method of birth control so I'm always shocked to hear women who are shocked that they got pregnant while breastfeeding. "How could I have gotten pregnant? I was breastfeeding!" Well, duh.

Most of my online breastfeeding friends who don't use a back-up birth control take a home pregnancy test every six weeks to be certain that they're not pregnant and that that's not the reason why they're not getting their period. Because they KNOW you can ovulate and get your period at any time.

OMG! I am sooooo in the same boat with you! Whoever told me that aweful little lie about exclusively BFing and not having a period must have thought it a cruel joke!

I exclusively feed all my children for their first year and....

With my first daughter, I "post-partum" bled for like 10 weeks. The docs attributed it to me getting my period immediately following the birth. It was not fun. I pretty much cycled immediately after that and it was normal to "short" (i.e. less than 28 days). Ugh!

With my son (the second child), I only post-partum bled for like a week. I felt so much stronger after him. I attributed that to the doctor doing a really good clean-out job as she was having trouble stopping the blood (so I have been told). About 3 to 4 months later, I seemed to be having a cycle.

With my last child (also a girl), I went the longest with no period - almost 6 months! I was so nervous waiting for it, like every day that I did not even get to enjoy the time "off" (not preggers and not cycling!). Once I did start, my cycle was so long - almost 45 days. Now almost a year and half later, I am finally evening out to my old "normal" 28 day cycle.

I have found that each woman's experience is unique and that we just need to be gentle with ourselves, our bodies and others. I wish we all could stop spreading such generalizations and starting sharing all the uniquiness instead. I mean, really, what is the difference if this situation is "common" or not. It happens and it really is okay. You are okay. You are "normal".
(Sorry for the ending rant - the stats are interesting though....)
~C.