I have a 9 month old baby and my husband and I would like to begin trying for another. My cycles have been really irregular- my last cycle was over 40 days long. I am curious how it has gone for others who have conceived while nursing. Did you use an ovulation predictor kit? Any thoughts or stories would be helpful.
For us, it just happened. I had a 6 month old and got pregnant again. I continued to nurse him until he was 10 months, but I felt like the life was being sucked out of me!
Good luck! :) It is great to have them so close in age...
Hi L., we got pregnant two times out of three while nursing. My periods were not regular either.
Personally I think the surest way to make a baby is forget about making a baby, and just rip one off whenever you feel like it!
Good Luck, and congrats on the existing baby, and the potential baby!
i've gotten pregnant with my last 3 all while nursing. the first 2 i used ovulation predictors and the last one just happened:) it does seem like the best time to get pregnant is when you're not thinking about it. also i continued nursing all of mine while pregnant and am currently nursing my 20 month old while being 6 months pregnant. if you want to start trying just start and see what happens. good luck to you and your growing family:)
REad the book, "Taking charge of your fertility". You can track your morning basal temperatures and your cervical fluid consistency & tell when you're ovulating. The book and tracking your fertility indicators (temperature & cervical fluid) is way cheaper than ovulation predictor kits. Your 40 day cycles don't really say whether you're ovulating or not, and certainly make it difficult to rely on the faulty rule that "most" women ovulate on Day 14. You can have periodic bleeding without ovulation, especially if you're still nursing. i.e. having a period doesn't mean necessarily that you're ovulating.
Good luck with conceiving. Also, talk with your doctor once you are pregnant, about nutritional needs. You may need to really watch your diet to make sure you, your breast fed baby & the new baby get everything they need! :-)
You CAN get pregnant while nursing.
I got pregnant, twice, while nursing.
L.,
I didn't even begin getting a period again while nursing until my daughter was around 10 months old. Then when my periods returned they were very irregular. I used an ovulation predictor kit and read Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It took us about 5 months of trying, but we did get pregnant again. All I can say is pay attention to your body, and keep nursing if you want to. I continued until about the end of my first trimester. And only stopped then because my daughter was drinking whole milk (she was over a year old already), and the nursing was just something we did together at night. Good luck!
My last two children are 18 months apart which means that while I was breast feeding my 9 month old, I got pregnant. We weren't even trying. Just relax and let your body return to normal. You can't force nature to happen. If you get stressed, that works against you. Good luck, enjoy breast feeding and love your child and husband.
I got pregnant while nursing and miscarried at 12 weeks, so I would wean or wait. Everything looked good in the beginning and there was a regular heartbeat, so I really think it was the nursing. That was my experience.
I didn't conceive until about 6 weeks after I stopped nursing. I have been told the same by other moms. I know it's possible to conceive while nursing, but I think it is much less likely.
