my second child is fifteen months old and still breastfeeding, I have no intention of stopping in the near future. My concern is that my period has not started again. I exercise 6 times a week anywhere from an half an hour to an hour and a half. I am still carrying a couple of extra pounds and I am eating sensibly. Should I be worried about this? With my first child my period came back when she was 13 months old.
breastfeeding and amenorrhea
- Thread starter rachelw
- Start date
R
rachel2
Guest
same here
I am still breastfeeding my 12month old and my period has yet to return. I exercise 5 times a week. I can not get rid of these last 5-7 lbs no matter what I eat or how much I exercise. With my first born my period returned when he was 9 months old but I was painfully sedentary. Perhaps there is a body fat-menstruation-breastfeeding connection.
Rachel
I am still breastfeeding my 12month old and my period has yet to return. I exercise 5 times a week. I can not get rid of these last 5-7 lbs no matter what I eat or how much I exercise. With my first born my period returned when he was 9 months old but I was painfully sedentary. Perhaps there is a body fat-menstruation-breastfeeding connection.
Rachel
Kristin Aziz
Cathlete
I think a lot of it has to do with the individual. I breastfed both of my children for over two years. I didn't resume exercising after my son was born until he was almost a year old (bad, bad, I know
), but I resumed exercising 5 times per week when my daughter (my second) was about a month old. I was within a normal weight range both times (but five or so pounds over what I like to be). My periods resumed nine months after my son was born, and eight months after my daughter was born. I know a lot of moms who got theirs back earlier, and many who didn't start until after their babies (or toddlers) were weaned. For me at least, it doesn't seem like exercise was a factor. I'd like to hear others' experiences.
Kristin
Kristin
breastfeeding and the return of fertility
Hi Rachel! I'm pulling out my instructor's hat here. I have been teaching Natural Family Planning for about 9 years. Obviously, the return of your fertility after having a baby/while breastfeeding is of major concern to people who use this method.
Kristin was right. When your periods return varies enormously from woman to woman. When the baby nurses, something called prolactin is produced. One of the things this does ( besides help produce that "mellow mama" feeling
) is suppress ovulation. Depending on the woman, you may need more or less stimulation from the baby's suckling to suppress ovulation and the return of your cycles. This is a natural mechanism your body uses to allow itself to re-build the stores depleted by pregnancy and childbirth, especially the iron stores. There are many women who will not see the return of their cycles until they wean, no matter what age their baby is. Since your cycles returned the last time around at around 13 months, I wouldn't be surprised if you started up again before too much longer. Fertility patterns do tend to repeat themselves. If not, though, don't worry about it. It just means that THIS little sweetie is is a bit more efficient in giving your body the required amount of stimulation to produce the prolactin.
Side note: I am NOT saying that you cannot get pregnant while breastfeeding. YOU CAN. Obviously ovulation is going to return at some point, very likely while you are still breastfeeding. The only way to know when it will happen is if you are also watching for the natural signs that fertility is returning, which are best learned, IMO, from a competent instructor in a class or a 1-on-1 format.
I hope this helps!
Erin
Hi Rachel! I'm pulling out my instructor's hat here. I have been teaching Natural Family Planning for about 9 years. Obviously, the return of your fertility after having a baby/while breastfeeding is of major concern to people who use this method.
Side note: I am NOT saying that you cannot get pregnant while breastfeeding. YOU CAN. Obviously ovulation is going to return at some point, very likely while you are still breastfeeding. The only way to know when it will happen is if you are also watching for the natural signs that fertility is returning, which are best learned, IMO, from a competent instructor in a class or a 1-on-1 format.
I hope this helps!
Erin
K
kimz
Guest
menustration while breastfeeding
My experience with both of my children was that I did not resume menustrating AT ALL until I had completely stopped nursing. Even when I was only nursing once or twice per day (towards the end) I still did not get my period.
At that time, I was not into regular exercise so I think exercise would not be the cause of this. When one is nursing, I am not sure if no periods is really considered ammenorhea since it is the hormones that cause it not excessive exercise or too low bodyfat. Feel free to correct me if I am mistaken.
Also, for me, breastfeeding took the weight off like magic. I ate what I wanted, hardly exercised (I know - bad) and still dropped the weight. In fact, 5 months after my daughter was born, I weighed 15 lbs. less than the day I found out I was pregnant. It worked that way for my second baby too. For me, having babies was a good thing for my body (except for the c-section scar etc.).
Had I exercised back then like I do now, I am sure I would have even had better results. Oh well, hindsight is 20-20 they say and now I have the muscle to speed my metabolism instead of milk production.
Kim
My experience with both of my children was that I did not resume menustrating AT ALL until I had completely stopped nursing. Even when I was only nursing once or twice per day (towards the end) I still did not get my period.
At that time, I was not into regular exercise so I think exercise would not be the cause of this. When one is nursing, I am not sure if no periods is really considered ammenorhea since it is the hormones that cause it not excessive exercise or too low bodyfat. Feel free to correct me if I am mistaken.
Also, for me, breastfeeding took the weight off like magic. I ate what I wanted, hardly exercised (I know - bad) and still dropped the weight. In fact, 5 months after my daughter was born, I weighed 15 lbs. less than the day I found out I was pregnant. It worked that way for my second baby too. For me, having babies was a good thing for my body (except for the c-section scar etc.).
Had I exercised back then like I do now, I am sure I would have even had better results. Oh well, hindsight is 20-20 they say and now I have the muscle to speed my metabolism instead of milk production.
Kim
Periods
Hi guys-
I guess I am one of the reasons not to use breastfeeding as birth control. My period came back (no mistaking this one- I had some questionable ones before it) at 4 months. I remember talking to my midwife thinking that 5-6 months seemed like a pretty safe time frame to count on, and she said "Don't do it!!!" Boy am I glad I listened to her!!!!! As far as BC, the real question is "How would you feel if you had another baby right now?" Choose your method accordingly, regardless of period status (unless you think you might be pregnant, but that is different.)
I think for some- this includes me- the introduction of solids is what bring them back. This little one was just dying to eat, and so he does. Much better than listening to him fuss through every meal. At 5 months, he stole my burger bun- and was lightening fast with it. And the other morning, I had my oatmeal, and he had his rice cereal. It was pretty cute, and kept him pleasant. Linda
Hi guys-
I guess I am one of the reasons not to use breastfeeding as birth control. My period came back (no mistaking this one- I had some questionable ones before it) at 4 months. I remember talking to my midwife thinking that 5-6 months seemed like a pretty safe time frame to count on, and she said "Don't do it!!!" Boy am I glad I listened to her!!!!! As far as BC, the real question is "How would you feel if you had another baby right now?" Choose your method accordingly, regardless of period status (unless you think you might be pregnant, but that is different.)
I think for some- this includes me- the introduction of solids is what bring them back. This little one was just dying to eat, and so he does. Much better than listening to him fuss through every meal. At 5 months, he stole my burger bun- and was lightening fast with it. And the other morning, I had my oatmeal, and he had his rice cereal. It was pretty cute, and kept him pleasant. Linda
K
kimz
Guest
nursing as birth control
You are very right not to rely on breast feeding as birth control. Because I had no periods, I never knew whether I was pregnant or not. Since I tended to rely on the nursing thing (I was a bit careless that way) - quite often I would take a cup of urine to the local clinic and say, "Please tell me I am not pregnant and I promise to be more careful". They chuckled and did the test for me but told me to smarten up.
As it turned out, I never did become pregnant until I quit nursing and resumed my periods but I sure do know a lot of women that got caught that way.
Kim
You are very right not to rely on breast feeding as birth control. Because I had no periods, I never knew whether I was pregnant or not. Since I tended to rely on the nursing thing (I was a bit careless that way) - quite often I would take a cup of urine to the local clinic and say, "Please tell me I am not pregnant and I promise to be more careful". They chuckled and did the test for me but told me to smarten up.
As it turned out, I never did become pregnant until I quit nursing and resumed my periods but I sure do know a lot of women that got caught that way.
Kim