Breastfeeding can I get pregnant?

[joannaspagirl]

I have a 14 week old that I am currently breastfeeding. I know you'll think I'm crasy but I'd like to get pregnant again. I have not had my period yet, I've heard that I won't while breastfeeding. Is it difficult to become pregnant while breastfeeding? I plan to for a year will I have to stop before I'll get pregnant with #2? Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
Joanna

[Buttercup78]

Generally if you are exclusively breastfeeding on demand, through the day and night, and babe is less than 6 months old, you may not get pregnant. There's always exceptions though. I think you will do best if you keep breastfeeding your little one and just wait and see what happens as far as another pregnancy. Your milk supply could very well decrease if you get pregnant.

[EzrasMom]

Some women get their cycles back right away while exclusively BFing. Some women don't get them back until they wean. It could really go either way, although it's not common to ovulate during the first 6 mos. As far as I know, there is no way to induce ovulation while BFing. I know the excited fun feeling of wanting a baby, but I would recommend that you just let your body do what it needs to do. Pregnancy, labor, & delivery can be pretty tough on your body, especially you uterus. It's good to give it a little time to "recuperate".

[amynhailey]

Like PP said, everyone is different. Some women start ovulating fairly soon PP, some take quite a few months. My kids were both around 10 months old or so when I started ovulating again. I have heard some who get it back right away and some who don't start again until after they've weaned.

[aussietwirler]

As everyone has said, everyone is different. I know I was ovulating by 6 mths and I was exclusively breastfeeding twins!! I was not happy LOL

However you just never know when it's about to come back because I have a friend who didn't have her period for 4 years and was breastfeeding during this time.. however she had 2 extra kids during that time.

Let your body guide you. Experts say you need to give your body time to recover properly anyway, or you may find your body will struggle a bit if it's too soon.. don't forget to do your exercises, because that is one of the big downsides to having your babies too close together (IYKWIM)

[kimmie2]

As far as I have reasearched, breastfeeding has been used throughout time as a natural child spacer. It is more healthy for your body to heal a little before taking on another pregnancy, so breastfeeding holds the ovulation at bay for the first six months or so (in general). Soooo, if you breastfeed you have a lesser chance of getting pregnant right away, but that's kind of how nature intended it to be. Good luck.