Extended Breastfeeding

Comment by Melanie Parker on November 22, 2008 at 3:23pm

Sarah-I have that book and that is like the bible on the topic! I follow the principles in the book and it has worked great so far (DS is 8mos old now). Ecological breastfeeding is not widely practiced in the US and I definetly get lots of heads turning about how frequently and how long I nurse. I am shooting for 16 mos with no cycle! Thanks breastfeeding!

Comment by Sarah W on November 22, 2008 at 5:21pm

GL! I was so sure I would be at least "average" so a little surprised/ disappointed when my cycle came back before a year. I definitely followed all the rules too... but what can ya do? Every woman is different. (and then TTC took a little longer than I expected too... so I guess I should just drop all my expectations! LOL)

Comment by Melanie Parker on November 22, 2008 at 5:38pm

I read in the book that when you are continuing to nurse, the true return of fertility does not come with the onset of your cycle, so your ecological breastfeeding may have worked for longer than you planned!

Comment by Ellen Mary on January 2, 2009 at 7:51pm

I did not have AF for 2 years while EBFing DS, so yes, I would say it worked. Then I used the very effective P&P for the next 5 months. The first time I skipped Pulling AND Praying, we got DC#2 (due in July). :D

Comment by Maggie Davis on January 7, 2009 at 9:27pm

Hi Sarah W,
Yes - your milk will magically change back to colostrum after your new baby is born. Which might have already happened - since you mentioned your due date was 1/2. Good for you for nursing through your pregnancy, even though it was uncomfortable at times.
Good luck with the tandem nursing. I've know lots of women who have had a good experience with that.
Maggie

Comment by Cara Yara on February 14, 2009 at 1:40pm

Everyone's body is different. Breastfeeding didn't affect the return of my cycles at all. And I am a breastfeeding-on-demand babywearing cosleeper! I am always jealous of other moms that can suspend their cycle for a year or more with breastfeeding. Mine came back at exactly 4 months with each of my 3 oldest children. I can't imagine that I could have breastfed them more than I did (especially #1, she was literally attached to me all day and night) and we didn't start solids until 6 or 7 months so that wouldn't have been a factor either. Plus my children were all over 9 lbs at birth and grew big quickly so they definitely got a lot of milk those first few months!

With #4 now my cycle just returned at 8 months, but I think that was due to my hyperthyroidism, not to breastfeeding. Once my thyroid function was back to normal, my cycle started.

I sometimes wonder if my body puts out an abnormally high amount of hormones since my cycle has always been like clockwork, we have been able to get pregnant just by thinking about it :), and I get severe morning sickness (hyperemesis) when I am pregnant. Just a thought.

Glad there is a forum for extended breastfeeding. I nursed #1 until 17 months, #2 and #3 until 19 months. I will probably nurse #4 for longer, but every situation is different.

Comment by Karen Shattuck on February 14, 2009 at 1:53pm

My cycle always returned around 4 weeks after things settled down from birth :-(
Not sure about fertility. There is 6 years between my two not due to lack of TTC. and after DD I did not take any chances. Murphy's Law like to reek Havoc in myhouse. LOL

Comment by Gina Grothoff on August 11, 2009 at 3:09pm

Feel free to start a new discussion. Select start a discuuion and post your comment, question or concern. Forgive my typo as I am sending this from my phone while sitting in my car because baby is sleeping.

Comment by Charlotte Woody on March 22, 2010 at 1:07pm

Can anyone recommend a pro-breastfeeding pediatric dentist?? I'm afraid that I'm about to have to embark on an educational crusade to help some of these practices out! Arg.

Comment by Tracy on March 22, 2010 at 3:51pm

I can tell you who not to go to. Dr Meg Lochary (with Matthews Pediatric Dentistry) was awful to dd and I--she was barely 2 with some "dental decay" and Dr. Meg told me to night-wean immediately, and asked me if there was any reason "other than my own desire" why I was still nursing her (I kid you not). She also wanted to send us IMMEDIATELY to the hospital to put dd under general anesthesia to fix the decay (which has still not been fixed over a year later, and does not yet bother dd). I obviously did not go back, and I'm sure she would be HORRIFIED to know that dd still nurses at 3 (and a few months).

Dr. Blanding in Kannapolis was indifferent about her nursing and made no comment about it. She was very hands-off and respectful of our choices, and gave us a lot of options.

Comment

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next ›
• Page