Trying for baby 2 while breastfeeding

[maddison09]

My daughter is just over 5 months old and we are trying for our second baby. Now I am no longer exclusivly breastfeeding, she has been eating some baby foods and is given a bottle of formula mixed with rice cereal at night and has slept through the night for atleast the past 6 weeks. However I have not gotten my period back and am wondering if anyone has any tips on how we can conceive without having gotten it back yet...how long does it usually take to get it back when you breastfeed??? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We really want our children to be close in age, and please noone lecture me on it being too soon..I am tired of hearing this...

[Zack_Jenn]

I promise not to lecture you on them being too close! My first was only 6 months old when we got pregnant with our second and so many aspects of it have been wonderful! Of course it is hard sometimes, but they have such a close bond it's incredible!

You can ovulate for the first time and get pregnant without ever having a period and that happens to a lot more women than you might think. However if you want your periods to begin you can talk with your doctor about starting the mini pill (safe to us birth control while nursing) for a couple months to get your cycle going again or there are other medications they can give you to help your cycles begin and get regulated. Good luck!

[rickip]

The quickest way to start (naturally) ovulating again is to wean. It sounds like you're already on your way to that, so just let it happen naturally. You can definitely ovulate and get pregnant without having a period, it's happened to several of my friends. AND... don't worry about when it happens, I breastfed and used no birth control whatsoever, my 3 are each 27 months apart and still have a close bond, I think 2 years still feels pretty close, even though my brother and I are 15 months apart. NOT trying to change what you're doing, just saying that if it doesn't happen right away they'll still have a close bond and similar interests.

[Newmom!]

I know someone who also wanted her children close and never bothered preventing. She also breastfed. She concieved again when her 1st was 8 months old. Also, I KNOW my parents were not trying to have children close together, but all 4 of us are 18 months from the next. I would guess that you'll probably be able to more easily get pregnant around the 9 month mark. (my opinion though, wait until your baby is at least a year old, that way you will be able to breastfeed for a whole year, some babies don't like the decreased milk production nor how the tastes change and refuse to breastfeed once mom is pregnant again - plus I know my poor body is still recovering :-) ).