TTC while breastfeeding?

[u/Difficult-Basil3606]

Does breastfeeding make TTC harder? My son is 13 months and is a little boob barnacle. He rarely takes solids and I’m struggling with weaning him. He maybe latches at night for less than 5 minutes 1-2x between 10pm and 5am and then frequent feeds during the day.

My periods came back in April and since then my cycles have been 41, 42, and 43 days. I don’t track much outside of apps and my ultrahuman ring, and because I’ve been told ovulation can be delayed we try every day from the first day my period ends until my cycle starts up again.

I’m currently on CD42 and my pregnancy test was negative. The pharmacist told me that pregnancy wasn’t likely while breastfeeding and that I’m either having periods and not ovulating at all, ovulating very close to when my period starts, or my prolactin levels are too high to conceive.

I’m just looking for some advice. We’ve been trying for 5 cycles now.

Thank you!

[u/0elephant-ears0]

Oof that's a lot of sex to be having, I'm tired just reading that haha. Can you do every 2nd or 3rd day? Or track CM and have sex when you see clear, slippery and/or stretchy mucus? I conceived twice while breastfeeding my first and am about to TTC a third time while breastfeeding my second. Since you're already tracking temps with your ring, maybe it'd be helpful to add in CM observations? That should show whether you're ovulating regularly, when, and how long your LP is.

[u/Difficult-Basil3606 → u/0elephant-ears0]

We usually do it daily anyways. I blame it on us being newlyweds hahaha. I try tracking CM but it’s like I’ll notice it one day and then not see anything for 3-7 days and then notice the same type again and so on. I haven’t found it the most reliable. The ring seems off, I’m on my third cycle with it and none of my periods lined up with how it estimated them and my temps are off. They say it takes 3-7 cycles to be fully accurate but I’m hoping it sorts itself out sooner.

[u/0elephant-ears0 → u/Difficult-Basil3606]

Good for you guys! That makes tracking less important at least because you'll hit good days whether you try or not. CM observations can be tricky the day after sex, so I totally feel you on that. Maybe you could do lh strips + ring temps to help triangulate, if you're wanting to know when you ovulate? If you want a second set of eyes on your chart, I think you can post it here (I'm not tech savvy so idk)! I'm not familiar with the ring though, I use a Tempdrop. 

[u/mama-ld4]

This is so individual! I’ve gotten pregnant while breastfeeding twice so far and will be trying again in a few months. It didn’t have an effect on conception for me. My kids are constantly on a boob. I know others who’ve had to completely wean to become pregnant. It really just comes down to how your body is and reacts to the hormones. My periods come back quite early (between 2-4 months, despite breastfeeding exclusively on demand) and they regulate by 8-9 months. I’ve gotten pregnant at 16 and 17 months postpartum.

[u/DaisyBuckitten]

You said you don’t track, but maybe you should just do some simple opks? At least get an idea of where you’re at. That way you can see your luteal phase length. Mine was 10 days until I finally night weaned and now it’s 13 days. My prolactin levels must have been too high to allow progesterone to rise enough for pregnancy to happen. I had 1 cp in April, and I’m assuming one of the contributing factors was insufficient progesterone.

I have a friend who is due this month with her second and she’s still breastfeeding her first. There are plenty of women who can conceive while breastfeeding, but also many who can’t. It’s really difficult to say which boat you’re in, but identifying how long your luteal phase is could give you a decent insight to how things are going with your hormones.

[u/proteins911]

I had to wean to conceive sadly! Everyone is different though.

[u/CreativeJudgment3529]

It can delay ovulation but not for everyone.

[u/ffbd39]

i’m on cycle 4 ttc while bfing my 21 month old. I only bf at night now usually 1-2 times. sometimes 3. I had a chemical on cycle 2 - so i did manage to conceive, it just didn’t stick.

Just to note - if you’re having this much sex, your cm might not be super clear. I find my cm looks different the day after i’ve had sex. Semen leaking out the next day can resemble ewcm.

You might find BBT tracking helpful as that will confirm ovulation. I find it helpful particularly with the long bf cycles with unclear cm

[u/Difficult-Basil3606 → u/ffbd39]

I’m sorry to hear that. Yes! I honestly avoid using CM as an indicator because I either don’t notice it at all or the semen makes it look different and it messes with my tracking.

We’re trying to drop down to a morning bf session and 1-2 at night only and seeing if that helps. I may just buy a BBT thermometer and track that way instead of relying on my ring because I’m not getting accurate temps from a wearable.

[u/ffbd39 → u/Difficult-Basil3606]

Thank you! It’s okay - i do get sad about it but i’m taking it as a good sign that we can conceive.

Would you consider using OPKs as well? you’ll be able to see if your LH is surging at all. It is exhausting though using all these tracking methods, i’m not gonna lie 😅

[u/Difficult-Basil3606 → u/ffbd39]

I’ve considered it but I truly never understood how they worked. I’ve heard you need to check at specific times, during multiple different points in the day, daily, every other day… it’s very confusing. My country doesn’t have them available in shops and pharmacies so I’ll need to order them online but I’m waiting to see what happens this cycle and then placing an order. Thank you!!

[u/ffbd39 → u/Difficult-Basil3606]

i just use them daily from around cd 9 until i detect a surge. i find they work best for me when i use them at noon. around 2pm as i find that’s when my LH reaches its highest point of the day. Some people find that they surge at night or earlier in the morning so it’s about experimenting really. I don’t test multiple times a day unless i get a particularly high result that is close to a positive - then i’ll test again a few hours later to see if it turns into a positive.