No af at 18 months yet - experiences?

[julesmama]

We're gearing up for #2 so I'm curious about others who went this long or longer without a period (we're at 18 months now). Did you have to night wean or make other changes for af / ovulation to return? DD still nurses a lot during the day, and most nights she cosleeps and nurses for part of the night. This is anywhere from 6-10 hours in the crib (still fairly rare) to nursing all night. Could the occasional longer stretches encourage the return of fertility? If it took a while for af to return, did you ovulate right away or did it take a while? Would love to hear any experiences.

[acu-mommy]

in the same boat

my daughter is 19 months old, is still nursing, and my period has not returned yet.....this seems like a long time to me. with my son who is now 3 1/2, i got my period back after about 8 months (and he nursed until he was 3, i tandem nursed for quite a while!) so i dont know, some people seem to get theirs back much sooner. with my son, he was almost constantly nursing, and my period returned, i got pregnant while nursing him, and nursing him obviously didnt interfere with my fertility. with my daughter, it seems like my cycle is taking forever to come back, and it feels strange to say that i cant wait to get my period...to get back into a rhythm!..i started taking some chinese herbs, and some ashwaganda, and i am hoping that will help bring my hormones back into balance. best of luck to you!

[zoe77]

I'm going on 24 months . . . From everything I've read I think it's the night nursing. I'm giving up pumping in August and wondering if that will bring my fertility back.

[Jezzy]

I got mine back at 26 months pp. I still night nurse and nod during the day. I have no idea why I got it back.. It seems like I am still nursing all the time.

[LittleLegos]

I had my periods return at 19 mos, but don't think I ovulated until about a year after that. Then I was able to get pregnant, but miscarried twice. It wasn't until 38 mos that I could get pregnant and stay pregnant. I was still nursing at that time, but as my child got older, he nursed less and less. With each pregnancy I gained a little weight too. I think that helped to. I was way under my pre-pregnancy weight and once I was closer to it, nursing less, ect my luteal phase got longer and I could be pregnant.

I really felt that at time that my son was telling my body that he was not ready for a sibling. I think the almost 4 yr spacing worked really well for them. Of course I didn't feel that initiallly, but I came to feel that.

Good luck to you!
Amy

[julesmama]

Thanks so much for the responses. It's so interesting - yesterday I had terrible cramps and swore that af was on the way. This followed two nights of great sleep from dd. Last night she nursed from 12-8am straight more or less and the cramps are gone! We'll see what happens. Kinda hoping to catch the first egg.

[ps4624]

My DD is 17 months old. I night weaned in April and still haven't gotten mine back. She usually goes from about 8PM to 5AM without nursing, so I thought AF would show up pretty quickly. The only sign that my body *might* be getting back on track is the cystic acne that has been showing up on my chin (oh, joy!). Some days I'm zen about it, other days I'm threatening to start progesterone cream.

[Jezzy]

Maybe you were o'ing?

[julesmama]

Originally Posted by Jezzy

Maybe you were o'ing?

Maybe ... I've had bad cramps the past few days (and a negative pregnancy test, of course ). I've heard it can take the body a while to get back to normal, which can mean months like this.

[jwpsgurl]

I never got my period back after DD2, besides a little spotting, but I caught the first egg and got prego again when she was about 21 months. Good Luck!

[justKate]

Originally Posted by julesmama

We're gearing up for #2 so I'm curious about others who went this long or longer without a period (we're at 18 months now). Did you have to night wean or make other changes for af / ovulation to return? DD still nurses a lot during the day, and most nights she cosleeps and nurses for part of the night. This is anywhere from 6-10 hours in the crib (still fairly rare) to nursing all night. Could the occasional longer stretches encourage the return of fertility? If it took a while for af to return, did you ovulate right away or did it take a while? Would love to hear any experiences.

DD is 17 mos. with no sign of AF. She only nurses 2-3 times a day, so I'm surprised at the delay, but with no real interest in TTC soon, I'm okay with it now.

I hope you do catch that 1st egg if that's what you're hoping for!

[Luke's mama]

I got my period 10 mos after my son was born and wasn't getting pregnant while sort of trying to after he was 15 mos. or so. Nothing happening for a few months after that and then I read on a discussion thread on mothering that taking a B vitamin supplement can help you get pregnant if you are still nursing (there have been some articles that you could probably search for about getting preg. while nursing on mothering). Anyway, I tried it and, like the poster on that thread, got pregnant within one or two cycles. I realize there is no way to prove that the B vitamin did it, but maybe it did, and it is an easy thing to try!

[Meg08]

I'm in the same boat too. DD is 18 months, still no AF. She's in daycare all day, sleeps through until morning about half the time, in our bed about half the time. Some days she only nurses a couple of times, other days/nights it seems constant. I've been getting odd feelings since before Christmas that made me think AF was returning. The last 4 days have been particularly suggestive though. Still no AF, and test was negative. Good luck! Let me know what worked!