how to know if and when i'm fertile while not experiencing menstruation

[rgnolan]

DD is now 3 months old and I am still not menstruating.  I don't expect to be for quite some time.  I didn't experience a period until my DS was 12 months old.  We breast feed exclusively and I was told by my midwife that I would be safe for 6 months.  So I'm not using any birth control and am really nervous about it.  I'd like to wait to start taking the birth control, I'd actually like to not take it at all.  Is there any way I tell if and when I'm fertile during this period before menstruation begins again?  I really don't want to have another baby any time soon! 

[BK Mommy]

I'm so curious about this too.  I was told that if I continue to BF that I'll be fine (not fertile) for 6 months, but I know someone who returned from maternity leave and ended up getting pregnant shortly after she returned to work.  She thought she'd be ok.  This made me so nervous, I decided to go on the mini-pill.  It hasn't affected my mood, desire etc. so I'm ok with it...gives me peace of mind.  Hope others reply.  Would love to know what others are doing.

[lactatinggirl]

Read Taking Charge of Your Fertility and the thread in here called Charting to Avoid. Both those have a lot of info on nursing to prevent pregnancy. If you do it right (can't use pacifiers, I don't think pumping and feeding is allowed either) then you can prevent your fertility returning in most cases. If you start menstruating, you have your fertility back. Even beyond 6 months, many nursing moms don't get their cycles back for a while. I've heard some going as high as 2 years. Most it seems to be between a year and two though. 

[kattryna923]

My daughter has been exclusively breastfed, but began sleeping through the night by 6 weeks - completely of her own doing.  I mean, we're talking, 12 hours totally on her own.  She has never taken a pacifier and only recently has begun to accept a sippy cup of breast milk when I am at work 2 times a week for only 4 hrs ( I pump at work).  My period came back at 3 months, but I also have a copper IUD.  I started to chart my my temperature and began learning how to understand cervical fluid.  I could def see that I ovulated - then I skipped my period for what would have been my 3rd cycle. My daughter began waking up throughout the night to nurse (growth spurt) so I can only assume that this messed with my hormone levels.  I took a pregnancy test - Negative - thank GOD!  All this to say....it seems VERY difficult to chart your fertility when nursing within the first year of your baby being born (even if you have started your period again).  I've stopped charting for now....there was no way to guarantee the same time of night I would be taking my temp, and with skipped periods - who the heck knows what is going on?  I know that it is highly unlikely that I would get pregnant between nursing and the IUD, but I do think it is extremely important for women to actually understand how our bodies work.  I am on-demand-breastfeeding mom.  So....LAM only works if you don't go more that 4 hours without nursing.  All of this to say...I would recommend learning your body - you CAN be fertile even before your first period begins.  It seems as though there is a balance of knowing/understanding your body, but also understand that it takes awhile for your body to get it's hormones back to normal so that you are regular again.  Taking Charge of Your Fertility is a great book....but until your body regulates, there are NO guarantees in charting your fertility.  For now...I am just trying to relax and enjoy the ride.  

[mt_gooseberry]

I recommend looking into Natural Family Planning.  It generally comes from a religious point-of-view, but that stuff is easy to ignore if that's not your style.  Generally, you are not fertile until after your first period (the warning menses).  It is pretty rare to get pregnant without ever having a "warning menses," the percentage is about like getting pregnant while using condoms (if I remember correctly).  That said, it DID happen to me.  I got pregnant at 10 months without ever having had a period.  I had started charting my temps and body signs about a month earlier, but didn't see any signs of returning fertility.  I was also using a pacifier and substitute teaching (so pumping) and had been taking birth control which I stopped in order to do the NFP.  My midwife thinks it was actually the birth control (minipills and a single shot of depo) that screwed up my hormones enough to ovulate without a warning menses.  She said as long as you're nursing frequently enough and not getting your period, you're about as safe as with typical birth control methods.n said, I got pregnant when my daughter was 10 months.  That      

Edited by mt_gooseberry - 3/26/11 at 10:50am