Fast return of period despite exclusive breastfeeding-anyone else?

[calynde]

My period returned only 7 weeks after the birth of my son...despite that he was exclusively breastfed...often and on demand. Have any of you experienced something similar? It makes me concerned about my hormone levels.

Thanks for any insight!

[danav]

I personally didn't get my periods back until about a year post-partum with both of my children, but one of my best friends DID get hers back within the first 2-3 months with all three of her babies, even though she was exclusively nursing them at the time. I think it's unusual for it to return so quickly, but not neccessarily abnormal. As far as I am aware she has not had any problems with hormone levels or other health issues related to her periods returning quickly (and she continued to breastfeed her first two for over a year, and is currently still breastfeeding her 7 month old).

Edited to add another thought: You say your period returned at 7 weeks - was that very recently, or was it a while ago and you have continued to have regular periods? If you are still in the early post-partum weeks, it might not really be your period. If I recall correctly, any bleeding before 8 weeks is usually still considered lochia and you might have just overdone it on physical activity, causing the post-partum bleeding to start up again.

[its_our_family]

COunt me in. I was 7 weeks with Tracy and 8 weeks with Bryce.

I was regular around every 6 weeks.

Not fun at all....actually, pretty unfair....

[Storm Bride]

With ds, it took 9 months for my period to come back, even though he hadn't been exclusively b/f for several months at that point (solids). With dd, it came back in just under four months, and she was still exclusively breastfed.

Seven weeks is very quick, but I doubt it means anything is wrong. And, as the pp said, it could be post-partum bleeding coming back. I've thought mine was over twice, and then had it pick back up when I overdid it.

[the_lissa]

I got mine back at 5 months, despite nursing around the clock. She never ever went 2 hours between nursing. I now think I had an oversupply that regulated itself and that is why.

[Guinevere]

Mine has come back at different times with each child, fwiw --
3 mos. with DC #1,
6 mos. with DC #2,
12 mos. with DC #3,
13 mos. with DC #4.

Is your baby sleeping for a longer stretch at night (like 4 hrs. or more), perhaps? Frequency of night nursing is one of the things that keeps AF at bay, along with nursing on demand, of course. And I agree with previous posters who suggested that it could also be a return of lochia, if you've been quite active of late or have stepped up your postpartum activities recently.

It is a bummer, though, isn't it? I had always thought absence of AF was one of the big advantages of bfing (well, okay, only ONE of them ), and was thoroughly disappointed to see her come round my door so soon. You may find, though, that AF isn't regular for many months to come, even if she returned early -- that's pretty common, too...

Kind regards,
Guin

[Artisan]

Yes, me! It arrived back at 4 months pp... despite exclusive, around the clock BFing.

[Mallory]

I had lochia for almost 6 weeks and a couple weeks later my first period, and they were about every six weeks after that. Ds nursed all day and night, no bottles or pacifiers.

Even pretty much exclusively nursing a 1 1/2 year old (after my milk came back, he didn't eat much solids for months) and exclusively nursing a newborn, day and night no pacifiers or bottle, my first period came back about 8 months.

I did expect the short time though, my brother and I are 11 months apart and they realized my mom was pregnant the second time because I was losing weight at about 3 or 4 months, her milk supply during pregnancy wasn't keeping up.

I think it runs in families.

[LoveChild421]

got mine back 3 months PP- I wonder too what it says about hormone levels- is it a good sign (maybe we're extra fertile) or a sign that something is "off"?

I started my period at 9 year old and got pregnant on the first try both times (had one miscarriage). I have grandma's who got their PP AF back soon like me even though they were BF- they all had 8-9 kids! I think maybe it is a sign of fertility...

[mamaGjr]

Originally Posted by calynde

My period returned only 7 weeks after the birth of my son...despite that he was exclusively breastfed...often and on demand. Have any of you experienced something similar? It makes me concerned about my hormone levels.

Thanks for any insight!

I have many friends at work (we all work VERY part time) who exclusively bf / pump at work etc

We have a varying degree of the return of AF (aunt flow)
one was at 8 weeks, 2 years , 2.5 years , 1 year etc

I would be annoyed by the inconvenience (as in I would rather not be dealing with THAT right now ) but I don't think it has anything to do with the way you are bf or anything ... i think it is genetics and or horomones

[calynde]

Thanks for all your replies.

I'm actually asking this question after the fact...since my son is just coming up on 3 yrs and has just naturally weaned! We're working on our second pregnancy and having my period return so early always bothered me but I was too exhausted and overwhelmed to look into it at the time. My midwife said something about excess estrogen I think, but I'm in Switzerland and she was speaking German...so who knows if I got it right!

Anyway, my son was constantly feeding (also throughout the night...he never slept long stretches), I had milk flowing out in rivers and I still had my normal 28 day cycles return after 7 weeks. That really is bad luck!!! :

Hoping for better luck next time!

[jerawo]

I just got mine back at 3 months pp despite feeding on demand and co-sleeping. Sometimes I think our bodies are just going to do what they are going to do. It's annoying, but at least I don't have to wonder when my fertility is going to return now.

[Rockies5]

whoa!~

I'm simply shocked there aren't more mamma's like me!

My af (despite nursing mre then ever 1-2hr day and night) comes back at 4-6weeks pp and is regular as well (28-35days). we don't use pacis and son't introduce foods until mommy is pregnant again (lol) between 7mos and 16mos. I have followed FAM and I am ovulating from 4-5mos onward. It doesn't seem "fair" somehow (sore nipples and af at the same time!) but oh well, you can't argue with nature.

This will be our 7th pg and 5th child and it has always been this way.

Just pat yourself on the back for being so perfectly functional

this is very common in my family as well.