when is the mini-pill no longer effective?

[barcelona]

i know it is best for nursing moms...and i am breastfeeding and plan to extended breastfeed my ds....he is 11 months now. he still nurses a lot, thoug he has started solids, and probably nurses a bit less. when should one stop relying on the mini pill and switch the the real pill or other means of birth control?

TIA!!!

[shelbean91]

I don't know if there is a specific time, but I think ds2 was around 18 mos before I stopped trusting the minipill- he was nursing less, eating more, etc. I tried an IUD, that didn't work for me, so I switched back to the regular pill right before he turned 2. It's almost totally put a halt to my weight loss, but besides that, it's been ok.

[anniegirl]

Hmmm...you don't technically need to ever switch. The mini-pill isn't exclusively for nursing mothers. I used it for a while before I ever had kids because I have a blood disorder that prohibits me from taking anything with estrogen in it.

The reason it has a higher failure rate than the regular pill is because you have to be really religious with it. You have to take it at the exact same time every day and use back up if you miss a pill or take it more than three hours off when you usually take it. With perfect use it's only slightly less effective than the regular pill, nursing or not.

Anyway, the regular pill is more forgiving if you miss one or are late taking it. But if you're really good about taking it within the same hour every day there's no need to switch. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

[shelbean91]

That is a good point, anniegirl. I just knew I *wasn't* perfect enough about taking it and I needed something a little more forgiving.

[barcelona]

thanks for the info, ladies! very much appreciated and helpful. i'll be sure to be super religious about these little pills

[sophmama]

My dd was down to nursing once every 2 weeks and I was on the minipill (she was 30 months old). That's when I got preggo. She weaned on her own immediately after that. It may have been the taste of the milk or my sudden severe aversion to nursing. I was **SURE** I was not pregnant - but, I was! It wasn't until a month later that I figured out I was preggo and a month beyond that that I realized it had caused weaning. Hindsight is 20/20.