NFP while nursing?

[sassitap]

I haven't had a period in 3 years, since before I got pregnant with dd#1(born 4/9/01). I also have dd born 11/20/ 02. I knew I wanted to have them close together so we weren't using anything between babies and expected to get pregnant again before my period returned. My mom and aunt got pregnant again the sameway.

I am tandem nursing both babes right now, but can tell by the way I feel lately that my fertility is definately returning. I HATE the way I feel when I'm on the pill and am allergic to latex so condoms and diaphragms aren't relly an option. We don't want to get a vasectomy yet ---later after 1 more, but I really feel like my body needs to rest for a year or so before we have another baby.

Have any of you mamas used nfp while nursing? Is it even possible without your periods? Right now we're just being very careful about withdrawal---not the best, I know.

Women in my family are very fertile. Grandma had 11 kids in 15 years. Mom and aunt both had their tubes tied after 2. Is nfp an option for me?

[Tigerchild]

I half use NFP. Temperatures are not great for me when I'm nursing, BUT cervical fluid is right on target!

Still...we are not chancing it. My fertility returns super fast...8 weeks after Fiona (nursing full time), and 4 months now (exclusively nursing twins, and part-time nursing a toddler!).

I'm blaming it on my husband though. He must be a pheremone factory, because I had a stupid amount of unprotected sex during my early sexually-active years (and when I was older, too, sadly) and never got knocked up once. :P

[laurata]

There's another thread on this going on right now in "methods" folder.

Yes, I've used NFP while breastfeeding. I had 17 months of amenoreah with my lil one. My period return after a clearly "fertile" phase (lots of EWCF!) and dry up, but no temp shift, so it's unlikely I ovulated. Anyway, I ovulated this week, at 18 months postpartum. Still ecologically breastfeeding.

Unfortunately, using NFP can call for a lot of abstinance until your cycles get regular. So (with a return of fertility) you may have fertile quality cervical fluid for a while before you finally ovulate. For me, that meant 10+ days of abstance, plus 4 past my peak day. And, ahem, my dh decided that although I said, "I'm fertile-- If you don't want a babe in 9 months, best avoid for now..." Well, he must not have understood, 'cause I'm in a 2 ww. We'd both kinda like to expand our family, but since his job is unstable... We were hoping to wait. Dh joked that if we have another girl her name should be Providence. He's so funny.

[Quirky]

I don't have any advice on the NFP front, but what about the non-latex condoms in conjunction with NFP for fertile days? I think they're made of polyurethane (maybe??) but they're for people with latex sensitivities.

[laurata]

Originally posted by Jane
I don't have any advice on the NFP front, but what about the non-latex condoms in conjunction with NFP for fertile days? I think they're made of polyurethane (maybe??) but they're for people with latex sensitivities.

I *think* that would be considered *Fertility Awareness Method,* not NFP. Not to nit-pick. But if you are going to get pregnant while using condoms (method failure) it would definately be in the fertile times. Plus, using spermicides makes it harder to interpret your fertility signals, and can irratate the cervix. I'm not dissing the idea, we used FAM and a diaphram for a while and it worked well for us. But I don't want to perpetuate confusion. There are different forms of NFP/FAM. From what I understand, except for the TCOYF book (which calls its method FAM), all the other NFP methods call for abstinence during the fertile phase.

[sassitap]

Thanks for all the replies! I will look into the non latex condoms-- haven't used a condom in over 10 years. I have always been very good at just intuiting my fertility. I cycle with the moon almost exactly and can definately tell that my hormones are fluctuating again. I got a thermometer and downloaded some charts and will be keeping close track of things for a while. I am very bad at abstinance, but dh makes it a game. It's like first dating again to have all that sexual energy in the air. A great excuse for hours of foreplay.

Thanks for all the great info! I wasn't clear on the difference between FAM and NFP before. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[ldsapmom]

The thing about your fertile cm is you usually ovulate the last or second to the last day of ewcm (according to TCOYF). This last cycle I had way too much ewcm -- like 3 extra days. I don't temp or chart, I just watch my cm. My cycles are very regular -- 31 days. I know I am okay for the 7 days following my moon. Then I watch my cm and take precautions during the slippery phase (the "come on in boys, the water's fine" phase). Then once things have returned to normal, I know I am okay a few days before the whole cycle starts again.

One thing about FAM (and yes, that is different than NFP as Laurata stated) of 10 women using it, 1 will get pregnant in a year (and that is using it as birth control -- not trying to achieve pregnancy!) There is also LAM which applies to nursing moms, but I am glad I never tried it as my moon returned, bith times, at 5 months, like clockwork. And since it is assumed you are "safe" until 6 months, that could have spelled b-a-b-y.

[Palmetto210]

Just to add to the comment re: 1:10 pregnancy for FAM users.

It may be helpful to review the actual studies. There was some excellent research in India, China, and Austrailia, and where a distinction was made between those couples "spacing" children ad those couples flat out "avoiding pregnancy". You can imagine how their respective attitudes affected an overall study result.

Happy nursing!

[maybebaby]

interesting thread!

I wanted to add too, in hanging out on the tcoyf forums, it seems those "avoiders" who get pg and aren't trying are also bending the rules a bit. If you follow it *strictly* then you can be pretty safe. There are women there who have used it for years and never had an "oops" (but then got pg within a couple months when trying, so it wasn't a fertility issue)

I'm nursing and using FAM, but I didn't start charting again until my second pp cycle so I'm no help in the phase before your cycle returns. Just knowing your basic infertile pattern helps, but I would err on the side of caution and use an alternative method of bc until you can chart cycles.

Good luck!!