Just curious! I know that there's a wide range of variability and it depends a lot on your feeding practices. Thanks to my daughter nursing all night and all day, I'm currently AF free at 4 1/2 months. [rofl] We co-sleep all night every night, nurse on demand, don't use bottles or pacis, rarely leave her with anyone, etc.

State the length of time and give a brief description of your feeding practices.

I put 6 to 9 months; I was on maternity leave with Alex for 3 months and we co-slept/fed on demand the whole time. We still did that when I went back to work, but I was pumping at work instead of feeding him directly during the day. I think if I had not gone back to work I would have gone without AF for much longer.

I *voted* for 12-18 months as that's when AF HAS returned in the past. Though, at the moment, AF is yet to return. Bebe is 11 months :)

With ds #1, cycle returned right around 1yr.
With the rest it was 1 yr to a few months after. I generally have had 1 *maybe* 2 periods before getting pg again. My cycle has not resumed, for the most part, until the child is weaned fully. However, with #2, he was still nursing, my cycle resumed AND I got pg...when he was, um, 14 or 15 months ;)

Eldest did the side-car sleeping thing, sort of, for the first month or two. Then co-slept until he started hogging all the bed at 6 months. At which time he was moved to his own bed to start the night. He usually woke up and was brought to our bed around 3 am and stayed there til it was time for us to get up. Nursing as often as desired (1.5 - 2 hr).
All the rest have been in our bed from day 1. Nursing as often as desired...again, average every 1.5 - 2 hr, up til we're not sleeping well and we move the baby to their own bed. This is around 9-12 months, average. And again, they start the night there, sleeping until whatever time..average 3-4am-ish, then staying in bed with us and nursing every couple of hours til *morning*.
Bebe has been, I believe, the youngest to go so long at night. He now nurses to sleep, I put him in his bed, he wakes by the time I get down the hall, he fusses for like 30 seconds LOL then crashes back out, around 9 - 9:30pm. He sleeps until 4am most days, has slept til 6, 7, even 8am :shock:
This has been going on for, what? a few weeks now ??
No sign of AF, yet.


**did I write a novel?**

I nurse on demand; but there was a few weeks that stress was causing me not to produce enough for her, so we used formula for a couple weeks. I'm back to just nursing again, but started my period again when she was about 2 1/2 months.

I breastfed for about 13 months with my son and my period didn't return until after I stopped (I can't remember how long after - a couple of months I think).

With my first, I needed surgery when he was 5 months and was told that couldn't nurse due to the drugs so I weaned him. AF returned shortly after.

With my second, I nursed him until he was about 8 or 9 months old and got teeth and used them :twisted: but AF came when he was about 6 months old.

I never co slept with any of my babies though. With my first, he did nurse pretty much when he wanted at first, because that's all I knew, but it wasn't working for us, so I found out about scheduling him and it worked like a charm. With number 2, I did that from the start and it's been way better for me. But that means that they sleep through the night very early (12 weeks with number 2) and so as far as ecological breastfeeding goes, I'm up the creek!

With DD#1, it was after about six months. I was following "Babywise" pretty closely, which she seemed fine with. AF came back when she started solid foods and was nursing less.

This time around, AF hasn't returned after 8 months. For DD#2, I just had a really rough time getting it all together to try to follow a schedule, so I've just basically fed on demand. And, lol, she has basically followed a Babywise-type schedule. She's still feeding on demand, but she doesn't seem as wild about solids as her sister was, so I think that's what's buying me a little more AF-free time.

Right after my lochia stopped. I was exclusively breastfeeding too. Weird huh? They come right on the dot every month now too. LOL

AF came back when Abby was 9 months. I was exclusively b/f until 6 months and then we went onto solids. She still gets 2 feeds a day. We never co-slept and boy am I glad for that, that little girl is such a wiggle-worm. You should see her in her bed. She is all over the place, moving constantly. Anyway, I was glad for 9 months of AF free time. :D

With both of my children I had a normal AF the following month after I gave birth.

My AF hasn't returned yet and Jessica will be 1 in 3 days, she feeds at least 5 times a days plus at least 1 time overnight most of the time 2 or 3 times. We don't cosleep as I don't sleep very well with her in bed with us and she now thinks that its play time when she's in our bed so it would be impossible!!

Mine never came back until each child was fully weaned for about 2-3 months. So, in the case of my oldest and youngest, that was over 2 years.

Mine didn't return until 16 months ppd. DS was exclusively bf for 12 months (no solids because we've had feeding issues and couldn't get any in him), then I started supplementing with more and more formula, less nursing. He was completely weaned at 15 months, but by that time I was quite a bit underweight. Even though he had just been nursing at bedtime (sometimes not even daily) for a few wks, AF didn't return until he was completely weaned, and I ovulated 4 days after his last nursing session. I've had lots of hormonal challenges though (hypothyroid, low adrenal function), and I'm sure that played a role.

I voted 18-24 months. Mine AF didn't return at all until than. And I loved it!

Mine returned after 3 mths with my first. With my second, it didn't return until 6 mths. My third is 8 wks and thankful, no surprises yet! 8)

I chose 2-4 months. With my first it came back around the 3rd month, and with my second it came back around the 4th month. I breastfed on demand with both of them, never supplemented with anything.

I didn't nurse my first two but, my other two I did. Cycle came back quick because they were so sick that I had to pump and take the milk to the hospital.

I put 9-12 months...but it was closer to 9 months. And when AF returned, i almost bled to death because my hormones were so out of whack! I had an 18 day period that was so heavy, and had huge clots *I know I know..YUCK!* I was still pretty much bfing DD on demand exculsively, she didn't like to each much back then, and I had worked from the time DD was 6weeks old til she was 7 months, and pumped three times a day, but AF stayed at bay. I only had one more AF before I got pg, but I guess they would have returned to "normal" soon after.

I have a friend, who on demand bf's, she just had her 4th baby about 5 months ago, and she always gets her AF soon after Lochia stops....

It's so nice to not have AF...I have only had two in the past two years!! :-)

Amber

6 mo, 6 mo, and 14 mo.

Right after my lochia stopped. I was exclusively breastfeeding too. Weird huh? They come right on the dot every month now too. LOL

Are you sure it was a "real" period? Some women (like me :( ) have a hormonally induced psuedo-period w/in the 1st 8 wks of baby's birth, and it has nothing to do w/ fertility.

I got mine around 9 months with all four of them. This time has been the most painful because I have the Copper IUD; :( It's incredibly painful at first, but fortunately, I've been down this "in the beginning" road before and it DOES go away, it actually gets WAY better. Anyways... so, 6-9 months for me. :)

With both boys, my period returned a month after I stopped nursing.

With my first, I nursed and bottle fed (I was in college and couldn't always be there), and it returned at about 4 months.

With no. two, I am nursing pretty much exclusively, and it has not returned. The baby is 7.5 months. It has been nice. I am not looking forward to having my period again!

with my first it came back about a day after the lochia stopped (that just sounds worse than bleeding) and i breastfed for about 5 months. this time around i'm breastfeeding the same and still nothing at 4 months!