TTC while BF

DD is 13 months old and we want #2 on the way! We were hoping for less time between them (I know, hard work at first) but perhaps due to DD being a very booby baby, my AF took ages to come back. Have now had 3, not as regular as before but not what anyone would call irregular either I expect. I am still BF but only once or twice a day and sometimes in the middle of the night. There's not a lot left in there for her any more.

Basically I thought I'd introduce myself as anonymously as possible (we aren't announcing we are TTC but I wanted someone to talk to) and hopefully meet some of you in a "due in " forum soon! #1 was conceived quickly so we are hoping for the same again - fingers very crossed.

Im bf my 21 month old, have been ttc for 5 months now. #1 took 1 month, #2 took 2 months, so this is the longest its ever taking up. DS feeds every 12 hrs, right before bed and first thing in the morning. 2 kids were hard enough when #2 was little, so we not worried about a small age gap and I wont be weaning DS any time soon as BF is still great for him even at this age the benefits arent any less than they were when he was younger.

Hey, this sounds very similar to me :) though my DD will be 1 on sunday.
She is very into BF and we are wanting ttc #2. No AF here yet. Bf about 3 times a day then overnight also, hoping she will cut down soon.
Good luck!

Yeah, I think they have to be ok with bottles from mum before around 9 months or it's just not going to happen that way. Mine was taking a bottle at daycare, but never from me. And then she hated any kind of other milk. I was thinking the other day that I've been working on weaning for too long. I'd intended to cut her off at 1 year if AF hadn't returned, but then with one thing and another it just wasn't right. Plus we just can't beat BF when she gets sick and won't eat or drink anything. I'd not mind continuing at all, but I'd like my fertility back now!

Well we had a good party today & shes got her first tooth finally.
Still no AF for me though. Been getting cramps so hopefully its on its way????

ArielAngel wrote: I do feel a little bad that I am putting my desire for another baby ahead of the potential health benefits of BF for longer, but I'm getting older and don't have time to spare!

I felt exactly the same way...but I'm trying to make myself feel better - a year of BF is awesome! And, I'm sure my current baby will LOVE having a sibling so I'm not really doing him any harm...
We have managed to wean (very gradually, he's practically weaned himself) down to 1 BF before bed...and I'm taking vitex, so fingers crossed something happens soon...although I'm not holding my breath!

I feel much the same way. We're hoping that a sibling would hopefully be of more long term benefit than continued breastfeeding. Our age is a factor here as well. Stopping has proved to be fairly difficult as I have a non-bottle taking, non-milk drinking child. I've been scaling back BF since around 10 months (and off birth control since 6) with the idea that I could cut back to some point and get my fertility come back. Alas, now nearly at 16 months, down to twice a day (now that night weaning is sort of figured out. Now losing even more sleep, great. ) and still a whole lot of nothing. So as of right now ovulation has 2 more weeks to show up before we're all the way done. Next week is no more morning feed, and the week after the bedtime one.

Since I've been trying to get AF to come back for so long I've read about every method and theory on getting fertility back (and tried most everything, just because it didn't work for me doesn't mean they won't work for you), so here's some statistics:
6-7% of EBF women have AF return before 6 months.
38% of BF women have AF return between 6 and 12 months.
48% of BF women have AF return between 12-24 months
7-8% have AF return after 24 months.
For those not using bottles, dummies, working or otherwise separate from the baby, and feeding on demand through night and day (which is not me!) the average age of AF return is 14.6 months.
One upside to later fertility return is that the later your fertility returns the more likely it is to be full fertility right away.

AF returned at 7 months for me, it hasn't been as regular as before DD and have finally finished the mini-pill and waiting for normal cycles to return.

Is everyone taking FA? Does this have any impact on bf?

I was wondering if it effected the taste?

Well, I'm in that 38% band. Still another week or so till AF is due, so keeping these fingers crossed. I'm also taking folic acid.

Not sure where (maybe on here) but I heard/read that BFing when TTC increases the chance of twins. Gulp. They also run in the family.