Trying to Conceive While Breastfeeding - Graham,NC

While breastfeeding does delay the return of fertility, it doesn't stop it. I nursed each of my 7 kids for 3 yrs, and had them approx. 2 yrs apart. This is a naturally healthy spacing - part of God's great design for humankind. Please don't go against nature in your attempts to conceive again, it will happen in God's good time. Tandem nursing is such a pleasure, you'll be glad you didn't stop! I really wouldn't have wanted to have them any closer anyway!
Fertility will return, in spite of continued nursing when:
1. baby sleeps throughout the night
2. takes a pacifier or sucks thumb
3. starts eating table food
In short, anything that decreases the amount of suckling time. And, you can ovulate and conceive w/o having any periods between babies. I did this several times.
BTW, nursing through labor really is better than any epidural! I had one labor that started while I was nursing my toddler. It consisted of 3 (yes, only 3!) ctx, 20 mins apart. then a pushing urge, so I detached my still nursing toddler, sat her in front of a bowl of cereal between ctx I went to the toilet, pushed, my water broke, (which is when I finally realized I was in labor!)and then proceeded to push out a 9 lb 11 oz girl! Without a tear, hemorrhage, anything! it was one of my easiest labors!

My cycles came back fairly quickly even though I was nursing exclusively but do know that if you get pregnant the taste of your milk may change and baby could reject the breast or you may lose your supply. These things don't happen to all women but it is something to consider if you want to continue breastfeeding this baby.

And it really is better for your body and new baby to give your body time to replenish the depleted stores that were used during your most recent pregnancy and now nursing.

Your body is nourishing one child (while you breastfeed) and is telling your hormones that all the energy is going into making milk, not ovulating. Check online- but generally breastfeeding (with no supplementation with formula etc.) coupled with ammenhoria (sic) is a VERY effective means of birth control -

My suggestion is "Don't." Your body is wonderfully designed with a built-in feature that keeps you from being over-taxed by growing children (either inside you with pregnancy, or outside you with breastfeeding). Don't get me wrong -- I thought I was ready to have another baby when my older son was just a couple of months old as well, so I'm not saying there's anything wrong with wanting lots of children close together. But your body knows that you don't have the physical stores to breastfeed your baby *and* grow a new baby, which is why you're not menstruating. [This also happens with women who are too thin or work too hard -- the girls on the Olympic gymnastics team rarely have periods, simply because their body fat is too low, or they're working too hard.]

My advice is just to rest and enjoy your baby, and when you have recovered enough, your body will start menstruating again. Besides, I conceived my younger son when my older son was 10 m/o, and would not recommend it to others. Now they're fine; now they're wonderful friends and companions (4 & 5 y/o), but when the younger one was born, the older one was still a baby in so many ways. I remember more than one occasion when all three of us just sat in the floor and cried because I needed to "baby" both of them at the same time, and I couldn't. It was very frustrating and overwhelming having two that close together. It can be done -- I know several people with children 15 mo apart and less (including one set of brothers who were 9 months apart!), but it's not fun.

Enjoy your baby now, and don't shortchange him/her by not providing the breastmilk s/he needs. When your body is able to handle another pregnancy, your fertility will return.

You would have to give up breastfeeding at night to raise your chances. Breastfeeding is natures way of keeping our children perfectly spaced and allow us time to heal. Most women do not realize that it takes us two years to completely heal inside from a birth - some longer if there were complications. IF you were to decide to quit the night feedings, be sure you use goat's milk for your substitute feedings. It is the closest thing you can find to human milk (in nutrients). If they don't like it at first, pump and give them breast milk in the first bottle or two, then start adding the goats milk a tablespoon at a time to each subsequent bottle until it's all goats milk.

I don't know what advice to give you, but I got pregnant while breastfeeding the very first time we tried. GOOD LUCK!

Are you sure that you want to conceive right now? They usually suggest at least a year to give your body a chance to recover.