Ttc and breastfeeding questions

[Sweet mummy]

My DS2 is 4 months old and I'm currently breastfeeding solely with no intentions of stopping - shoukd start him on solids from 6 months.

My questions are -

1) Should I wait until I am finished breastfeeding to start ttc?
2) is it safe to take supps, douche, antihistamines, aspartame, etc whilst breastfeeding?
3) Haven't gotten my period as yet since his birth...should I wait until it returns? (Didn't get it back after DS1 until he was 14 months old!)
4) should I wait until DS2 is older maybe? Was hoping to start swaying Mar-May 2013

DS2 was conceived while I was still breastfeeding DS1 although it was mainly just feeds before nap time and bedtime but my diet was totally boy friendly so no surprise I have two boys!

Anyone get their DD whilst breastfeeding a sibling and what were your swaying techniques used please xx

[rainbowflower]

breastfeeding does sway pink, but my opinion is that it doesn't sway pink much when you're down to just a couple of feeds a day but that that can still prevent you taking certain supplements (saw palmetto, vitex with caution, antihistamines, etc). I conceived DS2 whilst BF (twice a day) when DS1 was 1 year old.

next time around I won't sway until I've stopped BF so I can do a stronger sway

antihistamines might dry up breast milk as well as CM so could affect supply
vitex isn't proven either unsafe or safe when BF (we assume it's safe, but no evidence to prove this, so I tried to minimise the risks by taking it immediately after a feed)
you can't take saw palmetto when BF
can't take aspirin either

[Sweet mummy]

Thanks rainbowflower! Breastfeeding does limit a lot of sway techniques you can use which is making me wonder if I should wait or wean really.

Congrats on your baby boy! :baby2: Our little ones are a month apart!

[LacePrincess]

Yes bf'ing sways pink but you are likely not going to be fertile for awhile longer. Even after you get your first real PPAF it's very likely that the first few aren't true ovulatory cycles. So patience is called for, unfortunately.

Some ladies can conceive as soon as they get their AF back, some can't conceive at all while nursing. I was nursing DS3 until last month (he just turned 3) and we were down to only a few feeds a day, and even that was too much for my cycle. I had to wean completely except for one feed a day a few months ago to get my cycle back. So it's very individual.

Your little guy needs your mommy milk now though, so for now don't even worry about diet and all that, it's more important to eat well so he gets what he needs. :) You don't need to even think about diet until you're within a few months of your attempt anyways.

[rainbowflower]

congratulaions on yours too! my DS1 has just turned 2 as well, and looks like we're both UK swayers as well so lots in common :)
I won't be swaying again for a couple of years, though

I guess you have to do what you feel comfortable with. If you're not comfortable weaning your DS2 early you would have to decide to do a lighter sway or to wait to TTC

my personal plan is to start saw palmetto and perhaps vitex as soon as I stop BF, so even if that's 1+ years in advance of my sway depending on when we stop BF. I've only just weaned DS1 (we tandem fed) so not sure if I want to reach 2 years with DS2 or not yet.

[atomic sagebrush]

A lot of your q's about safety are covered in this essay: http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-discussion-ttc-boy-girl-home-swaying-info/2200-swaying-while-breastfeeding.html

Vitex may help your period return sooner, but as long as you have time on your side (under 38) I prob. wouldn't start it till he's a bit bigger, 6 months or so. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-girl-best-practices/1094-vitex-faq-share-your-experiences-here.html

If possible, I think getting pg sooner rather than later may sway "pinker" than waiting, plus Mar-May are the girl peak months in the N. Hemisphere so it may behoove you to proceed, if you can get O back, that is.

I got one boy and one girl while breastfeeding. When I got my boy I was taking a lot of supps and with my girl I was not taking any supps.

[atomic sagebrush]

Also, with DS 4 I caught the egg before I even had AF - it def. makes it more difficult to get pg, but some people really can get pg without ovulating regularly.

[Sweet mummy]

Yes bf'ing sways pink but you are likely not going to be fertile for awhile longer. Even after you get your first real PPAF it's very likely that the first few aren't true ovulatory cycles. So patience is called for, unfortunately.

Some ladies can conceive as soon as they get their AF back, some can't conceive at all while nursing. I was nursing DS3 until last month (he just turned 3) and we were down to only a few feeds a day, and even that was too much for my cycle. I had to wean completely except for one feed a day a few months ago to get my cycle back. So it's very individual.

Your little guy needs your mommy milk now though, so for now don't even worry about diet and all that, it's more important to eat well so he gets what he needs. :) You don't need to even think about diet until you're within a few months of your attempt anyways.

You're so right - DS2 is my main concern now so going to keep breastfeeding and worry about diet when it comes to it! When he was conceived I had only just gotten AF back, DS1 was 14 months when it returned and 19 months when I conceived DS2. Think I wanted to conceive so quickly to make sure I could still have children at all (looking back now and having done lots of reading since then I realise it was perfectly normal to not have AF whilst breastfeeding)

[Sweet mummy]

congratulaions on yours too! my DS1 has just turned 2 as well, and looks like we're both UK swayers as well so lots in common :)
I won't be swaying again for a couple of years, though

I guess you have to do what you feel comfortable with. If you're not comfortable weaning your DS2 early you would have to decide to do a lighter sway or to wait to TTC

my personal plan is to start saw palmetto and perhaps vitex as soon as I stop BF, so even if that's 1+ years in advance of my sway depending on when we stop BF. I've only just weaned DS1 (we tandem fed) so not sure if I want to reach 2 years with DS2 or not yet.

Wow we do have a lot in common! :happy: Yep looks like it might end up being a light sway if AF returns anytime soon! DS2 is a much better sleeper than DS1 so hopefully my hormones will get back into check a lot sooner.

That's so amazing you tandem fed! I did for two weeks when we brought home baby but my midwife made me wean...don't get me started on some of the midwives and the advice they're dishing out!

[Sweet mummy]

A lot of your q's about safety are covered in this essay: http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-discussion-ttc-boy-girl-home-swaying-info/2200-swaying-while-breastfeeding.html

Vitex may help your period return sooner, but as long as you have time on your side (under 38) I prob. wouldn't start it till he's a bit bigger, 6 months or so. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-girl-best-practices/1094-vitex-faq-share-your-experiences-here.html

If possible, I think getting pg sooner rather than later may sway "pinker" than waiting, plus Mar-May are the girl peak months in the N. Hemisphere so it may behoove you to proceed, if you can get O back, that is.

I got one boy and one girl while breastfeeding. When I got my boy I was taking a lot of supps and with my girl I was not taking any supps.

Thanks so much for the essay Atomic! I am in awe and truly grateful of the amount of work you do for women like me!

I planned to do my sway through those months in 2013 as I read in one of your essays that they swayed pink and being 31 I want to be finished with making babies by 32.

Is there an actual statistic out there about the gender most likely to be conceived whilst breastfeeding? I've got a couple friends who've conceived while breastfeeding and had boys but a friend of mine was conceived while her mother was breastfeeding her brother when he was 4 months old (unbeknownst to her)

[rainbowflower]

I haven't seen any BF-gender statistics, but I think there was a study done about gender conceived soon after a pregnancy. Scientifically you would get more pink whilst BF (if soon after a pregnancy) because your body is already nutrient-depleted following pregnancy and you're giving more away because of BF and we believe low nutrients sway pink. Saying that, if you're taking multivits to support pregnancy and support BF it might cancel that out. Also, a lot of BFers are going to be losing weight and weight loss is thought to sway pink as well. I have definitely seen a study that showed if you had lost weight from one pregnancy to the next conception you are more likely to have a girl.

I know my sister was conceived whilst my mum was BF me, and I would have been 6 months old at the time. I know one other person who conceived within 6 months of giving birth whilst BF and she had a girl as well, her firstborn had been a boy.

I did conceive a boy (DS2) whilst BF, but it was 13 months later and I was doing so few feeds by that point it probably wasn't taking many nutrients from me.


Oh, I won't talk about MWs! I had threatened preterm labour at 30 weeks and when the hospital discovered I was still BF my DS1 there were mixed opinions about whether I ought to stop or not. Half of them (mainly MWs) said I should stop. One MW did a load of research on it for me and found no evidence to suggest I stop and eventually a consultant said I should carry on as the bond/comfort for DS1 was important too. So quite mixed... but in general I haven't had great experience with MWs as I think a lot of them just don't listen to what you want. Incidentally, my mum was told to stop BF me when she fell pregnant with my sister, and she did, so she was keen for me to stop as well (but I didn't listen). DS2 held on in there until 38 weeks in the end, so BF definitely didn't cause any issues in the end. Sorry, that's slightly off topic!

[Sweet mummy]

I haven't seen any BF-gender statistics, but I think there was a study done about gender conceived soon after a pregnancy. Scientifically you would get more pink whilst BF (if soon after a pregnancy) because your body is already nutrient-depleted following pregnancy and you're giving more away because of BF and we believe low nutrients sway pink. Saying that, if you're taking multivits to support pregnancy and support BF it might cancel that out. Also, a lot of BFers are going to be losing weight and weight loss is thought to sway pink as well. I have definitely seen a study that showed if you had lost weight from one pregnancy to the next conception you are more likely to have a girl.

I know my sister was conceived whilst my mum was BF me, and I would have been 6 months old at the time. I know one other person who conceived within 6 months of giving birth whilst BF and she had a girl as well, her firstborn had been a boy.

I did conceive a boy (DS2) whilst BF, but it was 13 months later and I was doing so few feeds by that point it probably wasn't taking many nutrients from me.


Oh, I won't talk about MWs! I had threatened preterm labour at 30 weeks and when the hospital discovered I was still BF my DS1 there were mixed opinions about whether I ought to stop or not. Half of them (mainly MWs) said I should stop. One MW did a load of research on it for me and found no evidence to suggest I stop and eventually a consultant said I should carry on as the bond/comfort for DS1 was important too. So quite mixed... but in general I haven't had great experience with MWs as I think a lot of them just don't listen to what you want. Incidentally, my mum was told to stop BF me when she fell pregnant with my sister, and she did, so she was keen for me to stop as well (but I didn't listen). DS2 held on in there until 38 weeks in the end, so BF definitely didn't cause any issues in the end. Sorry, that's slightly off topic!

Hmmm....now I am tempted to sway Mar-May :think: May start vitex to bring back AF.

As grateful as I am for the NHS, knowing other healthcare systems are very expensive or just don't compare to the kind of care you receive, I've been quite let down by some of the MWs I've met. Quite sad they'd wanted you to stop bf DS1 and good on you for continuing despite! Sometimes a mother's instinct is far more superior to advice given my medical professionals and I'm sure your DS1 is a happier little fella for it!

[rainbowflower]

this coming Mar-May? so your DS2 will be about 8 months..? you're brave, don't think I'd want so small an age gap!

which county are you in?

with MWs I think a bit of it is luck of the draw as to who you're assigned to.

[atomic sagebrush]

Re stats and breastfeeding, it's super hard to amass stats like that. The reason being, that first of all women who can get pg while breastfeeding, and/or women who were able to breastfeed easily, may be hormonally different than women who can't or struggled with BF and chose to bottlefeed instead. So that skews results right from the get-go. Secondly, there may be something to the idea that women who choose to bf longer (long enough to get pg again, typically for more than a year) are in some way different...possibly financially better off, maybe a bit more "crunchy" and that may also be swaying. So even if there were a set of stats out there, they're largely useless because they're skewed.

Biologically, the effects of breastfeeding should sway pink. I believe that they sway pink. That does not mean that will ever be 100% or even 50-50...if you start off being 75% likely to have a boy and breastfeeding gets you to 70% likely to have a boy, it still swayed pink, even tho there are still a heck of a lot of boys being conceived. That's one of those things that you can't tell by the stats.

[rainbowflower]

crunchy women..?

[Sweet mummy]

this coming Mar-May? so your DS2 will be about 8 months..? you're brave, don't think I'd want so small an age gap!

which county are you in?

with MWs I think a bit of it is luck of the draw as to who you're assigned to.

Lol! I know right :worry: but I wanted to be done having kids by 30 and now I'm 31 and still dreaming about having a little girl so I'm thinking I'll extend it to 32 and I need to get the ball rolling. DS2, so far, is such a dream compared to DS1 (isn't it amazing how different children of the same gender can be!) so I'm thinking a small age gap shouldn't be too bad (I may eat my words later if I'm pg and having to run behind 3yo and 1yo boys!!)

I'm in Hertfordshire.

I had a lovely HV that visited us twice at home whom I would love to have follow up care with for DS2 but she only does house visits and we have to go to drop-in instead :sad:

[Sweet mummy]

Lol at "crunchy"

P.S. Atomic your daughter is so adorable!!!

[atomic sagebrush]

crunchy women..?

People who are super into natural stuff like organic foods, eating very healthfully, avoiding a lot of processed and junk foods and artificial sweeteners - they are often attachment parents and breastfeed longer and thus are more likely to get pregnant again while still breastfeeding.

[atomic sagebrush]

Lol at "crunchy"

P.S. Atomic your daughter is so adorable!!!

Thank you!!!