Breastfeeding and conception

[sconeonamission]

I'm demand feeding my ds, who - at this point- is only 7wks. When we dtd, its spontaneous and we're not using any contraception. Im not willing to go on the pill - I'm terrible at remembering. No to the implanon or mirena, I'm not into that sort of thing. Condoms are my only other option, but when the time comes, they never seems be at hand or we're too much into it to even think! At 4wks and 5wks, we didn't use any. AF has not returned, but they're have been instances within our families that not long after one baby was born, the next was conceived. What are the chances and how can I go about testing for just in case with the 4/5wk incident without my dr or dh finding out ? I'm not worried and don't think that we are, its just a precautionary measure (that in hind sight should have been taken first! ) What are the chances of conceiving with no AF and BF?

[MantaRay]

Rhianon, I read a study that said that for the first 6 months, if you are exclusively bfing (ie no formula or solids) AND feeding through the night (at least one night feed) AND have no AF yet, then you are 98% safe (much the same as the pill). With Jack I met 2 of the 3 (he night weaned at 6 weeks) but didn't get pg (until he was 11 months, AF had returned and we were TTC). With Tom I met all 3 of the conditions and relied on bfing solely for 5 - 6 months before taking other precautions.

So odds are that you are safe. But there are people who seem to fall into the 2% so it could happen. I guess you need to weigh up for yourself how bad it would be if you were to fall pg quickly.

POAS would be the best way to check for pg I would think - it should be accurate enough and you can do it discretely.

[Dustmite]

here is our story in short. With first two children who were BF on demand and basically exclusively BF until they wanted to start eating big people food, AF returned within a matter of weeks (no later than 3 months but believe it was less). With our son AF took almost a year to return and then since June has been so screwed up as far as consistent timing goes. We started to use Condoms but I hate them, and DW not only hates them, but felt they were very painful over all to her so we decided to not worry about it and that if it happened it happened.

I guess I would say ask yourself this: Although you would rather not have another right now, are you ok if you do? If you can answer yes even if it scares you a bit, then don't worry about it and enjoy each other when the moment comes along. But if you can not say that another would be ok even if not your ideal timing, then I would suggest putting the box of condoms next to the bed and using them. I guess if you still fail to use them then try the pull out method.