Taking Charge of Your Fertility

[BearWallowSchool]

In my other thread, many of you suggested that I read "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". I plan on reading the book. I am currently breastfeeding my 8 month old. He is also eating baby food. My period has not yet returned. Will I be able to use this method or will I have to wait until my period returns?

 

Tiffany

[MommyX8]

I have a previous edition that you can have free for shipping.

[i.love.lucy]

I don't know what other thread it was mentioned in, but I credit this book for getting me my son.;)

[stripe]

Yes, there is mention of breastfeeding in that book, and you can read Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing by Sheila Kippley for a more specialized look. The Couple to Couple League has some summaries of what's in that.

 

I also recommended this website: http://www.irh.org/RTP-TDM.htm

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

I have never read that particular book but I use an NFP method which is similar. I've successfully pin-pointed ovulation while breastfeeding after each of my children were born. Of course I didn't get to use it very long because we always got pregnant right away. :) We weren't avoiding pregnancy at the time.

[Mrs Mungo]

My period did not return until my kids were 15 months old. However, I would not count on breastfeeding as a reliable method once pacifiers, supplemental bottles or other foods are introduced. If you don't like the pill or condoms why not use another barrier method such as a diaphragm?

[BearWallowSchool]

I have a previous edition that you can have free for shipping.

 

Thanks for the offer, but I've already bought it.

[BikeBookBread]

My period did not return until my kids were 15 months old. However, I would not count on breastfeeding as a reliable method once pacifiers, supplemental bottles or other foods are introduced. If you don't like the pill or condoms why not use another barrier method such as a diaphragm?

 

Ditto on the period delay. My doctor in Utah told me breastfeeding was adequate... SURPRISE! When PDG was 3 months old, I found out I was execting. Sadly, I lost that baby a month later.

 

I remain skeptical about counting on nursing for NFP...perhaps I wasn't well-informed enough about the signs, though.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

I noticed in the other thread that your cycles are very irregular. This is very common while breastfeeding, but I also recommend this book: Fertility, Cycles, and Nutrition. It might help regulate your cycles. Good luck! We love NFP.

[Mrs Mungo]

Ditto on the period delay. My doctor in Utah told me breastfeeding was adequate... SURPRISE! When PDG was 3 months old, I found out I was execting. Sadly, I lost that baby a month later.

 

I remain skeptical about counting on nursing for NFP...perhaps I wasn't well-informed enough about the signs, though.

 

It probably partly depends on your own body. I *always* have ovulation pain and the cervical mucous changes are obvious. I think some people's bodies are more subtle.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

Ditto on the period delay. My doctor in Utah told me breastfeeding was adequate... SURPRISE! When PDG was 3 months old, I found out I was execting. Sadly, I lost that baby a month later.

 

I remain skeptical about counting on nursing for NFP...perhaps I wasn't well-informed enough about the signs, though.

 

I think there is a misunderstanding about when breastfeeding can be considered adequate birth control. The book a pp mentioned, Breastfeeding and Natural Childspacing, discusses this more. It is effective IF your child is under 6 months old and you allow your child unlimited access to nursing. This means sleeping with your child, no scheduled feedings, no bottles, no pacifiers. That's a little simplified, but many women breastfeed exclusively and don't follow these "rules." However, even if you are following the "rules" this, like any other method, is not 100% effective. Even if you fall into this category, I would still recommend that you learn NFP and watch for signs of returning fertility. My first ovulation after giving birth has been quite obvious every time. It did help that we learned NFP while engaged, but even for a newbie it still would have been very obvious.

[chanda7]

If you have no previous experience with this method, I wouldn't rely on it as birth control until after your period returns. I think it would be hard for you to be able to tell what your baseline is. TCOYF has a learning curve to it, and the hormone fluctuation associated with breastfeeding will make that more difficult, especially if you have nothing to compare it to. You could start "practicing" now, though :)

[Penelope]

Is this to conceive or to prevent conception?

 

Either way, I don't think charting helps a lot when you are breastfeeding with no cycles yet.

 

The only thing you can do at this point if you are trying to avoid is to avoid when you have cm.

[2squared]

I have found cervical checks to be a lifesaver!

 

We don't want another one yet, and I must admit that we abstained for almost the whole post partum period until I resumed ovulating after #4. We weren't ready to introduce a #5 to our family.

[abbeyej]

TCOYF is great for an overview of your fertility and how it works -- even if your cycles are irregular. But for breast feeding fertility information, I strongly second the Kippley books others have mentioned. Yes, it's a little tougher while you're nursing, but you *can* figure out most of this... TCOYF has very little info specifically on nursing, but the Kippleys have done quite a bit of research.

 

Even so, I found that with one child who nursed constantly, their information about the first 6 months seemed more right-on. With a child who nursed less (even though unrestricted day and night), I needed to skip ahead and act as if we were 6 months or so out after only 3 months postpartum. Still, the information was very helpful for us.

[petepie2]

I've read this book and learned much from it. However, I think it would be difficult to use natural family planning when you're not having cycles, especially if you don't have experience tracking your cycles in this way. I breastfed my 3 children, and for each my cycles didn't return until each was 13 months old. But throughout all of those 13 month postpartum periods, I wondered if my cycles would be returning because of changes I noticed. Once my cycles did return, they were very "different". I didn't have many cycles in between my children, but I noticed that the ones I did have contained very long "fertile" periods, or rather long periods of time where I would have considered myself fertile if I were trying to avoid pregnancy.

 

My advice would be to start charting now to get into the habit. I would use some other type of birth control until your cycles return and you have a better idea of what your body is doing. Because frankly, with the fluctuating hormones that go along with breastfeeding, you're probably going to have those times where you're not quite sure if you are really about to ovulate. And if you're trying to avoid pregnancy, then you're going to have to either abstain during those questionable times or use some other form of birth control anyway.

[smrtmama]

In my other thread, many of you suggested that I read "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". I plan on reading the book. I am currently breastfeeding my 8 month old. He is also eating baby food. My period has not yet returned. Will I be able to use this method or will I have to wait until my period returns?

 

Tiffany

 

Temping while breastfeeding can be unreliable if you're waking in the night to nurse (ideally, you need a ~5 hour block of uninterrupted sleep for accurate morning temps), but cervical fluid and positioning should tell you if the temps you're getting are valid. I used FAM successfully while still breastfeeding at night.

 

If you're having any signs of the return of fertility, use a barrier method.

[rwjx2khsmj]

Even if you aren't interested in NFP, I highly recommend the book for ALL women to read. I was amazed at how much I learned about my amazing body that no one had ever told me.