It can also come back if your baby starts sleeping through the night or if you start giving your child solid foods. Pumping or expressing breast milk by hand does not have the same effect on your body as breastfeeding does. If you choose to pump and bottle feed your baby, it will not hold off your period.
Women's bodies react differently to lactation and the postpartum period in general – while one woman might nurse or pump twice a day for a year and not get her period until she weans, another might do the same every two hours and gets hers at two months postpartum.
Because prolactin helps you produce milk while preventing ovulation, the more milk you are producing, the more likely your period will stop.
Here are some facts about your menstrual cycle returning after having a baby. You can still get your period even if you are feeding by exclusively lactating (breast/chest/pumping).
In general, there's no ovulation while breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding won't prevent pregnancy if you feed your baby anything other than breast milk. So if you breastfeed but also use formula, LAM isn't a great birth control method for you. It also doesn't work if you use a breast pump — you need to nurse your baby if you want your breastfeeding to prevent pregnancy.
If you have lower levels of progesterone, you're likely to get your periods back earlier than mums with higher levels. So it's possible that you could be breastfeeding around the clock, but still become fertile and start your periods again.
Hormone changes when your period returns
If you have managed to get your baby sleeping through the night before 6 months and are not nursing overnight, the drop in prolactin due to longer periods of time without milk removal can signal your period to start.
In those that do breastfeed, the lactational amenorrhea method is a way of preventing pregnancy for up to or around six months postpartum. Signs of ovulation after giving birth include a change in body temperature, cervical mucus, ovulation pain, painful breasts, and an increased sex drive.
Seeing blood in your milk may be alarming at first, however it is not harmful to babies, and if you experience it you can continue breastfeeding – in most cases it will stop within a few days. If it does not cease, or if you are at all concerned, consult your healthcare provider.
“You can't get pregnant if you're breastfeeding.” Maybe you've heard this myth before…and we should warn you, it's just that—a myth! The truth is you can get pregnant while you're breastfeeding, even if your menstrual cycle hasn't returned to normal.
But breastfeeding isn't a long-term natural birth control method — you can only rely on breastfeeding to prevent pregnancy for the first 6 months of your baby's life. Sometimes, you might get your period even before that. After you get your period or your baby is 6 months old, you'll need another kind of birth control.
When you cut back on breastfeeding or pumping, or your baby does, and/or stop altogether, your body produces less and less oxytocin and prolactin, these “good hormones,” so it follows that you might feel something akin to a comedown, feeling less and less calm (to put it mildly) and less and less contented (borderline ...
It's completely normal for women who breastfeed exclusively to have their first postpartum period six weeks after delivery or a year or more later — even 18 months after giving birth. If you're breastfeeding some of the time, you might see your period return sooner.
Cinnamon tea
Cinnamon tea is another popular remedy that can push back the period date to a few days. This tea also helps in heavy periods as it pushes the blood flow away from the uterus and also reduces inflammation and menstrual cramps. Cinnamon tea is aromatic, tasty, and healthy as well.
“Results are unique to each woman, but I'd say, on average, a woman may experience 30 percent less bleeding if she takes 800 mg of ibuprofen (four over-the-counter pills) three times a day, ideally starting right before or when her period starts,” says Northwestern Medicine OB/GYN Heather Beall, MD. Why?
Exclusively pumping is usually harder than breastfeeding. It can feel very time consuming and overwhelming to pump, bottle feed and sterilise equipment while juggling a hungry baby. Being tied to a pump at regular intervals can be limiting especially when away from home.
It's not uncommon for pumps to be less efficient than breastfeeding. Because your baby feeds on a supply and demand basis, they stop feeding when they are full. Pumps do not have the same internal signal, so it may take some practice learning how long you need to pump to fully empty your breasts.