Uh, oh! Cycle returned early and still Breastfeeding. Help.

T

thanka2

Registered User
I am still breastfeeding (exclusively) my 7-week-old daughter and have just started pumping in order to prepare to return to work next week on the day she turns 8-weeks-old.

I have a slight problem. My cycle just returned today with my first post-partum period. With my son who is now 3 1/2-years-old, my cycle also returned at about 8 weeks post-partum. I spoke with my mother and she said she had a similar experience with all three of her children so I'm guessing this is just a genetic thing in my family.

With my son, as soon as my cycle returned, I found it increasingly difficult to maintain a good milk supply. I think that the hormones that govern my cycle interfere with prolactin and before long it was hard to even keep breastfeeding--there was such a dramatic drop in milk supply--seemingly overnight.

My question is for those ladies out there who may have had a similar experience. When your cycle returned--either early or later--did you have problems with your milk supply? Is there anything you did that you thought helped?

Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks!
 
For both my children, my periods came back at the end of the third month, and I was exclusively breastfeeding. For my son I did bf and pumped till he was 8 months, and for my daughter I've been exclusively bfing till she was 7 months. She now takes the bottle and formula (still bf once a day though).
I didn't feel really a drop in the milk flow, but did take, all the time, some fenugreek seeds, some mother's milk tea, some fennel tea etc.... just in case.
 
Actually, I've been thinking about it... I had a drop of my milk supply for my son, as I was also pumping. But not for my daugther, who was only bf, and I never pumped... don't know if there is any link with the pumping, but I had to take a lot of milk "suppliers" with my son.
 
Yeah, I will have to pump some with this baby because I'm returning back to work. Sure hope it won't be a problem. Sometimes life just isn't fair--I mean, you figure that if you go through all the trouble to breastfeed (and for me, it was absolute trouble with my son and has been somewhat trouble with this baby too) at least you'd get a break from your period as some sort of reward--but, no, not in my case. Sucks.

Thanks for the feedback, though.
 
For my son, I went to IMI, to get their milk supply "potion", that you mix with hot water, and it really helped.
Good luck !
 
My girl is 16 months now and I'm still breast feeding. My period had return since she was 8 or 9 months old. Milk supply did drop a lot at start. I follow the traditional Chinese remedy like fish soup, peanut and dried octopus soup, ginger vinegar ect. and they really worked. Funnel tea can help a bit too but the result is less obvious.
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This might be out of the subject.. but my baby is 10 1/2 month old now, and my period hasn't returned yet.. .should I worry???? I am still breastfeeding/pumping.
 
Gataloca, it's pretty common for your period not to come back if you're bf. It can even take a few months after you finish for all the hormones to sort themselves out and for your period to actually return after you stop.
 
No, I'm the "weird one" because my cycle returns right after I give birth even though I'm breastfeeding exclusively--I think it's much more common for women to not have a period for almost the duration of their breastfeeding--or at least until their child starts solids.

It's totally normal not to have a period until you stop breastfeeding and sometimes a long time afterward.
 
I've known people who have been both extremes. With my first, I exclusively breastfed and my period returned when she was 6 months old. I didn't notice any supply issues - but it was right around the time when she started solids so she would have started drinking less milk regardless. I continued to breastfeed her until she was 15 months old - and in that time, I fell pregnant, had a miscarriage then fell pregnant again. I weaned her when I was about 3-4 months pregnant with my 2nd daughter. I did notice some supply issues at the end, but pregnancy also does that. I think that she self-weaned because my milk was drying up anyway.

With my 2nd, I'm exclusively pumping and have not got my period back yet, she is 10 months old. I keep expecting it back since I thought it would have come when she was 6 months or so too. Or I could be 4 months pregnant and not know it ;) haha (I hope not!!!). Through an exclusive pumping group that I'm part of, I have heard that many women have supply issues when they get their cycle back. They say that their supply goes up around the middle of the cycle and then drops back down when they are having their period. Some of them swear by domperidone. I'm not sure if/where you can get domperidone in HK but if you have supply issues but still need to maintain supply, that's what works for most of them. I haven't tried it personally though...
 
Mine came back at 6 months and then it was the beginning of the end for my self-weaning son, completely finished by 12 months. Not only did my supply drop, but it took forever to let down and that irritated my son. I'm hoping with my daughter, now 4 months, things will go better.
 
Well, originally when I posted I figured my cycle was back but I didn't have a normal period. I basically had two days of spotting. But, I could definitely feel the hormonal flux. I hadn't had any emotional ups or downs really since giving birth--I was on a very nice hormonal high, actually and that all came crashing down right at the same I had that spotting. I went for my 8-week post-partum checkup and tipped the scales on the PPD questionnaire. Arrrrghhh, hormones!

So, I'm still breastfeeding and pumping but my daughter has started sucking 6-7 ounces of milk down at a feeding while I'm not home so I feel pressure to produce more milk as I'm falling behind. I think I have to go to pumping every 2 hours whether I like it or not to try to up the supply. I've been drinking Mother's Milk tea a lot and that helps a little but I can definitely feel the change.

I am not so sure domperidone would even be an option for me. Since it interferes with dopamine production I'm guessing that it might make PPD even worse. I was just reading about it here: http://www.breastfeedingonline.com/domperidone.shtml
 
Thanka, Mother's tea is good for maintaining a supply, but might not give you the boost you are looking for. Why don't you try strictly fennel seed tea?
 
I've been eating oatmeal nearly every single day since my daughter was born--would hate to imagine how bad it would be without eating oatmeal. :?

I'm going to crack out the fennel and see what that does for me. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
I would consider talking to your doctor about using domperidone.

Thomas Hale PhD in his book Medications and Mothers? Milk gives this drug a Lactation Risk of L1 = Safest.

He says,
?It is known to produce significant increases in prolactin levels and has proven useful as a galactagogue.?

He also says,
?Domperidone (Motilium) is a peripheral dopamine antagonist (similar to Reglan) generally used for controlling nausea and vomiting, dyspepsia and gastric reflux. It blocks peripheral dopamine receptors in the GI wall and in the CRTZ (nausea center) in the brain stem and is currently used in Canada as an antiemetic. Unlike metoclopramide (Reglan), it does not enter the brain compartment and has few CNS effects such as depression.?

I've attached a scan of the pages from the book for you.

Best wishes,
SARAH

Sarah Hung IBCLC
www.lotuslactation.com
 

Attachments

Sarah,

Any recommendations for doctors who know anything about this. My doc knows next to nothing about breastfeeding.

Thanks.
 
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