Irregular Periods While Breastfeeding

Irregular Periods While Breastfeeding



When a woman’s body goes through such a major change as pregnancy and giving birth, one side effect of this and subsequently breastfeeding a child is irregular periods. Any women can face issues related to irregular periods when breastfeeding. Even women who had a perfectly regular menstrual calendar before pregnancy can experience disruption to their cycle.

Is It Normal to Have Irregular Periods While Breastfeeding?

It is quite normal to experience irregular periods during breastfeeding. While breastfeeding, it not at all uncommon for a woman to have a period one month and then miss the next two cycles. However, if you continue to have irregular periods when breastfeeding has stopped, it is recommended that you consult your GP.

Why Does It Happen?

During the breastfeeding process, the pituitary gland releases the hormone prolactin which helps to produce breast milk, but it also suppresses ovulation. Prolactin also suppresses levels of estrogen, which can lead to lactational amenorrhea that can make your periods irregular or stop them altogether.

What Affects Your Period While Breastfeeding?

There are a number of different factors that can alter the regularity of menstrual cycle and cause irregular periods while breastfeeding, these include:

Hormones

Nursing style

A switch to bottle–feeding

Uninterrupted sleep

Nursing duration

While your hormonal changes cannot be altered or changed, factors like your sleeping pattern, your nursing style and your nursing duration can be directly affected by choices that you make. A good night’s sleep allows the body to fully regenerate and therefore stand a better chance of retaining a regular cycle. Sharing the nightly baby care load with a partner, for example, could be the key to getting your periods back quickly onto a regular cycle.

A regimen that combines breastfeeding and bottle-feeding means that you do not have to be nursing all the time, and the sooner your baby moves on to full time bottle-feeding, the sooner your menstrual cycle will begin to regulate itself again.

However, if for any reason you do not wish for your periods to come back quickly, then it is perfectly acceptable to continue to breast feed until your baby reaches an appropriate stage to stop.