You may have heard that if you’re breastfeeding, it will take longer for your period to return. This can be true, especially if you’re breastfeeding both day and night, but everybody is different and there are several factors that can impact this.
Your first period after giving birth
The return of ovulation and menstrual cycles remains highly variable. However, research shows these cycles are more likely to return after six months than before six months if a mom is breastfeeding exclusively. This is normal.
However, it is possible to get your period while breastfeeding before the 6 month mark.
Early return of your period while breastfeeding
If your first postpartum period returns earlier than expected while you’re breast feeding, one reason could be if you’ve stopped breastfeeding overnight. If your baby is sleeping through the night before the age of 6 months, this may cause your period to return earlier than normal which can affect your milk supply.
Understanding hormones, your menstrual cycle, and milk production
Hormone changes when your period returns
Prolactin (the milk-making hormone) peaks overnight, and a baby feeding overnight tells the body to keep up breast milk production to make larger volumes of milk. Many women are at risk of early return of their period if they aren’t breastfeeding overnight.
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.
Your period and drops in milk supply
Early period return can not only lead to a dramatic drop in milk production (particularly the week before mom actually bleeds), but it also may lead to unintended new pregnancy (which leads to less milk production even more).
Your milk supply may drop the week before your period starts and then rebound thereafter. Moms may notice decreased pump volumes or softer breasts during this time. Remember, you can’t go wrong feeding the baby on demand at the breast. You may pump less, but your body will always make milk as the baby is suckling.
How to increase your milk supply during your period
If your baby is already sleeping through the night before 6 months of age and your period has returned, but you want to continue breastfeeding, you need to be careful about your own milk supply.
Have a plan in place for how to increase your milk supply when your period arrives. Below are some steps you can take to produce more milk during your period to ensure you have enough milk for your baby’s needs.
4 Steps to take to boost breast milk volume during your period
- Pump right before you to to sleep and after you’re breastfeeding your baby. Additionally, if moms and infants are completely in sync (i.e. baby starts to stretch out sleep naturally), it is ok to let your breasts remain full for longer periods of time. Most often, these babies who naturally stretch out sleep like this have a mom with quite a bit of breast milk production (even oversupply or hyperlactation) and they are gaining weight very well. They will nurse more frequently during the day to make up for the lack of nighttime breastfeeding.
- Use galactagogues to increase milk supply. Galactagogues are herbs, foods, and medications that promote the production of breast milk.
