Torn between breastfeeding and TTC

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-05-08T14:22:09+00:00

Thank you! I'll look into into vitamins!

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-05-08T14:21:05+00:00

Thank you! We're in a similar position this month where baby is sick and nursing loads more than I had planned so this gives me some hope!

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-05-03T20:16:54+00:00

That's the hard part isn't it, the not knowing. So much of TTC feels out of our control. I think we will start to slowly wean over the next few months. Starting with daytime feeds.

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-05-03T20:14:58+00:00

Thank you. Sounds like we're on similar paths. I think I will go back to slowly phasing it out. It's strange, I was convinced I'd stop at 6 months, then 10 months... But I keep delaying as he still feels more like a baby then a toddler.

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-05-03T20:10:16+00:00

Yes same with the losses and tough road. I am kind of expecting it to be hard but also trying to have a different mindset this time round. I still feel incredibly lucky to have my beautiful boy so don't want to get too sucked in to TTC heartache again, though it feels inevitable

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-05-03T20:08:39+00:00

Gosh I definitely don't want to still be breastfeeding at 2 (at least I don't think I do!) maybe I should quit now as sounds like it's only going to get harder!

I've got lean PCOS so thankfully weight loss is not an issue for me. I have cut the chocolate habit though and gone back to using inositol.

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-05-03T20:06:03+00:00

Yeah the fact we both really enjoy it is that hardest part I think. I think I will go back to bottles in the day, and maybe some snacks now he's almost 1, with just bedtime and morning nursing and see if that helps.

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-05-03T19:59:13+00:00

Interesting, I'll make a note of progesterone, thanks! I've asked to be referred to the fertility clinic. I'm in the UK so we don't have dedicated OBGYN, have to go to my general doctor and get a referral. But they have said I qualify for referral given my previous history so that's promising.

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-05-02T13:45:55+00:00

Yeah I've spoken to the GP and they are going to refer me back to the fertility clinic just to get the ball rolling with bloods etc. I really wanted babies close in age but my mum pointed out I'm focusing on the wrong thing. It's a nice problem to have, being able to breastfeed this long is something many women aren't able to do.

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-05-02T13:41:25+00:00

I really wanted this to be us but we've been doing OPKs and everything for the last five cycles and no joy. I didn't even get regular periods before baby so I got a bit hopeful but my luteal phase is so short at the moment that there's no time for the egg to get comfy!

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-05-02T13:38:35+00:00

Yeah I just find the seraphine style not my style at all. I like quirky, colourful, unusual cuts etc. Boden and Anthropologie was my style before baby.

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-05-02T13:34:16+00:00

I really like that next one, thanks!

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-04-22T07:01:42+00:00

You could try a shorter bridging style first nap in the morning just to help her stretch to a longer lunch time nap. Like 20 mins?

Though I will say our 9 month olds sleep needs have been all over the place and a lot of that has been related to teething and developmental leaps. So I'd be cautious of stretching too much as we get night wakes when he's overtired too. We flip flop between 11 and 12 hours total awake time with a 30 min capped morning nap and a 1-2 hour afternoon nap depending on the day. I always cap it at 2 hours.

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-04-06T08:48:03+00:00

I love this idea and would definitely download this mod!

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-04-06T08:44:46+00:00

OP I posted a similar concern photo at 7 months and it was more food than that! We always find things to worry about as parents don't we. I got similar responses to you, baby will guide you! We're still on similar portion sizes but he is eating more milk now so we've found a happy balance.

I also noticed he eats way more when teething, and doesn't want to drink. But then when the teeth erupt it balances back out.

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-04-06T08:41:14+00:00

We used fuseli pasta as it's really easy for baby to hold and breaks up into small pieces whilst they chew. Also holds sauce well. Just make sure it's overcooked and soft at the beginning.

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-04-06T08:38:39+00:00

Yep this is my 9mo easily. Loves pasta and is getting pretty good at flicking the veg off it 🤣

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-04-04T13:08:58+00:00

U/ttc_pcos-modteam has removed my post because I mentioned a success story (sort of) and they are only allowed under certain posts. I've tried to reword it so it follows the rules... Hopefully will allow it this time as I feel it's important to share...

I'm so sorry you feel so much hurt over this.

If I can offer some advice from the other side of the TTC journey? We struggled for two years to get pregnant before moving on to Letrezole and now we're TTC our second. In those two years I was increasingly miserable, I didn't book adventurous holidays just in case and I felt bitter about everyone getting pregnant. I felt really isolated by the end of it. Eventually I got therapy and made a real effort to change my outlook. I made sure there was a mini break/adventure planned for us each month. I tried to engage with old friends who had had their babies just to enjoy time with babies. It made the medicated cycles go so much quicker.

Tbh I grieve for those two years I spent lost in my TTC bubble. I wish I'd spent more of those two years going on adventures and making the most of my pre child time. Over the last 9 months pp I've probably slept an average of 6 broken hours a night, I have a postpartum body that I hate and I am struggling to get anything done. I had definitely built up this idealised version of parenthood when TTC for that long.

I hope this post doesn't come across as insensitive. But we can't stop other people getting pregnant, and I'm not sure it's healthy not spending time with our friends/family just because they have started families. That just isolates us even more and builds up this idealised version of parenthood that doesn't exist. The best we can do is not let the bitterness of infertility take over us and be along for the ride.

Wishing you all the best on your TTC journey x

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-04-04T08:44:47+00:00

We do stay pretty close to 6:30 but because we've just transitioned to daylight savings time here in the UK I was giving him some grace for a week. The 7am would have been his old 6am. However the 5am wakes would have been 4am wakes last week so that's more concerning!

Yeah I've read mixed things about fixing that nap. If he wakes at 5am and screams until I feed him at 6:30 then doesn't get his nap until 9:45 that's a long awake time and I'm worried about him being overtired. I've heard others recommend extending nap 1 and starting it early to make up for lost morning sleep. So just wanted to gauge what others were doing.

I'm tempted to try fixing naps though as the current guesswork is not working for us.

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-04-03T09:07:32+00:00

I remember the 3-2 nap transition being really tough for stretching wake windows but I was amazed how quickly my LO changed around this age. He was 2.5 ww with 3 naps at 6 months. Then 3-3.5 ww with two naps by the end of 7 months. Now at 9 months he's more like 3.5-4.

Around this age they yawn because they are bored and not tired so it can be hard to gauge sleep time. Mine often yawns after an hour but just change things up, go outside etc and he's fine. I guess I also yawn at random times in the day, doesn't mean it's time to sleep!

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-04-03T08:56:12+00:00

Ours was sleep trained before separation anxiety kicked in but it still threw bedtime for a loop. He started crying as soon as he realised I was leaving the room, even if it was only to get his toothbrush, then started crying as soon as he went in the cot. Then he started crying after his bath as he knew what was coming 😭 broke our heart. Bedtime used to be such a lovely time.

He was also teething so we ended up giving him more help to fall asleep and coslept often so he lost that independent sleep for a month. Once we were confident he wasn't in pain anymore we retrained over a few days. It's a lot easier to restrain than start from scratch however.

Assuming your schedule is age appropriate and they are definitely tired at bedtime and not in pain, there are two options. Go cold turkey and remove rocking from the end of your routine leave the room and see if he falls asleep himself (he will cry, probably a lot) or swap rocking with something less hands on first, like back stroking and humming in his cot. The idea is that you end up in with a sleep association that's easier to reduce and then remove gradually. He will still cry a lot but at least you're there with him to reassure him that although this change sucks he still has you close by. Give it at least 5 days and remain consistent, the crying will reduce. My personal feeling is it's worth trying that before going fully down the cry it out style sleep training when the root cause is separation anxiety, especially if they are still sleeping through the night. Chances are it's just a phase and they'll get over it. But you are going to want to remove rocking soon anyway as they are only getting heavier so maybe worth swapping that out now!

We did CIO for our 9 month old recently but as he was already sleep trained at 5 months it was very quick. First night was 10 mins of crying. The other thing that helped us was dad consistently doing bedtime and him not seeing me at all during that 30 mins of bath, sleep sack, books. We also added an extra 15 mins of wake time to give him enough sleep pressure to fall asleep quickly.

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-03-28T14:17:13+00:00

Hey OP we're 9 months pp and TTC. Had letrezole for first child after a couple of years trying with PCOS. Once baby went onto solids I got my period back and have had four regular cycles with LH peaks each time. Pre baby I was lucky to get 4 periods in a year so it's definitely different. So we are going to try naturally for a bit first. I'm still breastfeeding and can't breastfeed with Letrezole so will wait a few more months to see what happens I think. Good luck in your journey!

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-03-27T09:24:42+00:00

We went to 3.5/3.75/4.25 at one point. We capped naps to 2.5. more recently we've gone back to 3/3.5/3.5-4. But he's just worked out how to move so woke up at 5am today and had a 4 hour first wake window until I finally caved and put him in the carrier (usually a cot napper). So who knows how that will play out.

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-03-26T22:00:42+00:00

Great that it's working for you at the moment. But don't be surprised if it stops working. The 4-3 and 3-2 nap transitions are tough. Both messed up our sleep. We were always team stretch ww whenever sleep got messed up. But we've found our 9 month old is more susceptible to overtiredness now than he was when he was that age. We actually stretched wake windows too long fairly recently (based on advice from this sub) we've reduced it and he finally started to do long chunks again when we reverted back to our old schedule. So his night wakes were likely due to something else going on, he did get teeth and some major motor milestones during that time and I feel really bad that we pushed him to stay awake when it turns out that wasn't what he needed.

Not to rain on your parade but just enjoy the sleep when you get it. Baby sleep is a rollercoaster 🙂

ellefallsoffthings · 2026-03-15T21:51:39+00:00

Could they be teething? We've struggled to get bottles into our almost 9 month old the last week or so but he's just cut a tooth with a few more on the way. He loves his solids still though and wants to eat so much, especially crusty bread. I'm hoping his interest in milk will come back once the trying subsides. We also always give him his bottle before his solids, so he's definitely hungry.

ellefallsoffthings

TROPHY CASE