When should my period resume?

by Tonia
(Corpus Christi, TX, USA)

Visitor Question: My daughter just turned a year old and for the past 2 weeks or so I have been working on weaning her and only nursing her when she wakes at night (so once or twice in a 24 hour period).

My period has still not shown up but for the past 6 days I have had mild cramping and increased vaginal discharge. I wondered if these might be pregnancy symptoms since I am not using any form of birth control but the test I took today came back negative.

I am wondering if first of all it is normal to have a longer cramping time before menstruating again and then how long before my period should resume with such a small amount of nursing.

Breastfeeding Magazine Response: Each woman is different. Menstruation depends upon many things: how often your daughter is still breastfeeding, if she is eating other food and how long that she goes between feedings.

In most cases, as you wean, you will see your period return and you may have the cramping that you described.

However, it is possible to become pregnant while nursing so if you do not get your period soon, you should take another pregnancy test.

Good luck!