How Your Menstrual Cycle Can Affect Your Baby’s Sleep

Let’s talk about a topic you probably thought you’d never come across here at the Baby Sleep Site®, shall we?

Let’s talk about menstrual cycles.

Now don’t feel awkward. We’re not going into detail here! Instead, we’re going to take a look at how your menstrual cycle may impact your baby’s sleep. You wouldn’t imagine there would be a connection, would you?

Turns out there is!

Your Menstrual Cycle Can Affect Your Breastmilk

Many of you already know (from first-hand experience or otherwise) that nursing a baby delays the return of a woman’s period after she gives birth. For some women, the delay is a matter of weeks; for others, their period is delayed the entire time they nurse (even if they nurse for years!).

Most of us fall somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. It’s typical for a woman’s period to be delayed when her baby is young and is nursing frequently and regularly. Then, as her baby begins eating solid food and nursing less, her period gradually returns.

Here’s what’s interesting: once your period returns, it can have a big impact on your “nursing rhythm”. We can chalk this up to hormones; a few days before our periods start, our blood calcium levels drop. This drop in blood calcium can cause two things to happen:

  • It can cause a drop in milk supply. This doesn’t happen for every woman, but some women notice that starting a few days before their periods, their milk supply drops a bit. This lasts until a few days after the period has started.
  • It can slightly change the flavor of your milk. Again, this isn’t true for everyone. But menstruation can slightly alter your milk’s taste, making it less palatable for your baby. This alteration starts a few days before your period and lasts until a few days after your period has begun.

The result? If your milk supply is low, you can expect your baby to nurse more frequently. And if your breastmilk tastes “off” to your baby, you might find that she drinks less than usual and doesn’t nurse as eagerly. For a rare few, there may appear to be a sudden nursing strike, but should be temporary.

Nicole’s Note:
“I was extremely fortunate that my period didn’t return until I weaned my eldest son right around a year old. It didn’t return even when we night-weaned! I do work with some families, though, who see a noticeable drop in milk supply once they night-wean and around their menstrual cycle every month. It can be extremely stressful for mom, which doesn’t help!”

Your Menstrual Cycle Can Affect Your Baby’s Sleep

The logical conclusion of all the information above is pretty simple — if you aren’t making as much breastmilk as you normally do, or if your baby isn’t drinking much because it tastes different, then it’s likely that your baby make feel hungrier than usual. And hunger is often bad for sleep.

You might find that starting a few days before your period, your baby begins waking more frequently at night, demanding a feeding. Or you might find that naps are shorter than usual because hunger is waking your baby.

Of course, this is assuming your baby was sleeping fairly well to begin with; if your baby has never slept through the night, or is a chronically bad napper, or has a dozen different sleep associations, then you might not notice a difference (in a bad way)!

What If You’re Formula Feeding?

Naturally, moms who formula feed won’t feel the same effects from their menstrual cycles as breastfeeding moms. But that doesn’t mean that formula-feeding moms are exempt from menstrual symptoms, does it? PMS doesn’t play favorites, after all — mood swings, cramps, bloating, and fatigue affect most women, regardless of whether they’re breastfeeding.

If you’re a formula-feeding mom who has an especially sensitive baby, you may notice that when your PMS symptoms set in, your baby becomes crankier and more restless. Her sleep may even be disrupted. This happens because babies (especially sensitive ones) tend to pick up on their parents’ moods and stress levels. So if your PMS is sending your stress level soaring, or if it’s making you extremely irritable and cranky, it’s likely your baby’s going to notice.

Preventing Your Menstrual Cycle From Affecting Your Baby’s Sleep

This news isn’t especially great, especially if you’re already struggling with sleep. You can’t exactly prevent your period. But there are steps you can take to make your menstrual cycles have less of an effect on your baby’s sleep.

Specifically, you can take a combination calcium/magnesium supplement. Remember how I mentioned that it’s the drop in blood calcium levels that causes the low milk supply, and the altered taste to your breastmilk? Well, if you start taking a calcium/magnesium supplement a few days before your period starts, you may be able to prevent those complications.

Good news for formula-feeding moms, too — calcium and magnesium are two minerals that have been shown to naturally alleviate some common PMS symptoms, like fatigue and appetite changes. So a calcium/magnesium supplement can help you as well.

Why a calcium/magnesium supplement, and not just a calcium pill? Magnesium helps your body absorb calcium; without the magnesium, your body would only absorb a fraction of the supplement’s total calcium.

We’re not going to give specific dosages here; that’s something you should talk to your doctor about. But for more information on how a calcium/magnesium supplement can help (and for additional information about how your menstrual cycle affects your breastmilk), check out this article, on The La Leche League website.

References:

Hartmann, P.E. & Prosser, C.G. (1982) Acute changes in the composition of milk during the ovulatory menstrual cycle in lactating women. Journal of Physiology (London), 324, 21-30. 29,237-246.

Nagvi, H.M., Baseer A., (2001). Milk Composition Changes – a Simple and non-invasive Method of detecting Ovulation in Lactating Women. Journal of Pakistan Medical Association. Electronic Access: https://jpma.org.pk/article-details/2561?article_id=2561

Prentice, A.M. et. al. (1984). The effects of water abstention of milk synthesis in lactating women. Clinical Sciences, 66: 291-298

Prosser CG, Hartmann PE.(1983). Saliva and breast milk composition during the menstrual cycle of women. The Australian journal of experimental biology and medical science, 61 (pt 3):265-75

Does your menstrual cycle affect your baby’s sleep?

Please be sure to pick up your FREE copy of 5 (tear-free) Ways to Help Your Child Sleep Through the Night, our e-Book with tear-free tips to help your baby sleep better. For those persistent nighttime struggles, check out The 3-Step System to Help Your Baby Sleep (babies) or The 5-Step System to Better Toddler Sleep (toddlers). Using a unique approach and practical tools for success, our e-books help you and your baby sleep through the night and nap better. For those looking for a more customized solution for your unique situation with support along the way, please consider one-on-one baby and toddler sleep consultations, where you will receive a Personalized Sleep Plan™ you can feel good about! Sometimes it’s not that you can’t make a plan. Sometimes you’re just too tired to.

The Baby Sleep Site® is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other product affiliate programs. If you click on a product link and make a purchase, The Baby Sleep Site® may (but not always) receive a small commission from the company selling the product, but will not affect your purchase price. We only recommend products that we believe are quality products and are good for our readers.

Holistic Sleep Solutions from The Baby Sleep Site®

e-Book bundles

Do-It-Yourself: Just getting started with your research but you want to stop Googling? Choose from any of our e-Book bundles for practical advice you can put to use TODAY!  

Become a VIP Member

Do-It-Mostly-Yourself: Would you like to continue learning with the option of chatting with a sleep consultant? We have a perfect solution! Become a VIP Member for access to all of our premium content, “ask the author,” audio courses, live weekly chat, and more!

Get a Personalized Sleep Plan

Work With a Sleep Expert: Tap into over a decade of experience with thousands of families before you! Get a Personalized Sleep Plan® just for your unique situation, get guidance and answers to all your “what if?” questions while you work through your plan, and benefit from expert support along the way. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard “I wish I had done this sooner!” Not sure? Read these stories from well-rested parents.

Don’t lose another wink of sleep — GET STARTED TODAY with our gentler, kinder approach to healthy sleep!

Since starting in 2008, we’ve gained over 10,000 comments on our blog!

At this time, we’ve turned the comment sections off. We would, of course, love to hear from you! For help with your specific sleep problems, please learn more about our DIY resources or our sleep consultation services. Or, consider emailing us for a fast and helpful response!

23 thoughts on “How Your Menstrual Cycle Can Affect Your Baby’s Sleep”

  1. Just introduced my baby to formula after end for 6 months, now my period is delayed, is this normal. I’ve been seeing my period throughout except a month that it skipped

    • Hi Chidimma,
      Thank you for visiting our sleep little village! I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble. Unfortunately, we are not medical professionals, so we can only recommend that you check in with your doctor about any health concerns you may be having. Best of luck to you!

  2. I’ve just introduced my bby to formula after doing ebf for 6 months, now my period is late, does this weaning period affect one’s cycle

    • Hi Chidimma,
      Thank you for visiting our sleep little village! I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble. Unfortunately, we are not medical professionals, so we can only recommend that you check in with your doctor about any health concerns you may be having. Best of luck to you!

  3. Hi! Thank you for writing this article. Would you mind sharing where you found research on the link between hormones and breastfeeding? I’m wondering if the link is possibly to a drop in progesterone and not necessarily just menses.

    • Hi @Stephanie – Thank you for your comment! I’m sorry, but I don’t have that readily available, but I will forward this to our editorial team, so they can add the source of research to the article and let you know. Thanks again for visiting our sleepy little village, and contact us anytime at https://www.babysleepsite.com/contact

    • Hi @Stephanie – Thanks again for writing! We have updated the article and cited the sources. Hope it helps! : )

  4. @Debbye – Thanks a lot for you comments and advice! I’m already taking special teas with fennel to increase babies supply, also my diet is rich on carbs and proteins, although to be honest i’m being a bit careful lately as i have gained a lot of weight after baby delivery. i try to be at around 1800-2000 calories intake per day by taking care to have the variety of food from vegs to meats and carbs. But anyway. The good news is that the milk is back. I followed the advice in this website and took supplements of calcium with magnesium ( the vitamin I’m taking has the following Ca 500, Mg 250 and D3), and it looked it is working. Once again thanks a lot for the valuable information you are sharing, it is very useful and makes me feel part of normal people! 🙂

    • HI @ Niki- Thank you for taking the time to write back! we are so happy to hear that your milk supply is recovered! And so great to hear that our information has been helpful! Keep visiting! We love to have you here! : )

  5. thanks for the article! i’m experiencing e tough drop down in milk supply as i’m close to my period. my baby is 6.5 month old, and this is my 3rd period, i’m getting really worried, which does not help a lot in this case! i have started solids on my baby, also continuing breastfeesing, but todat was a nightmare as there was just 30ml of milk :(((….hope that everything will go back to normality as soon as my period is over!

    • Hi @Niki – Thanks for writing, and hang in there! I too hope that everything returns quickly too! If you are not already, try more frequent feeds at this time, and talk with your doctor about plants, foods, and/or medicines that can help boost supply too. Per one of our Consultants, who is also a Lactation Specialist, some of the most commonly used over the counter things are: high quality fennel oil rubbed on the breast tissue after a feeding (keep off of the areola to avoid feeding too much to the baby), Fenugreek, Mother’s Milk Tea (follow the directions for brewing carefully), Moderate carbohydrate intake (low carb diets can decrease milk supply), and fiber supplements or a high-fiber diet. Please do speak to your healthcare provider before trying any of these or other things to increase milk supply, so you are sure that what you are wishing to try is a good fit for you, and good luck!

  6. Would it be common in this situation for baby to eat well while dreamfeeding and morning feedings, but get worse throughout the day? She almost acts in pain right before bedtime.

    • Hi Megan,
      Thank you for using The Baby Sleep Site as a resource! I’m sorry you’re having some trouble with feedings. We don’t usually see the behavior you’re describing when a nursing momma has her period, but very overtired babies can have more trouble nursing as the day wears on, and can sometimes seem to be in pain. If you’re noticing that your daughter isn’t napping well, or is waking excessively at night, that may be what’s going on. We have some sample schedules by age you can check out here, to see what average sleep looks like: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-sleep-feeding-schedules/
      If you have a younger baby, you may also want to consider checking in with a doctor about the possibility of reflux, which can be worse in the evening and cause significant discomfort: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/baby-spitup-acid-reflux-and-sleep/
      I hope this helps, but please let us know if you have any other questions!

Comments are closed.

FREE Guide: Five Ways To Help Your Child Sleep Through the Night

Join over 450,000 parents around the world & sign up today to receive the guide and our Baby Sleep Newsletter absolutely FREE!