Did you know that your menstrual cycle can affect your child's sleep? If not, you would not be alone in that category. Many individuals do not think about the fact that the menstrual cycle and their babies are potentially linked. However, they are, especially if you are breastfeeding. Continue reading to learn more about how your menstrual cycle can affect your baby's sleep and what you can do to negate the impact.

Your menstrual cycle can affect your breast milk

Nursing a baby can delay the return of a woman's period after she gives birth. Many people often use this as a type of contraception. This is because the hormone that is required to lactate is an inhibitory molecule for LH and FH, which are two main drivers of the menstrual cycle. For some, this delay can be a matter of weeks. For others, however, this delay can be for the entire time that they are nursing. A majority of people can fall in between of the spectrum. It's typical for a woman's period to be delayed when her baby is young and nursing frequently and regularly. However, as solid food becomes introduced into their diet and lactating becomes less frequent, a woman can begin to experience increased frequency of her periods. 

Once the period returns, however, it can have a big impact on your nursing rhythm. This is due to the hormones that were mentioned earlier period what happens is that your blood calcium levels drop. This causes two things to happen:

• The first is a drop in milk supply. This doesn't happen for every single woman, but some women notice that starting a few days before their period, their milk supply can drop a bit. This will last a few days until after the period has started.
• Secondly, it can change the flavor of the milk. Again, this is not true for everyone. But menstruation can slightly alter your milk's taste, making it a little less palatable for your baby. Again, this alteration starts a few days before the period and can last a few days after the period has started. The result of this is that your milk supply is low so your baby will have to nurse more frequently. If your breast smoke tastes a bit off, then they may drink less than usual, and leave themselves pretty hungry. Therefore this requires more feedings throughout the night, which can negatively impact your sleep and the baby's.

This is why, starting a few days before your period, you may find that your baby begins to wake more frequently and demand a feeding. Or, you may find that their naps are shorter than usual because your baby is waking up hungry. Now, this includes the assumption that your child slept well prior to your period beginning. If your child always has sleep issues, then your period may not be the culprit here.

Formula feeds

Moms who formula feed will not have the same effects as moms who breastfeed. However, that does not mean that formula feeding moms are exempt from menstrual symptoms. PMS, or premenstrual syndrome can still affect moms. This can cause mood swings, bloating, fatigue, cramps, and major disturbances in life regardless of your breastfeeding status.

Have you ever formula feeding mom who has a sense of the baby, you may notice that when your PMS symptoms set in the baby becomes crankier and more restless. Their sleep may even be disrupted due to this. This happens because babies can pick up on their parents mood, especially their mothers. Therefore if you are experiencing increased distress during PMS, then your baby may become extremely irritable and cranky.

Preventing your menstrual cycle from affecting your baby's sleep

As you're sitting here reading this, we hope you don't feel like a bad parent or anything. It's not your fault that you have a menstrual cycle and that it can negatively affect your child. However, we want to give you another possibility as to why your child may experiencing sleep disturbances around the time that you also may not be feeling very well. However, there are steps that you can take that can prevent your menstrual cycles from having as great of an impact on your baby's sleep.

You can take a combination calcium/magnesium supplement. The drop in calcium levels can cause a low milk supply and altered taste to breast milk. Therefore, if you start taking the supplement a few days before your period then you may be able to prevent those complications.

For formula feeding moms, this is good news as well. Calcium and magnesium have been shown to naturally reduce some of the symptoms associated with PMS, like fatigue and appetite change. Therefore, you are not exempt from being able to benefit from calcium/museum supplements. If you would like to consider taking calcium/magnesium supplements, then it's important for you to speak with your doctor about best dosage for you. If your child's pediatrician knows of any tricks as well, then that may also help.

If you are struggling with getting your child to sleep, and are unsure if it's related to any part of your child's environment, then please click the orange button below to talk with the sleep health professional and take a free online sleep test.

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