Feeding from just one breast....Advice pls.

[KarenLV]

When my boy Skyler was born I tried feeding him from my left breast but the nipple seemed too flat for him to properly latch. Since then I have just been feeding him from my right breast. I was pumping milk from the left breast to keep up milk supply but became lazy later on.I have now restarted pumping it but the milk coming out is so little. I hope it becomes more again. Everybody told me to keep trying to latch him on and I did but it never was a success. I even bought a nipple puller to help him to latch onto the nipple but he does not seem interested as the other breast gives him lots of milk quickly. Will my left breast ever catch up or is it just a lost cause? Any advice would help.

p.s. he is six weeks old now...and going through a crazy growth spurt!

 

[freckleonear]

I had a very similar problem with Aaron, who didn't latch on well to my left side and lost a lot of weight when I tried to feed from both breasts. At first I did try to pump from my left side, but it was a lot of work for not much milk and he wouldn't even take it from a bottle. So for the last four or five months, I have been feeding completely from the right side. For me, that was just the easiest and least stressful option. I am rather lopsided though.

If you are determined to keep up the milk supply in your left breast, then carry on pumping often. Have you tried latching him on lying down? That was the closest I ever got to Aaron latching on properly. How about switching sides half way through a feed if he is getting frustrated at first? Then at least your breast would be getting some stimulation. Some babies like to comfort suckle even when they are not hungry, so if you let him suckle on your left side as often as possible that will help increase your supply.

On the other hand, if you want to carry on feeding just from one breast your baby will get all he needs. Aaron is six months old now and still going strong on my right side!

Good luck.

 

[KarenLV]

Haha! Great to know I'm not the only one. We can start the wonky-boobs club! Actually we are superwomen....we are surviving growth spurts and feeding with half of the equipment!

 

[Lyns]

Took me several weeks to get my daughter latched on at all on my left breast, as she had a little tongue tie and I had an inverted nipple. I was working with a lactation consultant who kept urging m to keep trying for a couple of days more. I was about ready to throw the towel in and drop it to a single breast....which is perfectly acheivable, when lo and behold, she started feeding from both sides.

My milk supply was lower in that side (no breast pump ever emptied a boob the way my daughter does!) but it soon caught up.

I used to always put her to that side first and see if she would take it....give her a couple of minutes to try and then switch her over before she got too distressed.

She never had her tongue tie divided.....it just stretched itself out and I guess I 'popped' out a bit too, with all the use of the pump!