Feeding one side per feeding- do I need to pump the other?

[Blackrain90]

My baby is a little over 48 hours old, and I am starting to get my milk in.

So far, he only likes to feed on one side each feeding (usually for around 30 minutes). I offer him the other but he usually won't latch.

Will my breasts produce less because they each only get used every 5ish hours? Do I need to pump the one not being used or will it all balance out?

 

[jessmke]

My LO always ate just out of one side per feeding. I would just put her on the other side for the next feed. It didn't affect my supply.

 

[Marumi]

I have an oversupply and do this. It is supposed to lower your supply but if you have plenty that would be a good thing. Too much foremilk results in tummy aches. Maybe you can nurse on one side but frequently? 5 hrs seems like a long time for a newborn anyway. Maybe try every 2 hrs.

 

[noon_child]

Your initial milk coming in is driven by birth hormones. However after that it is a supply and demand situation. I was going to say no-one needs to pump as long as the "demand" part of the equation is working properly, but 5hrs between feeds is quite a big gap for such a young baby.

Maybe LO is just sleepy from the delivery, so you won't have to worry whether or not to pump in a day or too as he'll wake up and feed more frequently, or take both sides. Personally I'd be worried leaving it that long between feeds. At three days old his tummy will only hold around 25ml which doesn't seem enough liquid to sustain him for 5hrs.

My LO was hard to wake and hard to latch for the first weeks, so I often expressed/pumped and syringe fed her in order to keep up the 2hrly feed schedule the hospital advised till she was back to birth weight.

 

[RaquelDee]

Pretty sure the OP is feeding every 2.5 hours, but only on one side. So if she feeds on the left, and then 2.5 hours later on the right, it will be 5 hours before she gets back to feeding on the left again. That's how I read it, anyhow.

The advice I always went by was to offer the second side after the baby was finished with the first, but not to get hung up on whether or not the baby took it, and to just alternate what side you start with. I never had any supply issues from sticking with this.

 

[noon_child]

Pretty sure the OP is feeding every 2.5 hours, but only on one side. So if she feeds on the left, and then 2.5 hours later on the right, it will be 5 hours before she gets back to feeding on the left again. That's how I read it, anyhow.

The advice I always went by was to offer the second side after the baby was finished with the first, but not to get hung up on whether or not the baby took it, and to just alternate what side you start with. I never had any supply issues from sticking with this.

That totally makes sense!

 

[Blackrain90]

Thanks ladies! Yes Raquel is correct- he feeds every 1.5-3.5 hours but averaging 2.5 hours- but only on one side, so each being used every 5 hours. (I don't let him go more than 4 hours without a feed, and that's usually only if he cluster fed beforehand).

Yeah I am hoping the whole supply and demand thing works and I don't end up getting engorged or producing less.

 

[crownest]

My DS is is six months and just nurses one boob per session. Just alternate boobs

 

[Snufflepop]

In my experience, as long as your supply is good it won't cause a problem. My ds is 4.5 months old and since birth he has only ever fed on one side at a time. My dd was the same. I do seem to have over supply problems though because both times I have had to block feed in the early days to regulate supply, feeding on both sides made the problem so much worse.

 

[Sealion24]

My ds is 7months but only ever feeds from one side at a time. I just alternate at each feed and have done this from day 1.