Any Lactation Consultants Out There to Answer A ??

K. I have a 14 week old little girl and my right breast does the samething. When I pump both of them I am lucky to get 1 oz. from the left and I get 3 oz. from the right. I do not know what to tell you, but there are times when she takes the left breast that I fill like she gets hungry faster. Do not give up and just try to keep on getting him to take the left breast.

Okay my right breast does the same thing and I suggest pumping the low producer while the baby feeds on the good producer. Although I am not a lactation consultant I have attended La Leche League meetings for 2 1/2 years and I have had the blessed opportunity to breastfeed my first for 2 1/2 years and now my newborn, with the same issue each time on that side. Kinda ticks me off because the left side gives so much! I co-sleep with my baby and have increased the amount on my low producer somewhat by allowing her to feed on that side throughout the night. She does it all on her own so all I have to do is lay on that side. Sometimes I will switch sides to allow her to drain the other breast. Also the Medela breast pumps are probably the best. Improperly draining one side will decrease the production of that breast. Good luck!

I am no lactation consultant, however, I went through the same thing you are going through... in my case my son favored my left breast. I was recommended two things:
1. Try feeding him on the breast that he does not like on nighttime feedings or when he is more sleepy.
2. When he is really hungry try to putting him on the less favored breast, he will complain a bit, but eventually would give in.
Like I said, I am not a lactation consultant, but those two things worked for me - hope it does for you too.

Pump the left side first. Call your OBGYN & explain,they always have good tips for you. Good luck.

I am not a lactation consultant, but I did successfully nurse all four of our kids for a year each. Little ones do go through phases and they can prefer one breast to another, simply for the reason they are more comfortable being held in one position versus another. Offer the left first always, or until you find a little more balance between the two. He may balk at this offer for a while until he finds some comfort in this side. If after a concerted effort has been made (at least several days of trying) I would seek advice from his pediatrician. He may have fluid in his ear making laying on that side more uncomfortable or some other reason that he may be able to determine. Nursing is not always easy, but with persistence is always rewarding. Good luck!

K., you might be able to pump on the left until your milk lets down & then put on it. Good luck.

First of all, it is common for one breast to produce more milk than the other--mine was my right breast, too. The only problem I could see is that your left breast might become engorged if it is not drained regularly. Maybe you could start your son out on the right one, but then move him to the left one before he is full. He is probably really hungry at first, and it is easier to get the milk from the right one. Once he has satisfied his hunger somewhat, but still wants to nurse, you can transfer him to the left one. As you don't drain the right one completely, it might start producing less milk so they will even out more eventually. Good luck! J. W.

I've been exclusively breastfeeding my 8-month old little girl since birth and she has always preferred my right side. My left side has always been smaller too. Just recently she started to almost refuse the left completely. The only thing that has worked is to do a football hold on the left side and then just slide her over to the right side. It works almost every time. I guess it kind of tricks her into thinking that she is always on the right side. Hang in there. You are doing a wonderful thing for your son. :)

I'm not a lactation cosultant, but if you try to pump a little and do the different positions and he still won't nurse, then atleast pump it everytime he nurses off of the other one. Just to make sure it doesn't dry up, and so your breasts aren't 2 different sizes in the end

Could he possibly have an ear infection in that ear? Maybe it hurts to lay on it?

I agree with the other poster... if he doesn't nurse from that side you need to pump to keep your milk, and keep trying to get him to nurse on that side.

Do you have a Boppy or other nursing pillow? My daughter is always so much more comfortable on the Boppy (and so am I).

Hi, I'm not a lactation consultant, but I had the same problem with my first son, and I was afraid of being "lopsided". LOL! I continuously gave him the unfavored breast first, and wouldn't switch him over to the other until he'd nursed at least 10 min. I also tried holding him different when I nursed him on that side (try what experts call the "football hold"). He may just be uncomfortable and has decided the other one is easier. If you stay "tough" and try to work through the crying, hopefully he'll nurse fine in a few days, you just have to build the flow back up on the side he's not nursing on. Also....try pumping that side to build up supply. :)
It did work, it just took a few days, and a few mommy tears before he started nursing regularly on both sides again.
Good luck!
S.

I also had the same situation with my son he always favored one side over the other it seems until heis appetite increased and then would nurse from both sides eventually. I encouraged him to his less favorite side by first pumping or expressing the watery milk out which is what comes first before the sweeter milk, then he would be more likely to nurse from that side especially if he was still hungry. I strongly encourage you to try to even out the feedings on each side, because I have found that over time your shape will become uneven as a result. We are now weening from breastfeeding 2 years later. I wished I would have know then what I know now. To be more diligent on switching sides.
also try http://www.llli.org/
for information.
good luck

Not an LC here either. BUt I did want to add that one breast can produce enough milk.....of course if he won't nurse on the other side it will dry up and get lopsided. But medically it isn't a problem.

The other suggestions you have gotten seem to cover anything else I can think of. (My kids did favor one breast over the other too-- though not to the extent yours may be doing.)

I nursed each my three boys. The longest one to 8 months of age. You may want to start pumping your left breast to increase your milk production. If you don't use it, it will dry up. This will also keep you from being uneven.

I also agree with the previous response, try other positions. Your baby will prefer the position you are both most comfortable and can relax the most with. You could also offer the left breast first or to get the edge off start him on the right for a couple minutes and switch him to the left. Don't be afraid to try something new. Worse case scenario is that you will have lots of extra milk in the freezer for an evening you want to run to the store and leave the baby home with Dad!

I'm not an expert but I nursed both my girls, the 1st one for 3 1/2 months and the 2nd for 5 months. My youngest didn't like my left breast and I ended up having to pump it while still in the hospital. I would suggest nursing him with the right and pumping and saving the milk out of the left and giving it to him later. I had so much access milk, I froze it and when I quit pumping and nursing she still had milk for almost a month. You could still try and offer it, it may just be a phase. My daughter was just picky:) If he still refuses, pump it so that it doesn't dry out and to keep your supply up. I hope this helps. Good luck to you and congrats on nursing, it is the best for our children:)

My first child favored one breast over the other. Continue to offer the left breast first. After you have fed your baby (both breast) try pumping just the left breast. If it is stimulated to produce more milk by your son and the pump it will start producing more. The let down of milk is probable slower and that influences your son"s preference.

I breast fed all four of my children and have a certificate as a breast feeding peer counselor.

I am not a Lacatation Cons., however am a certified breastfeeding educator and birth doula. I heard a cranial sacral specialist talk at the DONA conference this year about the benefits of this type of work on babies who have a breast preference such as your son. It is felt that possibly he isn't physically comfortable with lying on the unfavored side. Often, just changing his position to sitting and facing the breast will change that. And, of course the speaker promoted cranial sacral treatment for these situations. There is a local therapist, her name is Eileen Kinsella and she is very trustworthy and has tremdous skills. Hope this helps.

I am not a lactation consultant, but I have nursed all three of my children. My advice is to try the football hold, so maybe he will think you are feeding him on the right side. Also, before he is hungry and tired see if he will nurse on the left. Prime the pump first so that he will get milk immediately. The last piece of advice is not so comfortable, but it did work on my daughter. I laid down to feed her on the bed. I propped a pillow behind her so that she was comfortably angled and I popped it in. You can either lay on your left, or (to make it clear) lay on your right and cross over. I know it sounds weird, but don't we all try wierd things in hopes that they work!!! just be calm and relaxed as much as possible.
T. Anne

Hi K.,
I'm not a lactation consultant but I did breastfeed my 4 boys when it was not in "fashion" to do so back in '79-(3 mths-cuz I was really new), '80-(2 yrs - till i got preg), '82-(2 yrs till i got preg), & '84 (6 mths - due to my 3rd son being in the hospital I had to stop with my 4th) and I had to figure out a lot of this on my own cuz even my drs werent in favor of it!!
When my boys favored one side over the other I figured out how to "trick" them by holding them on the other side of my body heading the opposite way.
Let me try to explain it a bit better ....
He favored the Right side so I would hold him on my left side with his head next to my Left Breast, my hand cradling his head and the rest of his body going towards my back. It works best if you are laying down or sitting in a big over stuffed chair so that you have help supporting the rest of his body!
Sometimes the baby gets used to his head tilting in a certain way so this is a way to keep his head at the same angle.
BUT ... also sometimes they end up favoring one nipple over the other too! with that said ... you might need to do some extra "work" to get the other nipple to be easier for him to hold on to ... like maybe pumping a little to ease the fullness so that he can get a better grip -
or maybe the milk doesnt come out as quickly so you could put a warm washrag on the breast before he feeds --
just some suggestions.
IF he doesnt feed on that side then yes, it could end up drying up & then you would end up lop-sided!! But I wouldnt worry just yet! Keep giving him that side first ... and work with him ... even at this young age they know that if they fuss enough you will end up giving him the side that he wants!! ;-)
Gotta love these babies!!

D. Soffen
www.GoGoPowerTeam.com

Hi K.!
I am not a lactation consultant either but my MIL is and has been for 20 years. I had this same problem, when speaking with her she told me to try to reposition baby to where she thought she was on the right side and just to try different positions as maybe we just hadn't found the RIGHT one. This is very common with babies to favor one side over the other. But my MIL did stress the importance of pumping on the side that is neglected (so to say). Because if you don't use it, you will lose it and it is very hard to get back. Also, freeze the milk that you get from that side. It does good to allways be prepared. You never know what may happen and you would be glad to have that frozen milk on standby. Frozen breastmilk stays good for 6 months in regular freezer and longer if kept in deep freeze. If you have any other questions, allways feel free to email me personally. I hope that this helped.
M.

it COULD be that he has an ear infection on the side that is facing down when he is nursing on the left. I've heard of that before...a friend of mine could only nurse her baby on one side and the same thing would happen when she'd try switchind. Wound up being that the pressure caused the baby pain when her nursed and the sucking didn't help so he favored the other breast. ??? Just an idea, but I hope you figure it out and get both of those boobs working!!! Wonderful to hear that another mother is nursing :)

My son favored one side over the other also. You can try to pump on the other side to build your milk on that side. You can continue to offer him that side first. From my experience, my right breast had a quicker let down of milk and that's what he favored. It's not unheard of for babies to favor one side over the other. I don't even think it's a "problem", except that one breast is larger than the other. (You can pump to help prevent that and to keep your supply up on that side if you desire). Just relax and continue trying. If you're nervous when you offer the left breast, then the baby will sense that. It can also affect your let down on that side. Just relax. You could also try pumping on the left side for a minute or so prior to nursing to help bring down the milk and see if he'll take it. He sounds like a very satisfied and "full" baby.

Try placing him on the left breast the same position as he is on the right.

As strange as this may sound, try a chiropractor. Many times the problem is that a nerve is pinched and it limits the amount of milk produced by the glands in one particular breast. I've heard of instant results with a simple chiropractic adjustment.
Good luck!!

R. M

My son was the same way; he favored my right breast. Someone told me to lay him on a pillow to nurse on the right side then slide him (on the pillow) to the left side. It kind of "tricked" him in that I didn't pick him up & turn him around. It worked quite well. He nursed for 2 yrs 1 wk.
If he will only take the right breast or only nurses there for a short time, make sure you pump that breast to keep up your milk supply. Continue to offer the left breast. He may suprise you & the left one will become his favorite.
Good luck :)

Perfectly normal. It may be the flow, or the nipple shape, or something else, but lots of babies develop a preference for one breast. It is possible that the other breast could dry up, but your babe will still get plenty of milk. The only possible 'problem' is that you may become temporarily lop-sided. I actually nursed my son for two years on one side only, and many moms of multiples or moms who tandem nurse assign a side to each one. Your body is amazing and will still produce exactly what he needs. :)

I'm not a consultant, but i had the same situation as you. My three older kids all ended up nursing on the left side exclusively and they had plenty. my pediatrician said it was fine and that the body just adjusts. Good luck!!

Have the pediatrician check your son's right ear. If there is an infection or fullness in that eustachian tube, perhaps it's uncomfortable for him to lay on his right side to drink from your left breast.

Hi,

I have nursed 3 children so far & none of them would nurse on my left breast.... I figure there's something different on that side the nipple size or something that they didn't care for.... It's all right to nurse on the one side at least in my opinion my kids all got what they needed & have grown & devloped fine.

L.

I nursed both my boys for almost 2 years each and they both did this. I would make a point to always start on your left beast and then move to the right. He doesn't have to work at the right it sound like so he likes that one better. Your body will naturally regulate itself after a while. Keep it up of you can there is nothing better for your baby.