Baby Has Side Preference

If it's that bad you're probably going to have to pump the milk from the left breast. Have you tried waiting til he's starving and give him the left first? Good luck.

I always forced the issue cause I didn't want to end up with lopsided boobs when it was all done. Good luck.

Try the football hold. It may not be the breast he perffers but the side of his body he is laying one. Basical you hold him like a football under you armpit. You need to use pillows for support otherwise you arm well really start to hurt after a while. If that does not work i would just pump after every time nurse him on the other side. Your milk should come back. You might have to get areally good hospital grade pump. You buy one out right or rent it from teh hospital you delivered at. Also goto lelechelegue.com they have really good resource.
A.

You can try using a breast pump on the left to increase the supply. My son tried this when he was in the hospital. They typically will try to only go to one side. However, if you do not offer the right side and only give him the option of the left, he will eventually take it because he will get hungry enough. I know it sounds cruel, but you don't want to have one breast to your belly button and the other standing tall!!!

Start on the left every time you nurse, when he is hungriest.

M.
When I nursed my second child I used to rub the side of her head that was up towards me. She still had a tendancy toward the right side, but she did not mind so much when
I did this and was more willing to take both sides.
W.

I'm just guessing, but have you tried a pillow or those pillows that go around you to help support the baby while you nurse? Have you tried like the football hold? The baby would go under you left arm. So, instead of laying on his left side, he would still lie on his right side. Give this a try.

Mimi B. (that's what my Grandkids call me)

Hi M.,
I had the same problem with my daughter. The advice I would add to the others is to always start with the left side when nursing. After he has given it the old college try, then switch him to the right side. And, yes, pump the left side when finished nursing to get the production up. Good luck!
T.

I had the same trouble with both my boys (one even more stubborn) what was suggested by a nurse at the hospital to me was to hold him "football hold" while nursing on the side he did not prefer, I used a boppy which made it easier. Football hold is where he's laying on his side as if nursing on the right but his legs are under your arm, it worked for me and then as they got older I'd begin holding them the other way and they would eat fine. If that doesn't work then try pumping the left side when you nurse on the right.

I had this problem when my daughter was born until about 5 weeks. It was so difficult to get her to stay on my right breast! First I would spend some extra time with the pump on that side to build up supply. We also had good success with a few drops of sugar water on the less preferred breast and at one point used the SNS and a syringe with tubing. The syringe is difficult to use unless you have help, but the SNS is more manageable. I figured out that part of it may have been me--she would eat from the breast I held with my right hand (I'm right-handed) and so I needed to use a different nursing position for each side (football hold on the preferred side was fine, but I had to use what I believe was called the crossover hold on the right).
Good luck!

K.

I agree with the moms who talk about positioning. My daughter did the same thing, but she "preferred" the left side. To get her on the right, I would keep her lying on the same side (R side of body on pillow) and just move her over to the right breast. I used a "My Breast Friend" pillow that made this manuever quite simple. If your supply on the left is diminishing, you should probably start him on that side, but again, have him lying in the "right breast position." Hope this makes sense. Good luck!!

Congrats on your baby boy! I remember in the birthing class an idea for this problem. Not sure if you have tried yet, but it can't hurt to try it. Try to lay him or hold him as if he was nursing from your right side, but give him the left. The teacher said that sometimes they just like to lay on one side. Hope all goes well!

You are right! Get a breast pump and get that left breast going again. Freeze the milk for when you have a baby sitter until your son is ready to go there. It will also make you feel and look more even.

Good instincts - you knew all along what to do!

try the football position. My son was the same when he was first born because his poor little head was so cone shaped when he first arrived that i think it messed up his jaw. i think it hurt when he turned to the right, so the football position on the left breast still allowed him to turn to the left.

also, you may want to look into getting cranial work done or seeing a chiropractor. birth can be very traumatic on their little heads.

Hi M.,

Have you tried the "football" hold on the side that he doesn't prefer (in your case the left side)? It consists of holding him towards your side instead of across your front while feeding. Hope this helps ... I'll try to look up websites that have more details and will repost if I find anything.

Take Care! -b

M.

I would pump the other side. Each time you nurse. This way you won't be lopsided and it may help in production off that side. Be sure it isn't something medical related like torticolis where babies prefer one side and they dislike the other side because it is uncomfortable. Read up on it...

Otherwise pump the left and it will start producing again.
Trish

I have breast fed four daughters.... all for a long time. The longest being 2 1/2 years. They will always have a preference. You need to not let them control that preference. Express a little milk ahead of time to get the baby interested and continue to put back to the same breast so that that breast has been expressed all complete before you switch to the favorite side.

two ideas that worked for me:

1) Pump the other side (I rented a symphony pump from the hospital) and make sure you are hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids

2)I had to use a nipple shield because my daughter did the same thing, one side was raw and the other side she needed the shield for 3 months to latch on

Good luck!
J.

My son refuses the left breast after 6 months. He is now almost 11 months and I have been nursing him on the right only since January. He has always seemed to have enough milk, although I also supplemented w/ formula. I don't appear lopsided, but I'm pretty well endowed, so it would probably take a lot of engorgement to see a difference.
Keep trying to pump and nurse on the left using all of the excellent ideas given by the women on this site. If it doesn't work out for you know that you baby can get by with one breast.

my daughter (now 15 months) has preferred nursing on the right since birth. she would fall asleep by the time i switched sides or i would forget to offer the left side first. as a result, my left side has never produced very much and i was lopsided. someone once recommended to me pumping on the left side while your baby nurses on the right, to increase and maintain production.

sometimes our bodies are just the way they are. when i went back to work, even when i pumped the left didn't produce very much.

i read that when you are done nursing, they will not stay lopsided. we are close to weaning and not nursing as much and they seem to be starting to even out in size.

hope this is helpful. i wouldn't worry too much about it. as long as your baby is getting enough milk, regardless of which side, he will be fine.

do you think it's the actual breast or perhaps the side of the face that he prefers touching you? i know of babies who have enjoyed a certain side of their face touching mama's skin, so the mamas have gotten creative in positioning to get the other bosom used...perhaps you've already tried this, but it's worth a thought, maybe, if you haven't.

All of mine did the same thing. I think you said it, pump up. Can you pump the other side & let your husband feed him?

Pump the left side as much as possible to get it to produce more then when you start to nurse him on the left squeeze a little in his mouth before you try to get him to latch on.

M., my daughter prefered my left breast over my right. What I pumped my right breast, with a small manual pump, every time I nursed her. As my daughter got older she would nurse on either side. My right breast eventually became a stronger producer because I pumped so much.