Breastfeeding Only on One Side

Make sure you have it looked at, is your breast red or inflamed, I had that problem that my son would only nurse on one side and later had mastitis in the breast he wouldnt nurse on. I went to the Hospital cuz I was running a fever and my breast was all inflammed. If there is an infection in the breast it probably is not tasting good to her. Try to pump is slowly and on the lowest pressure. (not sure what kind of pump you have) but if there is any blood in the milk just discard it, they also have ointment you can put on your breast to clear up the sores. I would keep pumping the sore one until it heals and let her nurse the other one.

Good Luck hope all goes well for you and the little one.

Congratulations! You have completed your B.A., your husband has completed his B.A., you have a busy 2.5 year old AND you are nursing-I am proud of you! Be sure to keep the 'wounded' area open to air as much as possible. You might balance-out the lopsidedness by using a padded bra cup-'Velcros' it to your bra and stuff if necessary to balance the appearance. Keep up the 'Good Work'. Call me whenever @ ###-###-####.

I had a terrible time with nursing; I won't go into details, but it was bad. The best advice I can give you is to have a good pump, maybe even rent a hospital grade pump while you are healing (Once Upon a Child and Cotton Babies rent the Medela Symphony). Try liberally applying Lanolin creme everytime you pump. That will decrease the friction on your nipples. Also apply Lanolin before you shower to help keep the moisture off.
Best wishes!
P.S. I have heard of moms nursing on just one side before.
P.P.S I know I am going to get flamed for this, but after 3 months I had to go to formula. At a certain point you may have to re-evaluate to decide if nursing is best for you. For me, it was too stressful and when I went back to work I was only getting 1 oz the entire day. I was so overstressed about nursing and then so overcome with guilt from not nursing and switching to formula. Now, looking back, I wish I had given an objective look at both methods and not been so adamant about nursing only. Good luck again!

I had the exact same problem when my daughter was born this past May. I fed her exclusively on one side for awhile while the other nipple healed. I also pumped on the side with the damaged nipple--just with a little hand pump, even though I had an electric Madela one--because it was easier to just do that. Could you try putting Lanolin all over that nipple before you pump it? That's what I did. And I can honestly tell you that although I knew I was supposed to pump every time I used the other breast, I didn't. I pumped twice, maybe three times a day on that side, which I felt really guilty about, but I was just so overwhelmed with everything it was hard to find the time to pump on that side when my daughter wanted to be held all of the time, and I wasn't coordinated enough to do it while she was eating. So perhaps you could try pumping less frequently on that sore side until it gets better? I know that may not be advice a LLL leader or breastfeeding consultant would give you, because I know you need to keep up your milk production in that breast, but it worked for me. I brestfeed exclusively on one side for several days, and just pumped a couple of times a day on the other side, and let that side MOSTLY heal before offering it to her again. It took way too long for it to completely heal to wait that long. When I offered her the damaged nipple, I just gradually did it, only one or two feedings a day at first, and sometimes only for the first few minutes of a feeding before I would switch her, and then I gradually worked back up to using it as much as the other breast. This worked for me--I was lopsided for a little while, but it wasn't too bad, and that other breast seemed to catch up pretty quickly. Once it was completely healed, I used it more often than the other to try to catch it up, and everything seemed to work out just fine. Another thing I would suggest is using different breastfeeding positions--that's one way to help with nipple soreness. And I found one position worked better on the side with my damaged nipple than the other positions.

Good luck--it WILL get better, and it will heal--just stick with it! Mine is fine now, and my daughter has no problem breastfeeding off of either breast--I think it gets easier when they get a little bigger.

My daughter was born 1 month before yours on 6/24 and I went through the exact same thing! Damaged the nipples so badly (especially one) that my LLL contact told me to pump only on one side until that side healed. But the pumping kept opening the sores and hurt just as much as nursing! I just kept putting her to the breast and we worked through the tough patch. Another recommendation from my LLL person was to try a nipple shield. I tried it for a day or two and it didn't help much but some people swear by them just to get through a very painful period. It might help get your baby back on that breast. I don't think nipple shields are good for long term use as they can hinder milk production for some women and other side effects, but if it aids you in double breast feeding it's worth it.
It's my understanding that a baby cannot exclusively breastfeed (long term) off one breast without supplementation.
My baby is now 9 weeks old and I'm pretty much through the sore spell. Nursing was much less painful with my son; I was expecting number 2 to be easier, not more challenging but they're all different. I wish you the best of luck!

I would contact your local La Leche League. They can help you out tremendously! I also recommend the book The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. Just keep pumping and/or letting your baby nurse on the side that is sore. She will eventually get used to it. Put pure lanolin on your nipples after every feeding. It is ok for baby and great relief for you! Good luck and kudos for breastfeeding!

Dear A.,
It's been a long time since I've had to deal with that. My youngest is a teenager now. But, I did have similar problems. I think the best thing you can do is talk to a lactation consultant. If you have a La Leache League in your area, they can help also, or refer you to a consultant. You could probably also call a children's hospital to get a list of consultants. Hang in there!