Lactation Concerns

To you and to everyone with the same problem, I would ask how the baby was latching on the breast. If they were for some reason not latching as well as they did on the other one, this can create the decreased size (not getting the milk) and the baby's prefrence for the opposite breast.
Make sure the baby's chin is touching the breast, but not the nose. Most of the areola should be in the baby's mouth. Start on the small side to recover, then feed on the larger size. Do start the feed occasionally on the larger size so the baby gets both fore and hind milk. They have different fat, protein and water contents. I would probably do two feeds on the small side the one on the larger side.
Please do keep nursing it is a wonderful thing for you and your baby. I breastfed my first for 27 months and my 2nd baby is two months old. I am also an aspiring lactation consutant, and love every minute. Hope this helps, if you have anymore qeustions you can contact La Leche Legue in your area.
T.

Oh, I'm so sorry you are having problems. My only advice would be to call the local la leche league at ###-###-####. They have always been able to help me through nursing problems and have great advice. I would say, if it's important to you to nurse her till she's one, don't give up yet! Good luck to you, M.

Hi D.,
Atleast try to get a good laugh about it!!! I had the same problem with my first two boys. They both favored the left side. I always ended up with more milk on that side.
Third time around (our youngest is 6 months) I made a point to offer him the right side first and things have evened out.
Just remember that your body will produce what ever the demand is. If the right is producing more, then offer the left first at every feeding for the next few days ( and let her eat as long as she will before you switch to the other side). The more you offer it the quicker it will produce so you might even want to let her eat every hour or 2 to give it a kick start the first day (you may get a little sore). Even if you think you aren't producing much on the left, she is likely getting something and it will very fat and calorie dense.
It shouldn't take more than a few days to get evened out and then if you see it start to happen again, just start to offer the smaller side first before it gets too bad.
Good Luck (and don't forget to laugh)
A.

My right breast was bigger than my left before I got pregnant, so that just got worse after having my baby. I have a similar problem, although I just alternate as if neither breast were bigger. I tried feeding him with the left breast more frequently for a while to see if that would make the left one bigger/more filled. You know, it really didn't. I know this doesn't help much because I don't have a solution that will even you out, but all I can say is alternate as if they were the same size. Your baby will get enough milk. My baby (my first, too, and 9 months old) is a big eater, always has been, and he is always satisified by the smaller breast just as much as by the other one. For the appearance part of things, try getting one of those little gel packs to stuff in the bottom of the cup for your smaller breast, to lift it up.

I had the same problem. It actually wasn't a problem for me since I wanted to stop breatfeeding at 10 months. I just let mine naturally dry up. But in your case, if you are planning to continue nursing, I would feed her from the smaller breast first to get the stimulation back then from the larger one to actually get the milk she wants. After the feeding pump that samller breast for 15 minutes to really get it stimulated to produce more milk. Good luck to you and you are doing great with the nursing this long

Hi D.,
I had similar concerns, so what the PED told me to do is feed from the smaller. The sucking will stimulate the ducts and cause more milk to come in. The more sucking, from baby or pump, the more production. What I found was that the larger one actually relieved itself by leaking if I didn't feed from that side. I always had one side or another produce more milk...it switched from side to side. Crazy I know, but it will all be fine.

Be sure to let the larger one down too though or you may get painful knotts or plugged ducts.

C.

My left is noticeably larger and I have had the same concern with my first son. Everyone has a larger breast, usually the opposite of your dominate hand because you use the chest muscle on that side more so there is less fat. I would have her nurse on the small one to stimulate production and pump the larger one to empty it or you could have her nurse the smaller one at two feedings in a row and the large one at the next feeding.

Hi D.! I don't have any terrific advice for you, but I have been there, and I am still there really! My son just finally weaned last week at 3 1/2 years old. I have been completely lopsided since he was about 10 months or so! I thought I was the only person on earth with this issue. I started trying to nurse more on the small side, but it just didn't really work. He liked the big side better. :) So on it went this way for years. I wear a pad in my bra to even them out, but I still think it's pretty noticeable. I am really hopeful that now since we have weaned, they will go back to the same size. My husband hope so too. I hope you find something that works!

D.,

I have that issue too. My babe doesn't like to nurse on my right side (which was smaller to begin with). It really isn't harmful or a big deal other than the fact that it looks funny. I, like you, dress to camoflage the fact that my left boob is at least a cup size bigger than my right one. I've been nursing for 3 of the past 4 years and I've pumped for about 18 months of that (total) between 2 kids - so I've had a lot of experience with nursin and pumping. Since the boob size/production bothers you, I'd recommend starting every (or most) nursing sessions on your lower producing boob and pumping on that side a couple of times a day. That should even out your supply and hopefully help balance out the size difference.

:-)T.

I and several friends of mine all have a good laugh because we all have a "bigger" breast. I found that my smaller one always managed to do the job, despite my concerns. And you can always top her off if she's still seeming hungry after a feeding on the smaller breast.
As for trying to get them back to the same (or as close as) size, I would breastfeed with the smaller one at every feeding. So, feed on the bigger size, then give her the smaller one. Just to get your production up more for the smaller one, hence (hopefully) increase in milk and size.
HTH :)

I went through the exact same thing. Only I just gave up and fed my son exclusively with the right breast (the larger one) for more than four months. After I weaned him both of my boobs deflated and they're actually more symetrical than they were before I had my baby. Don't worry about it, you can continue whatever you're most comfortable with and after she's weaned you can go back to wearing nice clothes.

Lots of good advice here but just wondered if you have a pump? You could always feed her as you are now, perhaps offering the smaller side first for as long as she will nurse, and later after she is finished altoghter you could pump extra on the smaller side (never hurts to have frozen milk anyway) and that will help increase production on that side. Just a thought.

Hi D.,

I also had two different sized breasts and just kept feeding my two kids from both sides. If milk is still being produced, then it should be going to both sides, so I would keep feeding from both sides. Maybe you can feed her from the larger side to reduce the engorgement and also from the other so that it keeps filling up. Sometimes a breast will not fill as much for a day or two, but if your little girl keeps feeding from it it will most likely fill again. Also, if a breast is engorged and painful it is important to keep feeding from it, even though it hurts. And if it has red streaks from it, then do a hot compress and then a cold compress followed by hot to get the duct unplugged. Always nurse both sides! Midwives know of teas to drink, too, for milk production and for unclogging ducts. Good luck!