Nursing with One Side Only... (?!)

Yes, this is absolutely normal. I thought I was the only one until a friend of mine had the same thing happen. I have no idea why this isn't talked about in books or mentioned by mid-wifes.

Hi J.,

I too, was a one-sided nurser. With my first two children I had problems nursing and gave up after about 6 weeks. With my third child, I decided one way or another, I was going to nurse her. I ended up having very little milk in my left breast and bunches in my right. It was very evident that after about three months, we were only going to be sucessful on the right side. I nursed her for eight months. With my fourth baby, same thing. He nursed for a few months on both sides as there was enough milk to satisfy him between both breasts, but when his appetite grew, he would get frustrated nursing where there was no milk. Consequently, we ended up nursing only on the right side again. It was really no big deal, other than the obvious fact that I was a bit lopsided. To help with that, I had bras that fit the bigger side and I just padded the other side a bit. Again, no big deal.

I did have to supplement my son with additional formula as he was an 8oz. baby every 3-4 hours and I just couldn't produce enough milk to keep up with his demand.

Side note to Kim...I really do think that I did not produce much milk on my left side. As it was, the left side was a much more comfortable side to nurse on for me as I am right handed and it is natural for me to hold babies in my left arm. It wasn't that I was feeding my children more on my right side and therefore my left side didn't produce. It was more that there just wasn't enough milk. I also thought it was because I nursed more on the right so with my fourth child, I purposly nursed on the left side first, to make sure that I stimulated the breast as much as possible. I would nurse for 15 minutes before my baby would get frustrated and then would switch to the right. Gulping was all I could hear! I tried for many months before giving up on my left side. It had nothing to do with supply/demand on the left however, my right breast picked up the slack for lack of milk on the left.

Good luck with your baby!

C.

my oldest sister had terrible mastitis with her first baby and I believe that she got it again a couple of times with the rest of her kids, but never so badly. She struggled through it for months and months and finally gave up on her worst side and allowed it to dry up and after that she nursed the next four kids with only one side only.
with my last baby I was having some issues with serious pain in my nipple and throughout my breast and I cut down feedings on that side to only one to two feedings on that side per 24hrs. after a few months of cutting back and cutting out feedings on that side I started to feel better and was able to feed from that side again without pain.
So feeding on one side can be done with success.

as for the damaged breast drying up after constant drainage, did you pump that side or use that side in any way for baby? if you were not using it, it probably just dried up for lack of use, but I suppose the LC and OB mentioned that already.

I don't know what to tell you about the lopsidedness... maybe find some kind of prosthetic to fill the other side to make yourself appear even. my mom had a beanbag type of thing that she used to fill her bra after her mastectomy. but she didn't wear bathing suits and tank tops after that so she didn't really mind that it didn't look like real breast and skin.

I don't know if I was in any way helpful. Sorry if I wasn't

This is totally normal. I have always had one side that produces more (my right) & that was very obvious even in the beginning. Now that my son is older (2 yrs old) he will not even nurse from the left side & it has dried up. As for breasts being different sizes just find some kind of padding that will go in the smaller one, they have so many things now!
Brekka

Oh my gosh, I am still a little lopsided and we quit nursing almost two years ago! Complications from my cesarean section surgery with my first baby made nursing very difficult so we only nursed for 11 months, and I was more relaxed with my left breast being nursed on. However, my second baby nursed for 22 months and she totally preferred my left breast. You will get back to normal eventually if you are lopsided. Good luck!

I do know moms for whom this has happened. Good for you for sticking it out anyway!

I have the same issue. After maybe a month the left side took over. I called the nurse about another question and mentioned this and she said that's VERY common and it happens all the time.

She said you usually have a more comfortable side for both you and Baby so one side tends to take over. I NEVER read ANYTHING out that so I was a little shocked. Now, my son is just over a year old and still nursing just fine. It's our favorite part of the day (still.)

After about the first few months of nursing, the breasts don't usually feel 'full' or engorged, unless you've skipped a couple of feedings. That doesn't mean they aren't producing. And you can't really tell by how much you can hand express or pump either. Babies are much better at extracting milk than devices. So, if the baby is growing and producing enough wet and messy diapers, that is really the gauge for if you are producing enough.
What it sounds like is because you nursed on the one side more, it reached this stage before the other side. I can't imagine you nursed it dry! It's a supply and demand system. The more you remove the more you produce. But like I said, at some point, after you've nursed for a long time, your breasts feel...normal, for lack of a better word. They don't leak like they used to in the beginning, they don't seem 'full', and you may not even feel let down the way you did when you first started nursing; but they are still producing just fine!
K. Wildner, HypnoBirthing Instructor
www.kimwildner.comm
www.fearlessbirthing.blogspot.com