Uneven Milk Production

A. this is normal for most of us. Always start on the lesser side because you baby is hungrier at that point. The one side will never produce like the other, but hopefully will get better. Also if you have a pump pump the lesser side after feeding just to give some stimulation. Hope this helps.

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A.! Your baby girl is getting plenty! Your breasts may never even out but trust in your body & its ability to produce for your sweet baby. Less than 5% of moms dont make enough milk according to LLL & many LC's I have consulted with. If you are producing 3 oz every 2 hrs by pumping, you are already making way more than she needs at her young age as her belly is small =) LLL actually told me most babies wont eat more than 4 oz every few hours anyway because it wont fit in their bellies.
Your body will adjust to her needs as long as you DONT supplement with formula or your freezer stash. By doing that, it tells your body you dont need that amt so it wont make it! Also, as time goes by & your body regulates to her needs, you may not ever feel full or feel the "let down" but that is normal. (Something I stressed about!)
Good luck! I stressed so much & consulted so many professionals, but I have learned to relax & enjoy my girl =)

S.

Try starting the baby on the side producing less milk and be patient while she eats on that side then let her finish on the side that's bigger. Most likely your body will catch up. One side will probably always be a bit larger- that's normal! And drink lots of water!!!! It's sooooo important to stay hydrated! Good luck!:)

I too was the queen of lopsided boobs! and not just a little, A LOT! She loved the right boob, and would cry when I put her on the left! I finally said enough and let her nurse off the right, and I pumped and stored on the left. I am weaning her now at 15 months and things are all balanced out! Don't worry, you'll only look ridiculous for a while!

First off, Congratulations on your new baby girl! secondly, It is wonderful you are trying to breast feed. Your breasts being uneven is totally normal! For some reason, one side does tend to produce more than the other side. And since this happens, it is normal your baby nurses longer on one side than the other side.
Eventually (for me it was at about 10 weeks) it feels as if your breasts deflate, but the milk supply is still strong, so be prepared for this to happen. A lot of Moms start to think their milk supply has gone down, but is not the case.
If you are in Chandler or close by, there is a great group that meets on Wednesday Mornings at the Morrison Building (next door to Chandler Regional Hospital at Dobson and Frye). It is a Breast Feeding Support Group lead by a wonderful lactation consultant. The group meets at 11 AM until 12:30 and it is also a wonderful opportunity to meet other new moms going through similar problems.

Remember that pump output does not necessarily correspond to production. I pumped for my kids while I worked and I always got about 20% more from one side than the other--but while nursing directly they seemed about even.

Keep switching off which side you nurse on first at each feeding and give it a couple more weeks. You may continue to be a little uneven but it should get less noticeable. You also may want to stick to nursing (vs. worrying about pumping unless you have a specific need for it) for at least a couple more weeks, just to give your body more time to adjust.

If you live in Scottsdale/Phoenix area, there is a store called Mothers Milk on Scottsdale/Shea. The owner is the nicest lady and really helped me (for free!) when I had some nursing issues. Also, my pediatrician has a lactation consultant on staff, Stephany Van Dike. It is the best office ever (I have 4 kids so I am there a lot) Desert Sun Pediatrics on Jomax and Tatum...###-###-####. Nursing is one of the hardest things in the world to do and you need a lot of support or you will quit. I nursed all mine for a year and ran into a lot of problems along the way! It will get easier around 12 weeks if you can stick with it that long :) It's soooo worth it! Good luck.

Another great resource is Doris, who is a retired lactation consultant. She runs a Mom's group on Tuesdays and Thursdays (depending on where you live) and along with getting advice on breastfeeding, we have different topics we talk about each week. It was a lifesaver for me when I had my baby in April! Great place to meet other Moms too! Check out the information at: http://www.pump-n-go.com/moms%20group.htm

How much you are able to pump only has a little to do with how much milk you actually have. Sometimes it's just hard to get it out that way. You need to have her nurse on the smaller side first all the time for awhile until you think it's more even. The breast will produce what it needs to sustain your baby. At first you may need to feed more often, but it will work out.

she feeds off the full side because it is easy. Once she starts it just flows and she has to actually reall suck to get the other side to flow. My son, 3 months old, gets full fast on the full side, especially first feeding of the morning.

Limit her time on the full side, like 5 minutes and then switch her, so that she nurses longer on the other side. Just keep doing that and they will even out. And start her on the smaller side everytime. You might have to pump to get rid of some of the pressure on the full side because it might stay full for a while. Stick to your guns and make her nurse on the smaller side longer.

You've already gotten good advice, but I just wanted to add that more than likely, that is the way your body is built - I know mine is. (LEft side produces quite a bit more.)

And, although pumping is different than feeding baby, I can still tell that my left side actually fills up more and baby gulps more from that side and drinks faster and it takes less time to get a let-down. I've had 3 babies now, and although they've prefered the left side, I always start with the right side. Always. It will never, ever catch up, but it's fine and it doesn't hurt the baby (although it's annoying to be lopsided, I know).

My first baby ended up just nursing on the left side for the last few months of nursing because it was too frustrating to try to get anything from the right side. I let him. It was fine and he nursed until he was 16 months old. I am trying to keep baby #3 on both sides as long as possible, but it one day he weans himself from the right side, that's ok too.

Hi! Try starting your baby on the less productive breast. I know that my son had a favorite, and just was not comfortable in my right arm. He loved being in my Left arm, and that is the breast that produced the most...because he wanted to suckle on that one the most. You can always "hang" over your baby, and offer the less used breast. You would lay on your side and have the breast you want the baby to suckle not on the bed side, but the top side. You will have to position the breast to kind of hang over the baby, it feels odd at first, but it does work. This worked for me when I had a clog and my son would not take the clogged breast because it was my right one. Try contacting www.LaLecheLeague.com and you can get a boat load of ideas from their forum. Or you can contact their local group by phone. Good luck.

You can try always starting her off on the "smaller" side to try and increase production there. Your baby is still brand new, so things will settle down some in the next weeks.

But I will also tell you that after after breastfeeding my 4 children, each for at least 20 months, I still make less milk on one side than the other. When I had to pump milk, it was always easier to pump from the side that had more milk - it just flowed better. If you will have to go back to work, you might consider this as well. Congratulations on your new baby girl and good luck!!!

It's normal to get more milk from one breast than the other. Sometimes I'm like you and I get 1 ounce or less from one side and 2+ from the other side. Make sure that you switch breasts with the start of each feeding. I always nurse on one side and then when he slows down I burp him and offer the other breast. The breast you finish on (assuming you do both for each feeding) should be the breast you start on the next time. If you aren't having any real pain and you don't feel any big swollen lumps (like swollen glands) then I wouldn't worry about it. My little one has started "playing" while nursing and likes to latch and then unlatch and smile at me...he does this over and over and has recently decided he wants to nurse every two hours (or less!) and so I was worried that he wasn't getting enough during each feed....I weighed him before and after nursing the other day and he had nursed 5 ounces and barely spent any time actually sucking! Breastpumps aren't as efficient as a real baby, so don't worry about the baby not getting enough...as long as she seems full after nursing and is having enough wet diapers per day. Hang in there! Nursing is no easy job! Oh, and I agree with the other poster...if you don't have a reason for pumping, I would hold off for a bit...until she's about 8 weeks if possible. It takes a while to build up your milk supply and your body reacts according to demand....you want to make sure your body is producing according to baby's schedule! Good luck!

Sounds like great advice so far. I would add that if your daughter is falling asleep nursing on the second side (which mine did at first), to wake them up between sides with a diaper change. My husband always changed their diaper in the middle of the night after they had nursed on one side. (He felt bad that I always did the feedings.)

I had the SAME concern when I had my Daughter in May. I talked to my doctor and he said there wasnt anything I could do it was just the way nature worked. I made the mistake of always starting on my small side and I actually decreased my milk supply on my larger side. It was heart breaking and took me about 3 or 4 days to get it back to normal. So be careful not to favor one side too much. Even now she is almost 4 months old and I still have where I can get 4-6oz from my larger side when i pump and BARELY 2 or3 from the smaller side. they eventually look more even and it doesnt bother me anymore. Good luck and keep with it, it gets frustrating sometimes I know but its so rewarding!! congrats on your little girl!

Congratulations! And good for you for breast feeding. It's normal for milk production to be different on each side, and since it is different your daughter will get less from one side she will eat more from the other side, and then your body will continue that pattern of more on one side since she has reinforced what your body started. After giving her a full feeding on the smaller one you could pump on that side to signal to your body you want it to produce more. Let your daughter eat off the other side and then don't pump. When the sides are even you can let your daughter feed fully off both sides and your body will adjust to how much she needs. Again congratulations, and good luck!

I wouldn't worry about it. No matter how much i pumped my right breast always made double what my left breast made. But, on the other hand, it seemed like the left breast, although producing less always seemed to produce richer, fattier milk. (And as a result this was the breast that tended to clog too) So I figured mother nature knew what she was doing and I have 2 healthy little girls who never got any formula and who were always plump healthy babies, my first was always perfectly average weight, my second was in the 90th percentile for height and weight, so I knew all was well and they were getting all they needed.

I just wanted to let you know that with my second baby I also had uneven breastmilk production. I have no idea why, and one breast was larger than the other as a result. My baby definitely favored that larger breast and I don't know if the fact that she nursed on that side more stimulated it more and that's why it produced more milk or if it produced more milk from the beginning and that's why she preferred that breast. What came first, the chicken or the egg? Anyways, I nursed her for over a year like that and it never caused problems for me. I don't have advice, but I just wanted to let you know I've experienced that as well.

Congratulations on your new baby! I have 3 girls.... I nursed them only on one side at a time. One of my girls went 20 minutes a feeding; one went 15 minutes a feeding & the other went 10 minutes.... some babyies are just faster suckers than other or your milk may come faster on one side.... I think it will even out, but the side you start on should not always be the fuller side..... switch off. Every other time start on your right side.... thus every other time you will start on your left side... Hope this helps! If your daughter pulls off & is not crying for more, then even if she has eaten for 5 minutes she may be done. The way I gaged if she was getting enough at a feeding is if my daughters could go 2 1/2 - 3 hours between feedings. That way I wasn't just feeding them little snacks so they wanted to nurse all the time. Plus having them eat every 2 1/2 - 3 hours helps them fill up during the day & then they all slept longer at night.... my first born slept 6 hours straight from the get go! Even if I had to wake them up during the day to feed them every 3 hrs. or so, I would let them sleep as long as possible during the night. Hope this helps. :) You'll get the hang of it! Blessings.... C.

It's normal to have one side produce more milk and also for the baby to prefer one side over the other. It may be easier to get the milk on the one side. Try starting the baby on the lesser side, when baby is more hungry and eager to nurse then switch to the other side. Your body will adjust.