amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

branwyn · 08-30-2004, 03:46 PM

did i do something wrong? nothing will come out of my right boob, it doesnt hurt or anything but i noticed that when sarah would nurse from that breast she would be on for about an hour and still be hungry. when i tried to hand express, nothing would come out and then i tried using the pump and after about 10 min i only had a few drops. is there anything i can do?

tia, i am sure i will be asking a bazillion questions (you have been warned

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thea · 08-30-2004, 05:28 PM

My guess would be that if you keep encouraging her to nurse on both sides, then that side will eventually start making more milk. It is fairly common for one breast to make more or less milk than the other, or for one to have a stronger letdown. I had the opposite problem when Louisa was new: my right breast put out so much milk so fast that she was overwhelmed and didn't want to nurse on that side. After a while things evened out somewhat, but there is still a difference. Now she prefers the right breast for the same reason she used to refuse it. Go ahead and ask all the questions that come up. Discussing it with other mamas makes breastfeeding soooo much easier.

Sunflower_Momma · 08-30-2004, 11:44 PM

Well, I had significant differences between my right and my left side. Right from the start, I didn't produce nearly as much from my right breast as I did from my left. Eventually, after the first year of really trying to increase my production in my right breast, I gave up and just nursed from the left.

I've heard that is not uncommon and that you can successfully feed a baby just from one side.

You are still in the early stages of this particular nursing relationship, so I'd say that it is definitely worth continued effort, but the only major disadvantage of one-sided nursing is the lop-sided look.

Good luck!

waterlily · 09-02-2004, 11:52 AM

I can't add much beyond the wisdom you already have gotten here except that it is not abnormal to be unsuccessful at hand or pump expressing. Nothing is as successful at getting milk out as a baby is. :-) If you are feeling a letdown you are making milk. My little one who is 4 mos now has preferred the left breast from birth and I do believe she gets more from that breast. As she got a little older she was more successful at getting milk from the right breast but still prefers the left. You said after an hour on that side she is still hungry. Is there a reason you are nursing on one side only per feeding (if that's what you're doing. . . not sure from what you said), is it because you are trying to increase milk supply on that side? One thing I can suggest is letting her start on the right and finish on the left so she is full. You can also vary her position on the right like a football hold for example to see if she is more successful at getting milk from that side coming from a different angle. HTH.

mama22wildfires · 09-08-2004, 09:41 PM

I completely agree with what Waterlily said. I would start nursing on the right side at every feeding, if you're trying to up milk production in that breast. The good news is that because the supply is lower, she's getting the hindmilk faster and you don't have to worry about her nursing and only getting the watery/sugary foremilk...which can be a problem when you produce too much. The hindmilk is where all the calories and fat (aka brain food) is. So.....back to the topic at hand. Start nursing on the right breast every feeding, but when it's emptied, continue with the left.

Oh, and here's what the LLL has to say:

Quote:

When I pump I find that one breast produces more milk than the other. Is something wrong? Every woman's breasts are a little different, and since humans are not symmetrical, breasts aren't either. It is common for one breast to have more milk-producing tissue than the other. In fact, sometimes babies will prefer the more- or the less-productive breast, and this is perfectly normal.