Only nursing on one side per feeding?

[lalemma]

Okay - our breastfeeding relationship is fine, my son has many, many chins, etc. But here's something I wonder: we rarely switch sides during each feeding. Most of the time, he'll eat on one side, and I'll offer the other side when he wants to eat next. Sometimes (maybe once a day) he'll really settle in for a long snacking session, and I may change sides when he seems to be done with the first boob. But otherwise, it's pretty much one boob at a time.

Is there a downside to this I haven't run into yet? I've noticed that most breastfeeding literature tends to assume that you switch sides midway through a feeding. But we just never really got into the habit of doing that. In case it matters, he's in arms/sling most of the time and fed on cue: he tends to eat for short bursts, very frequently, and not for long periods of time every few hours. I can't tell if the "both sides at every meal" thing is geared more toward the latter setup.

Thanks!

[rlmueller]

You're fine--my babe can only handle one side and I pump the other occassionally while feeding her. No biggie. The boob will do what the babe wants.

[Bokonon]

Sounds fine to me! It is generally recommended to let baby finish on one side and then offer the other, but if your supply is ample and baby doesn't usually take the other side, no need to offer it at your baby's age.

I think I only ever fed from one side per feeding with DS. With DD, we did that for the first few months, and then she got frustrated with the slower flow towards the end, so we're double-boobers now.

[AndtheStars]

DS is 8 mos and we only nurse one boob at a time. It's been this way for months and months now and he seems fine. In the beginning, I tried to switch back and forth but he always seemed finished at the end of the first boob. I think its fine just to watch the babe's cues.

[staceychev]

We mostly do one side, and that's what I did for four years with DD1. Worked fine.

[JMJ]

I have rarely fed my now 1 year old 2 sides at once. Near the beginning, I discovered that if I fed her 2 sides at once, she puked because it was just too much milk for her tiny stomach. I know another mom who had the same problem, and her pediatrician convinced her that her son was allergic to her milk and convinced her to wean. As my baby got older, I now sometimes give her both sides if she seems still hungry, or she's learned now that she can go back and forth, but I would never assume that every baby needs 2 boobs with every feeding.

[judybean]

I've always had one-boobers well, I should say most of the time... in the evenings sometimes Hazel will cluster feed and it seems like she just switches back and forth every half hour or so.. lol Otherwise, it's just one boob per feeding. She's happy, her poop is super (plentiful and never green), so ... it's obviously working

[Katie T]

The only down side I have found it I am a little lop sided at time lol but you are doing exactly what you should be doing, letting the baby finish the first side first. In the beginning my babies almost always only took one side and as they got older slowly started taking the second side until the feeding was a boob and a half so to speak.

Keep up the great job!

[pumpkinhead]

This is how both of mine nursed until they were well over a year and there is no downside that I am aware of .

[lafemmedesfemmes]

when ds1 started biting me (or rather, gumming me sharply-- no teeth!) when i offered the second boob, i stopped doing it. he was about 3 months old at the time.

christina

[listipton]

another 'one-boober' here. Ds is 17 months now and I have yet to see any downside

[averlee]

Like many have said, my daughter rarely took both breasts at a feeding until she was over a year old. When she did take both sides, I called it a "Two Titty Feast." If we went very long between, the neglected breast would get full and drippy, but that was the only downside.

[Blessed_Mom]

The only downside I have considered for myself (my babe is an uniboober too ) is whether I am involuntarily block-feeding and since the other boob is never really empty have I always sent the message to my body to not make "too much milk" since it was enough. I have always been an 80% mom. On Dom I am finally about 100%. My right side isn't part of this equation since my DD just - doesnt - want - it. So I wonder if I have contributed to my lower supply, kwim?

[mamadelbosque]

Your fine, thats exactly what both my boys have always done (Ds1 nursed till shortly after DS2 was born - 30-32 odd months, DS2 is 8 months and still 90%+ EBF...)

[amydiane]

I think DS often did both boobs, but DD almost never does. FWIW, my supply is a lot better this time.

[BtotheG]

I thought I was the only one!

DD has nursed from only one side since birth. She's almost 6 months now, and I haven't noticed a down side. I'm glad to hear from mamas who have nursed this way for much longer and haven't had issues! I worried I would run into problems at some point.

[rlmueller]

Article

Check mothering.com breastfeeding challenges article about a woman who was burned as a child and has nursed her 5 children from one side only--including twins! Inspiring.

[thefreckledmama]

I started feeding my kids like that after I read somewhere a looooong time ago that when you switch sides mid feeding without emptying one side completely they miss the hindmilk.

Since then, rarely will my kiddos make it to the other breast at a single feeding until they start getting older (a year or so), and my supply keeps up just fine.

The only time anything was ever said to me about not doing it this way was with my last in the hospital. They had a sheet I where I was supposed to fill in each time she nursed, and I "had to" nurse on each side each time. Yeah, totally didn't do that, and just fudged the sheet and said I did.

[crunchy_mommy]

My DS is 14mos & still nursing strong so I don't think there are any downsides (unless someone had low supply or something possibly). DS nurses the same way, short, frequent bursts, and I got massive oversupply whenever I tried changing sides!! So we only switch sides every couple of hours. I kind of think the "switch sides" thing is something culturally specific anyway -- maybe developed to help moms with low supply?? -- and I read that in some cultures they just feed the baby on whichever side is convenient at the time & don't worry about switching sides. It works for me

[lalemma]

Thanks for the stories, everyone! I'd been wondering if I was accidentally block-feeding, and would find reduced supply over time or something, so it's good to hear how common this is.