slow flow on one side?

[trumpcard]

My flow has always been slower on my right side than my left. I always start and end my nursing sessions on that side to keep my production up but DD has always preferred to nurse on the faster side. Now that she is 8 months old she is in a hurry to nurse during the day and puts up a big fuss when I try to get her to nurse from my slow side at all. She fights me for the fast side and refuses to go back to the slow side before returning to play.

Is there anything I can do to combat this? I am afraid that she will completely give up nursing on that side. Right now I can still get her to nurse from that side during the night (we co-sleep) but she is nursing less overnight.

[CheriK]

It might be a losing battle, as babies tend to know what they like.  It's not uncommon for babies to prefer one side over the other, and even wean from the least favorite side.  You can always nurse on only one side, although you might notice some size differences!

If you want to continue encouraging her to nurse on that side, then what you're doing with night nursing is great.  How about naptime?  I can get my nursling to take the less favorite side after she drifts off to sleep, so I always nurse on that side at her nap & at bedtime, which gets us two long sessions each day.  If it's the slow letdown that bothers her, you might massage to get milk flow started before offering the breast, start nursing on the favored side & shift to that side immediately after your milk lets down, or use breast compression to keep the milk flowing.  Do you use a sling?  DD will nurse on her less favorite side if I put her in the sling while out/about, probably because it's easily available. 

Honestly, I wish my 2-year old would wean from her less favored breast.  She often goes on 2-3 day nursing strikes on that side, leaving me engorged & fighting plugged ducts.  Every time I think "this is it, kid," she goes back to nursing on that side like it's fine.  Argh!