Did anyone favour one side so much that they lost supply in the other one?

[Kuba'sMama]

Yea... the title says it all.

I've always had a bigger supply in my right breast and while my dd was a newborn I was very conscious of trying to offer both breasts. But after a while of feeling perpetually lopsided, I offered the right breast twice as much as the left, and then three times, and so on. The way my bed is situated too made nursing on that side easier at night.

But now, I think the left is empty :( So, my daughter is 9 months, she gets a lot of milk from the right side. What do I do? Should I try to build up the supply again? She doesn't really want the left side, fusses and squirms until I offer the right. Anyone BTDT? Thanks!

[Hannah32]

Yeah, only with opposite boobs. LOL. 

My baby always favored the left but nursed on both regularly while I was on maternity leave. Once I went back to work and started pumping, I didn't have as good a response on the right. I had several rounds of plugged ducts and discomfort. Gradually, the supply in the right just went down and stayed down. 

I always offer the right first and he usually will nurse for a minute or two before demanding "the good boob." The only exception to this is our 4 or 5 am feeding, when both are fairly full (baby STTN). 

[raelize]

yeah  we have that here.  and it just perpetuates itself.  now i am around a size b on one side and a size d on the other.

[crunchy_mommy]

Hmm DS is 2 and I have been nursing primarily on the left side for quite a while now... my right side is a chronic over-producer so if he nurses even a couple too many times on that side I get wayyy too much milk. I use the right side for when he's really really hungry/thirsty (i.e. first thing in the morning) and the left side as more of a pacifier, to get him back to sleep etc. I think as long as your DD is getting enough milk overall, you don't have to worry about which side it's coming from.

[Kuba'sMama]

thanks.. made me think since my right is the over-producer, I went wrong with offering this one more often, should've done the opposite. I'm not so much worried about her getting enough milk, guess it's a vanity thing, because the difference is quite noticable, especially wearing tank tops in the summer. At least it rights itself when i wean (which might be a while yet, bleh :)

Thanks again!

[JudiAU]

Yep, it really is a vanity thing. Prolonged one sided nursing can make you lopside and there is not guarantee it will correct itself after weaning. As a result I always always rotate which side I offer first and if I need to switch sides that is fine too after a bit.

I did notice that after getting somewhat lopsided with the first, not correcting itself during pregnancy, it did correct itself with my second nursling. I was much more careful.

[crunchy_mommy]

I guess I lucked out since my right side was always bigger than my left so now they've kind of evened out!! (who knows what I'll look like if I ever finally wean...)

[Annie Mac]

What? This is possible? Oh yay. I have been treating one side for thrush (don't know if it's really thrush, but something's wrong), so I've only been nursing on one side during the day (so the LO doesn't have to eat nystatin and to give my poor painful boob a break). At night, both are open for nursing. Am I putting myself at risk for losing milk on the painful side? 

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by Annie Mac 

What? This is possible? Oh yay. I have been treating one side for thrush (don't know if it's really thrush, but something's wrong), so I've only been nursing on one side during the day (so the LO doesn't have to eat nystatin and to give my poor painful boob a break). At night, both are open for nursing. Am I putting myself at risk for losing milk on the painful side? 

I don't know about the other posters, but I have been doing most one-side nursing for well over a year... and I think I could get my supply back if I nursed frequently on the other side (in fact, in the last couple months, DS has started wanting the other side more, and doesn't complain about lack of milk).

I don't think if it's just something you're doing for a short time, you'd have too much of a supply drop, but I'm sure it's highly individual!