My baby refuses one side!!!

[Nonie's mom]

I have a 10 weeks old baby girl. Since the very beginning, she has refused my right breast. The only reason that I can tell is that my nipple isn't very big on that side. I call it the dud side. She was about 3 or 4 weeks old when I got mastitis on the dud side. I didn't know what it was because my breast didn't hurt. I bumped my arm pit and it felt like my lymph node was hurting. Within a couple hours I was shivering uncontrollably and when I "felt better" I took my temp and it was over 104 degrees. My fever broke in the morning, still not knowing what had just happened, and I was a big sweaty mess. As I peeled the 10 layers of clothes off my husband noticed that my dud was all red. Then we knew what was wrong. I was put on ceph a day or two later when the pain was unbearable and was out of commission for 2-3 days. She would nurse on the good side but would still refuse the dud. My poor good boob was so sore from exclusive feeding that I would cry when she latched. At least that is all better!!!
So here we are at 10 weeks. Luckily she is still a chubby healthy little baby at 13 and a half pounds. My good boob has more than enough for her at this point in time. I have tried to offer the dud to her several times a day for weeks now and she still refuses.....and I mean really refuses and makes me feel like I am actually hurting her ( I do it at home only so no one thinks I am hurting her). She even beats my dud with her little fist. I tried to pump first and offer, different positions (pillows, backwards, upside down, laying down, hovering, her laying on me ), tricking her by putting her to the good side and then the dud, breast shields which just seemed to empty my dud by leaking, and I have expressed the milk into her mouth as she screamed bloody murder fearing at any moment she would choke to death. She would swallow and scream and swallow and scream. I'm still not sure if I was being cruel or not but I didn't know what else to do. I just knew that I didn't want that pain again and I wanted her to have the milk instead of the shower drain.
I'm a first time mom and had always wanted to bf. At this point I can barely pump a half an ounce out of the dud. At the risk of another bout of mastitis, I started drinking fenugrete (sp) tea. I just want her to have enough as she gets older. I just worry that one boob won't be enough for her as she gets bigger.
I guess my main questions are: Can I increase the amount of milk in my dud when it seems to be drying up? Will she always refuse? Can I sustain her on only one boob as she gets bigger?

UUUGGGGGG
PS: A completely superficial side note is that it would be great to not be so grosely lobsided in my shirts!!!!!:
Thanks bunches!
The lobsided lady, Susan

Nonie Vienne born 9-30-06 after 6 hours non medicated labor in a jacuzzi tub!!

[mamak05]

Hugs and cheers to you for working so hard to breastfeed! My dd prefers my left to my right, though she will nurse off the right occasionally. She's 15 mos.

You can actually provide your daughter with all she needs from just one side. My sister was just a one boob girl and she got what she needed. If you have more concerns please talk to a LaLeche Legue Leader or a laction consultant.

I'm sure you could continue to see if she wants the other side, but in the end, trust your baby.

Keep up the great work - and love being lopsided! Evenutally that probably won't be as noticiable as it is to you right now - once she is older and supply/demand works itself out. You could always use one side for pumping if you want some milk in the freezer.

[TurboClaudia]

i was going to suggest some chiropractic and craniosacral work for your babe to work out any physical post birth musculoskeletal stuff, but since you have tried different positions that seems less likely...

maybe a tmi question but have you yourself tasted the milk from each of your breasts to determine if it's a taste thing? the mastitis thing reminded me that a friend said she tasted her milk from her breast that had mastitis and she said it was awful.

and to reiterate what the other poster said, yes you can sustain her healthily on just one breast.

~c

[BeingMe]

Mine has always preffered one side more. I would always try offering it first or when she was partially asleep. I could get her to eat some but she loved the other side so I would pump the other to keep up the supply. I think there is a difference in let down as well.

However, I took her to a chiro and after one adjustment she doesn't care as much. No more fits, she takes it very easily and even stays there longer. So I say give it a try and a craniosacral as well.

[jennybean0722]

try the sleep feed (like above)

My DS does not like my right boob, although it is the bigger one and has more milk. I think his problem was my overactive letdown. It was too much for him. I may only offer it once a day, the rest of the day its the left side. At night, I try to focus on the right and he takes it just fine (laying down). Laying down allows for the milk to dribble out the side comfortably.

I should say that b/c of my overactive letdown, my DS hated even being in the cradle hold. And he ended up not wanting to nurse in the cradle hold on the left side too. Argh! I now lay down most of the time to nurse him. No ear infections yet, thank goodness.

I would advise to try other options before going to the laydown all day approach. It has led to him totally associating it with sleep, and now he also has his days mixed up. He feeds may 3x a day, and around 6-7x a night. I am sleep deprived (who isn't?). I am in the process of changing it with the No-cry solution.

MY ADVICE: Just keep feeding on the left side, and then try to feed from the right side at night and pump it during the day. I wish I would have done this...Don't let the right side denial bother you too much (like it did me). I know I ended up resenting his denial which has now led to our sleep problems (well, its my problem).:

J

[Nonie's mom]

The craniosacral information is pretty new to me. Who would I go to for that kind of work..just a normal chiro? As for tasting the milk, I actually did and it seems to be the same. When I had mastitis my midwife told me that she thought that dd was a lazy nurser and didn't like to work at it which she has to do on the dud. Now that I think of it, I can't recall ever having a real letdown on that side. My good side has a huge supply and she practically has a hard time breathing between swallows when it lets down. I'll continue pumping and I'll look into the chiro work. Do you think that a baby massage specialist would be able to do something similar? A lady gave me her card when I was still pregnant.
I love this website as a resource!!! I don't get along with my mother to the point that we no longer talk so you guys are my moms!!!
Thanks
Susan
PS I can't believe some of you mothers who have had to endure multiple episodes of mastitis. I feel bad complaining about one time!!! You are an inspiration for sure.

[TurboClaudia]

a lot of chiros are also trained in craniosacral therapy. see here for some local recs: www.icpa4kids.com

~claudia

[Demeter9]

I'm going to say try chiropractic. My baby nursed better on the left side after I took him in.

[allgirls]

when my daughter did this I tried everything...then my husband suggested putting her in the football hold on that side..sure enough...she just preferred laying on her left side for some reason...probably because she liked to play with things with her right hand while nursing..she was a multi-tasker from the get go...she was about 8-10 wks when she started refusing the left breast..after a few months she started to take it in the cradle hold again and now at 3 she prefers it.

[3for3hb]

Originally Posted by Nonie's mom

The craniosacral information is pretty new to me. Who would I go to for that kind of work..just a normal chiro? As for tasting the milk, I actually did and it seems to be the same. When I had mastitis my midwife told me that she thought that dd was a lazy nurser and didn't like to work at it which she has to do on the dud. Now that I think of it, I can't recall ever having a real letdown on that side. My good side has a huge supply and she practically has a hard time breathing between swallows when it lets down. I'll continue pumping and I'll look into the chiro work. Do you think that a baby massage specialist would be able to do something similar? A lady gave me her card when I was still pregnant.
I love this website as a resource!!! I don't get along with my mother to the point that we no longer talk so you guys are my moms!!!
Thanks
Susan
PS I can't believe some of you mothers who have had to endure multiple episodes of mastitis. I feel bad complaining about one time!!! You are an inspiration for sure.

i'm a chiro
cranial sacral will address meningeal tension issues that most likely began in utero. that would absolutely make it very uncomfortable to nurse with her head turned into the tension. it's happened to lots of babies so on't think it's a freak occurance. most moms i know just stop nursing on one side because they don't know about chiro and cst. i would take your baby to get adjusted first and then (if there are no chiros in your area who do both) go see a cranial sacral therapist. the upledger institute has a great referral page for cst's. i think it's just www.upledger.com
nak
hth!!!

[Nonie's mom]

The more I think about it, the more I think that is what the issue is. She was upside down the whole time I could feel her in utero. My dh and I both hold her in our left arms and she hangs her head out from us when on that side. That would be opposite of the direction it would go when nursing on my right breast. Last time we were in to the ped for a ck up I mentioned that she sorta tilted her head that way and he didn't notice. If I put her in her swing so I can take a quick shower (if she falls asleep) she will hang her head down to her right side. Ohhhhhhh, I bet that is it!
Thanks a lot!

[kelly_amber]

I know it can be hard. I nurse 10 month ds completely on my left side since about 6 weeks, if I offered him my right he'd probably freak out

We do just fine on one side, no supply problems, I was so worried and emotional and finally thought I am not going to stress or freak out about this and it got a lot better, I thought hey, people nurse twins right,

As far a the lopsidedness.... well as my dh calls it, it's..... the mega boob. He jokes that it has "taken over" but other than making bras absolutly impossible with a 4 cup size difference the only other time it was an issue was in my Wedding Dress

Good Luck and Keep your Head Up