Baby Only Nursing on One Side

He may have an ear infection in one ear... causing ear pain from pressure in the ear when he lays his head one way.

Hi K.
First I would try to stimulate that breast to let down before you put him. If this dosen't work I would take him to the chiropractor something may be uncomfortable for him to nurse on that side. Good Luck T.

Wow! People have some great advice on here. The only thing I could add from ALL of my kids doing this around 4 months old is to situate like he is going to nurse from the "good side" and then twist your body a little to give him the "bad side." Not horribly comfortable but not bad either and it tricks him into thinking that he is getting the side he wants. I had trouble with the football hold so this worked for me.

I agree with the chiropractor recommendation. It is very gentle for babies. I have been taking both of my kids since birth - chiropractic care is very good for nursing problems. Let me know if you need a recommendation for a good one in Richfield.

Try another position. It could be that you aren't letting down as well on that side, but you are probably not letting down as well because he isn't nursing as often on that breast. My daughter for the first few weeks of her life would only latch on in the cradle position on the left side. For the first few days of nursing I couldn't figure out why she hated to be on the right side. I talked to a lactation consultant who told me to switch to the football hold. Thats where you hold the baby with his feet towards the back of the chair, his body laying on your forearm, and your hand cupping his head. You could probably google it for a picture. Anyway, this worked like a charm. Later I took her to a Chiropractor friend for another reason, who after examining her said that she had sustained some trauma during labor to her neck, and asked if she was having trouble nursing on the right side due to some stiffness and pain she was having. But I just continued nursing her in the football position until she got too big, and her neck had worked itself out. Now she nurses beautifully in the cradle position, or sitting upright on my lap (older babies find creative ways to nurse). By the way, you can sustain a baby on just one breast. Our bodies are made to work that way in case we have twins. If you can't find a way for him to nurse on that side, one side will be just fine nutritionally (you may be a bit lopsided though). I hope everything works out for you! I think it is great that you are sticking with nursing through this tough time, it is a wonderful thing you are doing for your little boy!

I didn't have this problem when I nursed my son this last year, but my Mom had it with me. I was in a bodycast at 6 months because I broke my femur and it only allowed me access to one side- so I only nursed on one side for 3 or 4 months. After that, my Mom put me back on both sides and her milk came right back in the side she couldn't nurse me on before, she didn't pump or anything during the time I couldn't nurse. I know it's a royal pain to have one side bigger than the other and I don't really have a solution for your problem but I thought some reassurance might help if you can't get him to go to the other side. Maybe when he gets older he'll be more comfortable on both sides (??). Hang in there!

Consider taking him to a chiropractor that specializes in kids. I work for one and she told me once that one reason babies cry on a certain side is because it hurts for them to lay on that side. I wish I would've known that when I was having your problem. In the meantime, try the football hold, so that he is laying the way he likes but on the breast he doesn't. Your baby will be laying under your armpit. It takes a little getting used to, but the more ways you can find for him to get used to eating, the better off both of you will be. Another way I used to "fool" my kids was to start them on them on the side they liked, let them get enough that they weren't "starving" and then pull them to the other breast, still laying the same way on my lap.
Breastfeeding is hard. But it's more than worth it! Good for you for sticking with it!

My grandson did the same thing.. he would only nurse on one side..Try putting him in the fooball hold one that side..we finally decided to take him to the chiropractor..I was told some babies, do to their postion in utero, have a tender spot in their neck area...sure enough after a couple of treatment all was well and he nursed on both sides...for a very long time.lol

I am a chiropractor and would recommend you try chiropractic care for the baby. He may have something going on in his neck that is restricting his movement that way and makes him cry (maybe it hurts). You could also try a different hold...football hold,cross carry hold???

I agree with the other ladies suggesting the pump first method also if it is a let down issue.

www.chiropracticfranklin.com
Good luck, L.

I totally agree with taking him the the Chiropractor. My son screamed when I nursed him on one side.....after having him adjusted it resolved.
Also, don't nurse laying down. I used to nurse my son while lying down in the night and he got 2 ear infections from the milk pooling in his eustachian tubes. That made it even more miserable for him to nurse on that side.
Also, I have known a few ladies that just end up nursing on one side for MONTHS so if it doesn't resolve, just keep feeding him on the "good side"! :)

You may want to talk to a nure. They NEVER told me when I was nursing that one side will eventually take over producing all the milk. After a couple of months I only nursed on the left side. We both seemed to favor that side so I wasn't worried.

As for the chiro,it couldn't hurt. I've been taking my son since he was born. The birthing process is hard on both mom and baby so there could be some benefit into getting him adjusted. Adjustments really help babies if they constipated too. My son has always loved getting adjustments. :)

Most times, it has to do with the mom, not the baby. Due to hand dominance, one side is easier for the mom and therefore easier for the baby. The baby senses this and does not want to be in the ackward position. The let down difference that you are noticing is due to two things, 1) not frequent enough feedings & 2) the difference in a pump v/s baby. Now you need to try a couple of things.... Change positions of both you and the baby. The first one I would try is actually laying down. If you lay down and feed him on the "Preferred" side and then flip him to the "Nonpreferred" side. If he takes to it, then it is not a problem with the baby. Here is another problem. When the baby gets upset and screams, you too get anxious. You have already built up in your mind that he is not going to take it. When he screams you get upset and this decreases your milk flow and limits your initial let down. So, it is a lot of mind over matter. I also tell my girls who are having this problem to get to the baby before he is hungry and start a feeding on that side. Usually they will not get as frantic and you will se that it can work and will gain more confidence.

This also happened to me with my son. My nipple was different on my right side and he didn't like it. I used a nipple shield and he then would nurse that side. Problem was he got used to the nipple shield and eventually would only nurse with it on both sides, so I had to always have a shield with me.

use the football hold on the other side. its common for babies to only want to lay on one side to nurse, just lay him on the same side to nurse the other breast!
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K., I am almost 100% certain that cranial sacral therapy will take care of this for your baby. I just found out about it myself and am amazed! This is the funny part--I was mamasourcing for help with my baby and a mama said "have you tried cranial sacral therapy?" and told me that there was a super practitioner in her area. So I looked her up and (bummer for me) she was in the twin cities area! It was too far for me, so I had to seek out my own therapist, but when I looked you up, you are right there!

So here's the deal, it is an adjustment somewhat like chiropractic adjustments. So maybe I'd try a chiropractor first if it's easier. But if that doesn't completely solve it, the reference I got for cranial sacral in your area was Angel at ###-###-####. I talked to her to find out more about it and find someone in my area and she was a sweetheart. Just tell her what is going on with your baby and she will tell you if she can help and how. It's really an amazing little thing. And once she gets baby nursing on the "bad side", baby will solve the production issue. Happy nursing!!

P.S. If you get a chance to talk with Angel, she will probably agree with me that all of your advice about trying different positions is consistent with her own diagnosis. It is related to pain that she has in the position she lays in to nurse on that side. So changing positions might have actually helped some moms. But wouldn't it be so much better to just correct the baby so she is comfortable in every position?!

You could pump the "slow" side for a minute or two (or even hand express) and then let him latch on. Massaging the breast while he's nursing might also help.

You could also just always pump on the "slow" side and nurse from the other. That really depends on how much expressed breastmilk you want to have around the house and if you don't mind pumping a lot.

Does your baby have any trouble turning his head in that direction? He may be developing torticollis. Ways you can check for yourself would be: watch when he is on his tummy: Does he lift his head and turn it to either side or does he always have his head turned to the same side. Will he let you turn his head in both directions. When lying on his back, can he turn his head and follow an object? I am a pediatric PT and torticollis, which is a tightening of the muscles on one side of the neck, can impact development in many areas (visual motor, hand use, play, etc). It is fairly easy to address with stretches and positioning. If your little guy seems to have these issues, the nursing difficulty is really a symptom of a muscular problem. A football hold would allow him to not have to turn his head into discomfort but really won't help the torticollis. As a PT I'd rather you went that route but you can also request an evaluation or screening by the early intervention program in your area. Every state should have one and you can request it yourself. Depending on your state, the evaluation would be free. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

I had the same trouble with my daughter. Try changing the position. So hold her as if she's nursing her on the side she likes, then just slide her over in the same position until she's on the side she doesn't like. Hopefully she doesn't notice that she's on the other one. Keep trying as you don't want to have one big boob and one small one!