Hey Ladies, my daugther is 3mths old and I've recently gone back to work; pumping is going great! But, I get double the milk w/ every pump out of the same side? Not really complaining b/c the ultimate supply is adequate, but curious if anyone knows what's up w/ it? How do I catch my left up with my worker bee right?
This happened to me too and no matter how hard I tried, one side always produced more. I breastfed/pumped for a year with both of my kids. You just have to accept it.
My daughters both picked a fave side. And then that one side was always bigger and fuller than the other! It's just a part of nature, I guess. Hey, we all have one breast bigger than the other. Right? :) Just go with the flow, Haha.
With mine, it's the left. I just pumped the right one twice to encourage more. My little one spends more time on the left one because he is more comfortable on his right side. That's probably because I am right-handed and was always more comfortable with him like that. I think that that nipple was easier for him to get to, too.
It's completely, 100% normal. You can try over-pumping your other side to get it to produce more, but milk-production is usually lopsided, so you'll probably have an easier time if you just shrug and accept it. The breast producing more milk may get larger and you may look uneven for a little while, but as I discovered (with my daughter, I had one breast that hardly produced any milk at all, and one breast that did ALL the work), you'll go back to normal when you finish nursing.
I had one really productive side and one not as much. It never affected DD. I only really noticed b/c of pumping. DD was fed and happy and I know from friends' experiences that you can nurse on one side only if necessary. So I'd just keep going along and not worry unless you can't get enough milk combined.
I think you will find that many women have one side that produces more. I don't know how to make it make more; it's just how it is ~ I have the same issue. I would say if you are happy with the amount you get, regardless of which side it comes from, don't worry about it. IF it were a supply issue overall, then pumping and nursing more often would help increase your supply. I use a natural/organic product by Motherlove to help with my supply. I take it as a supplement every day so you could look into herbal supplements as well if you have a low supply.
me too. With my first two kids, I tried and tried to encourage the slow one to produce more (serving it first, pumping...), but to no avail. Now on my third baby, and I'm just accepting it now. I just try to give baby the slow one first to try not to make the difference bigger (since I'm already a full cup size difference). Both boobs produce, but one is nick-named "turbo"!
I don't think it is anything to worry about. I think you're lucky to have your pumping experience working well for you.
I was the same way haha. Feels weird i know!! She favored one side o er the other and still does at 15 months. My breasts are quite large and a full cup size difference..... she settled in with the smaller one so the are now even haha. I just went with it and didnt worry about it. I pumped both sides at the same time and one would be empty while the other still flowed.
Good luck and congrats!!
Pretty common. One thing to try is when you are nursing your daughter, try to start on the less-productive side most of the time.
But in general, I wouldn't worry about it too much.
