Breastfeeding Woes - Reisterstown,MD

RELAX my dear.

1. is all of your ducts letting milk out?
It sounds like a clogged duct.
start with a warm soak, massage then pump, pump, pump even if this is not a clogged duct this will stimulate your breast to make more. If the breast is clogged and not satisfying him fast enough he does not want to work, or wait for it.
STAY AWAY FROM SAGE this drys you up.

Seek a lactation consultant if this continues.

Good luck.

Breasts are all different. My thought is that since the left is faster and "easier" to get the milk from, he would prefer that. What kind of nipple does he use on his bottle? Maybe go back to the 0 nipples, to make sure he has to keep working. Not feeding on the right won't cause the left to dry up. You may want to keep pumping on that side, to avoid being too lopsided, but as long as he is getting enough milk, I wouldn't worry. I only feed on one side (granted, I alternate each feeding), so maybe keep him on that right side for the whole feeding. Also, is it possible to mimmick the position for the left, then just slide him over to the right? Could he have an ear infection that makes him not want to lay like that?

That happened to me, but it was the left breast that stopped. My son always preferred the right. Just keep pumping and nursing. And try and pump a few minutes longer a day ont eh right to increase the production. Mothers milk tea was good and tons of water. Good luck!

It is common for you to produce more in one breast than in the other. While I'm sure you will get lots of advice on how to up your production, what I wanted to point out is that you DO NOT have to wean if you don't produce enough. As my lactation consultant told me, "Breastfeeding is about more than nutrition." Yes, it provides the best source of nutrition, but it provides so many other things. So, even if you have to supplement, you can still keep breastfeeding and give him all the benefits of breastfeeding. It isn't an either/or proposition. I had a rare situation in which what I was producing was extremely low, and no amount of pumping, lactation inducing herbs, or drugs was able to get my production up. So, my son got formula and what little amount of breast milk I could produce.

I don't have a good solution for you, since I don't know WHY your son doesn't want to feed on that breast any more, but I did want to tell you that it's not that uncommon. My daughter breastfed for 7 months and near the end of that she was feeding mostly on one side. So that side would get really engorged if I was away from her for too long, and the other side was just small and unused. It was kind of weird and embarrassing, but even though you are unbalanced, I think you will still make enough milk for him. At least until you can figure out what the problem might be.

I think the reason it happened with my daughter was because in the position I usually fed her it was easier/more comfortable for her to be on one side.

I wouldn't worry. If he only nurses on the left, then the left breast will start to produce all he needs. My daughter went through phases where she favored one breast over the other and she switched off and on and has never had an issue with production. Once she started to like the right better than the left or vice versa, the breast just started to produce more again. If your son is ever not getting enough, he will let you know and be at the breast more, which is good because then it will help you produce the amount he needs.

Perhaps he is teething and doesn't want to nurse on that side because of his gums hurting or something. I know he might sound young to teeth, but my daughter got her first tooth on her 5-month birthday and the second one just three days later. She's 10 1/2 months and now has 8 teeth so it could certainly be that. The times where she has favored one side over the other were also right around the times that she was cutting a new tooth.

I see all the responses about blocked ducts...eh....my one breast is just slower than the other and produces less. Each breast is different and more one just has MORE milk ducts. I too had a kid that preferred 1 side. I found that I could get MORE milk from the slow producer when I pumped if I re-set the pump to the let-down feature after the milk seemed to slow down and drip and it would trigger a second let down. I might do this 2 or 3 times and it helped me get more that way. Baby still preferred the more producing, faster left one though---I would usually let him start on the left and then slip him to the one he didn;t like when he got drowsy for a bit and sometimes pump it after he was done. I also would feed him on the left in the morning and pump the right at the same time :) Got more milk that way and an extra bottle. When my total milk production started to decrease because of work stress, I took fenugreek capsules I got from GNC and it helped (please avoid is there is a chance you or baby could have legume or peanut allergies though --there are other galactogues you can try). Remember, your baby will be starting cereal and then baby food and then solids in the next few months so his breast milk consumption might decrease a little. Don't stress :)

Good luck!

Oh,Dear, you need more stress and worry in your life. Try the pros at the LaLeche League. You could say to yourself in a very tiny voice that you've done a wonderful job and there are benefits to formula. You may have some clogged ducts-with the right amount of pressure-you may not be able to inflict this much pain upon yourself-more may open. Good luck-and lighten up-the fact that you do the whole working mother thing is absolutely Herculean!

My son favored one breast over the other. I still made him take both, I too was afraid one would dry up. I also had problems pumping with it, then both. One thing that helped while pumping was at home I would nurse and pump at the same time. When I was at work sometimes I would only get 1-3 oz. I was so upset. He may have been about that age. The closer I got to one year the harder it was to get anything while I pump alone. I had to breastfeed and pump at the same time. I stopped pumping after he was 1 year old, but didn't stop breastfeeding until he was three. My breast both dried up and barely hurt when I stopped.
Stay positive!

What they said . . . .
and
Call Leche League.

You may have a blocked duct? I had pain with mine and I had to do warm compresses and pump a lot more to get the milk flowing again. Some women don't have any pain at the beginning. I would try to massage the right breast and pump it a few more times a day and keep trying him on that breast ( he is much stronger than the pump) and see if that helps! Also, I contacted lactation consultants for free through my local hospital quite a bit when I was nursing so calling someone for advice may help too :)