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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To BF from one breast only?

32 replies

Doesitgetbetter · 10/12/2014 20:58

My left boob never really produced much milk, and my DD didn't really find a comfortable position on that side, so over time we used the right side more and more. For the last few months she has fed exclusively on the right. We don't even bother trying from the left side anymore.

AIBU?

OP posts:
TheMuppetsSingChristmas · 10/12/2014 20:59

Clearly not, it works.

ThePinkOcelot · 10/12/2014 21:00

Not if it works for you, and you are not lop sided lol.

BustyCraphopper · 10/12/2014 21:00

I know a couple of people whose dc fed only from one breast - and one still going at 4yo so as far as I know it's not a problem :)

Baliali31 · 10/12/2014 21:03

Not unreasonable. I bf on right breast only after very painful abscess on right breast leading to milk stopping.

Baliali31 · 10/12/2014 21:04

Sorry that should read left breast in terms of abscess

LetticeKnollys · 10/12/2014 21:05

Sounds like it's working for you. Out of interest, are you lop-sided? Curious because I almost quit using my right side in the early days because the nipple was inverted and I couldn't get DS to latch on at all, I sorted it out in the end though.

TheCowThatLaughs · 10/12/2014 21:06

I wish I'd done that instead of preserving with both sides. I think bf would have been much more successful if I had just concentrated on the "good" side

Mumoftwoyoungkids · 10/12/2014 21:07

I did from when dd was 18m until we stopped at 2.3. Although she was down to 2 feeds a day by then.

I also know someone who used just one from when her lad was 3 weeks old and was still going strong the last time I say her when he was 18 months!

VotePedroPony · 10/12/2014 21:08

I fed ds exclusively from one side (the other was ridiculously inverted, nothing to latch on to) for 18 months - no problems at all. I was slightly lopsided I have to admit, but you could only notice with a tight top on. And both looked the same after I stopped.

PicaK · 10/12/2014 21:09

My ds did the same. I did become lopsided but they went back to same size when he stopped.
A small note of caution tho - that level of fussiness was for ds a precursor to a lot of food and sensory issues. It took me a long time to spot this though.
I'm being over cautious here i know but if I were going through it again I wish someone had pointed me in the direction of the child development levels for me to keep an eye on.
The other thing is to just check there's not a physical reason he prefers to lay on one side of his body not the other (take your boobs out of the equation so to speak).

ouryve · 10/12/2014 21:09

DS2 fed for almost 2.5 years, but only fed from one breast for the last 6 months or so. I was a bit lopsided for it, mind.

Musicaltheatremum · 10/12/2014 21:10

I fed from both but at night used to express and left boob would produce 5oz and right side one ounce. Kids didn't like it for that reason.

Original poster
Doesitgetbetter · 10/12/2014 21:10

Thanks for the replies, it's nice to know I'm not the only one.

It does seem to work for me and DD and means feeding times are stress free these days.

Lettice - I am a bit lopsided but not enough to be noticeable to anyone else I don't think.

OP posts:
TheCowThatLaughs · 10/12/2014 21:11

persevering

babewiththepower · 10/12/2014 21:12

I fed from one side and had one very large boob and one very small one. Like you I couldnt get as much milk from one side, plus i was only able to do a rugby hold on that side which was awkward. My right is still noticably larger. :(

hauntedhenry · 10/12/2014 21:16

No, no problem with that. I bf dd from only the right breast for the last few months (got mastitis in the other breast and she went off it). I did get a bit lop sided though Xmas Blush. I tried to persevere with the left side but she would only feed for a minute or so as the milk had dried up. Didn't really matter anyway as we were almost ready to stop by then anyway.

SeasonsEatings · 10/12/2014 21:16

I got recurring mastitis in the breast that I was struggling to feed from and I was lop sided (2 cup sizes) but if its working for you.....

negrilbaby · 10/12/2014 21:18

DD only fed from the left side for the last year of feeding (bf for 2 years). I felt very lopsided so bought a pair of chicken fillet thingies and wore the right one only. Help me feel a lot less self-conscious. Two years later and my boobs have evened up again.

HiImBarryScott · 10/12/2014 21:30

My right one didn't produce much with DC3 so I pretty much only fed with the left one. I was very lopsided while feeding, but it has evened out a bit now (3 yrs on!)

isitnearlytheend · 10/12/2014 21:47

My 11lb 5oz ds only fed from right after two bouts of mastitis. Lopsided but not obvious when dressed and fed for more than a year.

AshesOfRoses · 10/12/2014 21:50

I fed from one from six months to three years.

DS used the other one as a toy

When he was three he announced that my left was called Mummy Milk and the right was called, "NO TWIDDLING!" Blush

MrsWildermac · 10/12/2014 21:51

DD fed almost exclusively from the right side - she had severe reflux and lying on her right side seemed to make it much worse, so just fed from right side until she gave up at 15mths. I was a bit lopsided, but mainly back to normal now, two months on from stopping.

Susiesoop · 10/12/2014 21:53

I did this with ds1, for a year. He prefered the right side and so I stopped bothering with the other. Never was lop sided either. Weird but it worked for us. Ds2 would feed on either.

AlexD72 · 10/12/2014 21:53

I feed only from my right side from day one as my baby pulled away from the left side and when I tried expressing that side I didn't get much milk.
I too had one huge breast and a normal sized one. Didn't bother me. Even when my "friend" laughed at me in the street and said "you look ridiculous you really have to stop breast feeding" turns out her milk dried up at three weeks with all of hers so she couldn't breast feed after that. My breasts went back to normal even after 9 months of feeding. I had one slightly bigger before I got pregnant anyway.
As long as they are feeding I think that's what is important.

bensam · 10/12/2014 21:54

I always produced more from one side than the other and both DD's preferred that one :) I did go lop-sided but that sorted itself once they'd stopped.