Is my milk supply in my left beast drying up??

[Gina1981]

DD is 20wks and has only ever fed from one breast per feed.

She doesn't have a preference but everytime she feeds from the right breast I here alot of swallowing, I may have 2-3 let downs and she seems to continue to suck throughout the feed and I assume from the swallowing she's getting milk. When she feeds from the left you can hear swallowing at the beginning of the feed but not much after! What I mean by that she will continue to suck but I can't hear much swallowing! I would then take her off the left and put her on the right and she will suck and swallow for a while!! If I started with the right and try and offer the left she wouldn't tame it but if I start with the left she will nearly always take the right IYSWIM.

I hope I haven't made this confusing. I'm a little concerned that my left side is drying up. When I've pumped I've always got double out of the right. My right side always feels fuller than the left!!

It's quite normal to have one which is more productive than the other (sometimes very significantly so). You might consider waiting until she comes off the left by herself rather than taking her off as she'll stop if the milk does stop flowing and that way you're not intefering with the stimulation from that side.

I noticed on another thread that you're having latch problems. Has she been checked for tongue tie? Also, one sided preference can be caused by residual birth trauma - perhaps from a very fast birth, or instrumental delivery or CS birth. Does she lay more happily on one side than the other to feed? Cranial osteopathy might just help if so.

Am feeding DD as I type. Started with left and she only stayed on for 5 mins. Offered the right and is still feeding!! She's not had a preference and neither do I so I'm a little confused why the balance has changed!! Are there other reasons as to why you may dry up?