2 week old. Trouble with 1 boob/nipple

[Nearlythere123]

I'm really struggling with feeding on just 1 side (the other side seems to be going great)

Left nipple is still cracked & painful, I got mastitis in my left boob, and the left doesn't produce the same amount of milk. The latch must be wrong on the left. But how do I fix it? I'm really struggling. Sometimes if the pain gets excruciating, I express from the left to give the nipple a break. This works for a short time & then the nipple hurts again.

Any advice really appreciated. Am I doing the right thing?

I was told that some babies prefer turning to one side- in my case DS (5 months) likes the left and not the right. the only solution my health visitor and I could find with him was to feed on the right side the "rugby ball" position so that for ds it felt like he was still feeding on his preferred side- this stopped the soreness where he was apparently pulling on my nipple, and better feeding should help with the mastitis.

I am sure that someone more knowledgable than me will be along soon, but I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone in this problem.

Haven't got Any advice but my week old baby is doing exactly the same thing on the left. I wondered if anyone had any ideas on how to improve the let down reflex as my baby keeps coming off and on. I will give rugby hold another go.

I have tried the rugby hold a few times but it isn't my favourite, but I hadn't thought about the fact my little boy might feel like he's on the other side so I might persevere with it a bit more. Thanks.

Ultimately, I'm fairly sure there must be a problem with the latch otherwise the nipple wouldn't still hurt so much but I can't seem to get it right. X

I've had this from the get go. It's because each boob is different and needs a different latch / positioning approach for us . So what works for one doesn't for the other. The best advice I got is to not worry what the position looks like or if I'm doing it 'right' but keep experimenting until it feels better. Also it changes as they grow.
Hope things improve for you.

I have this and really struggle feeding from the right boob. The rugby ball hold and my widgey pillow with another one underneath really helps for us once we mastered it.

My dd could not latch to my right breast properly as my right nipple is inverted (looks flatter). I ended up feeding on the left side only with no problems - still feeding now at 18 months, in fact! There will be plenty more things you can try, but just to let you know that feeding from one side only is an option. Good luck.

Hi, I could have written your post, was in exactly the same situation with 3 week old DD. I know it's not for everyone but after talking to a midwife I know, I took DD to a cranial osteopath and after two sessions, she can latch on and feed from the weaker boob. She's also more physically comfortable during feeding and even more relaxed.

As I said, everyone has their own opinions on cranial osteopathy but I had tried everything. Three different feeding experts in the hospital, midwife, health visitor all gave me great advice and support but unfortunately, it didn't work for DD!

Apologies for typos etc, am on phone but good luck and I hope it all works out for you both very quickly

Babycino, what's the principle behind the cranial osteo? That sounds interesting.

I was expressing in order to heal my nipple or partially heal it, then trying again. Is that the right thing to do does anyone know? More recently I've thought it was better not to express & instead to try & persevere with getting it right.

I just don't know what the right thing to do is.

Thanks

I spent weeks expressing from the painful boob at night to give it time to heal, and just feeding off the other. I there's no definite right or wrong, and if it means less pain, time to heal and less anxiety at the next feed, then it's all to the good. Trouble is in trying to get the latch better there's a lot of painful initial attempts.
Deep breath and relax shoulders in between, if you can.

Have you tried sandwiching your nipple between your index and third finger whilst popping baby on? I always found thus easier with newborns so that they could get a bigger mouthful and avoid nipple feeding.

Neon - I hadn't realised that that was possible, so it's definitely nice to know that if I really never sort out the left side, I can still carry on. Thanks.

Sunflower - thanks, that makes me feel better as it really helps just to ease the pain and start a fresh.

Mimsy - I will give that a try - thanks.

X