Oversupply on one side?

[TheScience]

Is it possible to develop an oversupply on one side only? My 5 week old seems to really struggle on one side (choking, spluttering etc) and when he pulls off it doesn't spray but just runs like a tap. Other side seems normal.

Sometimes one side is more efficient than another. You may want to manually express a little off the overly efficient side before your baby latches on to avoid choking and spluttering. Things should even out as time goes on. Good luck.

Will expressing not just encourage even more production though? Also he tends to struggle with the whole feed rather than just the let down.

I had this problem as I really struggled to attach baby to my left breast, it was a nightmare. He'd get angry, I'd get upset and so for an easy life I'd just pop him on the right one. As a result my left breast got engorged which only exacerbated the problem as the breast was too hard for baby to latch on to. I used to hand express some milk before I tried feeding on that side and it did help. Once, my breast was so hard that I used my pump to express and got over 3oz in 10 minutes - the relief was amazing!

I was worried about over production as a direct result of the expressing but thankfully I didn't have that problem. I persevered with attaching to the left breast (after having hand expressed) and gradually my baby got used to feeding on that side and things dramatically improved.

I do think some babies just have a preference for one side and it's just a case of perseverance!

writerwannabe83 is right, it can be a case of perseverance. Trying a different position for attaching could also be worth trying. If you put a pillow on your lap you can put your baby in the same position for both breasts. E.g. legs always to the same side.

I remember it taking a few months before my milk supply was regulated on both sides. My breasts would be like rocks and my poor DD would not be able to keep up.

Expressing a tiny bit off at the beginning of the feed helped with initial latch on. Then as we progressed and she got bigger it all just became a lot easier and she could manage the huge volume of milk that was being released. I was always thankful that I had lots of milk as I did have friends that struggled to produce enough - so I guess you can count your blessings at least.

He latches on fine and is happy to feed on that side at least, it's just noisy and messy! I even had to use a feeding room yesterday for the first time ever, something I never did with DS1, as there is just no way to feed on that side even reasonably discreetly - luckily it was a nice room with a couch so I could recline back and feed him lying on top of me

I have this, Glad you mentioned it as ithought it was just me.

One Side has the velocity of a water cannon and the other is more of a garden hose with a kink in it. Was great for expressing add I got loads out of the water Canon side and have frozen it. Had settled down now after a few weeks and expressing the 'extra' didn't seem to make it worse.