Newborn prefers one side over the other

[Misty9]

Dc2 is 2 weeks old and feeds like a champ so far, but she much prefers my right breast due to having issues with latching on the left. My left nipple is slightly inverted/flat and I have to coax it out before a feed; it looks fairly normal when out though. However, dd really struggles to latch onto it and often roots it but just doesn't suck. It can actually be in her mouth but she just licks it while we both get soaked in milk

She does eventually latch on but when she's fussier in the evenings it's even harder and she'll often refuse this side. She latches no problem on the left and she's been checked for tt as ds had it severely which caused no end of feeding issues. I think let down and supply is faster/more on my left too - I guess this could be contributing?

I don't really want to resort to nipple shields but wondered if anyone has experience of funny shaped nipples/feeding one side only?

ditto with mine. He latches perectly on one side but has difficulty on the other. most useful piece of info from a midwife was that there is a Apr on the roof of the mouth that wull trigger the suckle reflex. If you can get the nipple to touch it baby will start to suck.

so I sometimes need to angle the nipple hit spot, holding the breast like baby is eating a hamburger to get more breast into the mouth (they are a g cup and when engorged they're a bit too round for ds to get a gobful).

ds is now 5 weeks and getting the hang of things.

damn autocorrect when im trying to feed from that problem side!

try to get the nipple to hit that trigger spot on the roof of the mouth to get baby to start suckling, basically.

I had exactly the same issue and ended up feeding on one side only. For the first few weeks, on advice of HV, I expressed from the inverted side and bottle fed this milk to dd, but over time that side dried up (I didn't express enough), but I successfully fed dd from one side only. Stopped feeding at almost two years when she self weaned. Feeding from one side only is perfectly possible, but I did find that few hcps believed this, even when I told them I was doing it!
Good luck!

I had some success feeding trad cradle hold for right boob and rugby ball hold for left boob, baby pretty much in the same position iyswim. Worth a try? I used to pile up pillows under left elbow to raise bab to the right height

Thanks all. nutella I thought that might be the issue as I don't think the nipple is high enough to hit that spot in her mouth. She also latches better when we're lying down and I think the shape of my left nipple makes it hard to latch when she's lying cradle hold (it's longer than it is wide iyswim?) I've never managed rugby hold very successfully.

Interesting that I could try one sided feeding though...

My big advice to you would be, don't let it become such an issue that you give up bf altogether (if it is something you want to do). I remember getting so frustrated, trying to latch dd on to my inverted side, she hated it, I felt like a failure, everyone was miserable! As soon as I accepted (after internet research) that one side only could work, I felt SO much better. Just my experience. But honestly, don't let it ruin this lovely time with your newborn, and don't let it put you both off bf altogether.