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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

DS prefers right breast. Is this a problem?

15 replies

2babies · 03/05/2004 20:48

Hi, DS is 4 months old. I have always noticed that he prefers the right breast, although I alternate and feed from both sides. I am now expressing twice a day because I have gone back to work, and I now notice that I can express double the amount on the right side than the left. Does anyone know if this is a problem? Should I give the left side more frequently so that I can increase production on the left?

OP posts:

hercules · 03/05/2004 20:52

I have just posted a message on another thread about dd. see the other bf one so I dont have to retype.

hercules · 03/05/2004 20:53

I battled with trying to get dd to feed from the left side and gave up this side during the day for a couple of months now.DD is now nearly 7 months and has always fed better and prefered the right side. We managed fine although I did persevere at the early stage to feed equally. I still feed her at night on the left if she wants to although shes stopped feeding at night the last few days so I expect that soon my left will stop producing. Doesnt matter though because the right has always made up for it.
I exclusively bf her to 6 months and 75% was on one boob.

marsup · 03/05/2004 20:54

2babies, my DS 4 months also prefers my right breast! it has grown much bigger than the left one. I hope this isn't permanent!

Original poster

2babies · 03/05/2004 21:16

Perhaps it's all a sign re: our children's political leaning. All on the right side, eh? Well, at least it sounds like a common experience. Thanks for your responses, Marsup and Hercules. I'll look for Hercules' other thread - I did search for this under the topic though. Sounds to me like it's ok - I suspect I'm also producing at the rate of 75% on the right side. How odd!! Thanks again.

OP posts:

SofiaAmes · 03/05/2004 23:54

My ds too preferred my right breast! In the end for the last few months (12 - 15 mo.) I only fed him from the right breast. I was a little lopsided, but since I was pregnant with my second, it really was the least of my worries regarding the aesthetics of my body.

alexsmum · 03/05/2004 23:58

I remember one of my midwives asking if ds had a favourite side and when I said yes the left,she said she had never met a baby who didn't prefer one side to the other.It's odd isn't it?

Original poster

2babies · 04/05/2004 00:22

LOL SofiaAmes!

OP posts:

aloha · 04/05/2004 10:31

Desmond Morris (the Manwatching guy) says in the book Babywatching that it isn't a breast preference, it's a head turning preference, which I found really convincing. I definitely prefer turning my head to the left - it feels more comfortable and natural. If you lie on your front I bet you tend to always turn your head in the same direction - mostly to the left. Hence the 'preference' for the right breast.

monkey · 04/05/2004 13:20

mine also prefers the right breast, all 3 of my boys have, and I've always had more milk on the right side. Aloha - that's an interesting point, , but, mine all have a preference for the right breast, but all have a very marked preference for turning their heads to the right, which is foor the left breast, so for mine anyway it doesn't work

Original poster

2babies · 04/05/2004 15:58

Fascinating, Aloha. Thanks.

OP posts:

KateandtheGirls · 04/05/2004 16:16

I agree that it's probably a matter of comfort, not necessarily favouring one breast over the other. My little girl always favoured one. (I can't believe that I'm now unable to remember which it was. It's only 8 months since she stopped.) Anyway, for some reason we were both just more comfortable on that side. It may have been me that initiated it, because it just felt better that way. I tried to even it out, but it still ended up being 75% one breast.

I've just remembered. It was the left side. I'm right handed and it was just easier to have her on the left side so I could eat, etc. with my right hand.

I think my boobs are both pretty even now, so I don't think it's a real problem.

Clayhead · 04/05/2004 18:24

dd always prefered the right side and I did too, it just seemed easier. I have always got loads more milk from expressing on the right (because she fed there more often?). From about 8 to 12 months, when she stopped feeding, she just used the right and I don't remember being too lop sided...

ds is 8 months old and he too has always prefered the right, although I've never known if it was because I do so I've sort of made him that way. dh calls it the sllepy boob as both ds and dd have tended to find it easier to fall to sleep on that side.

Freckle · 04/05/2004 18:42

If you want to get him to feed more from the left breast, hold him in the "rugby ball" position, i.e. with his body under your left arm. This way he is in the same position as when feeding from the right. You can put a pillow or cushion beside you to support him and he will probably think he is feeding from the right breast.

SofiaAmes · 04/05/2004 21:29

My dh prefers my right breast too. I wonder if the head turning thing applies here.

Lou123 · 05/05/2004 09:56

My DS is 9mo now and has fed exclusively from right side for about 4m as this was his favourite. Strangely enough my left boob never became engorged when I stopped using it. My HV said that I could probably get supply going in redundant boob again if I continued to stick him on but I have decided to put up with one B cup and one DD! DS has positively thrived on my milk and it's made no difference feeding from the one breast.

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