Left boob isn't producing much milk

[letsdothis123]

Hello. I'm EBFing my daughter and it's all new to me.

So she doesn't like to feed from my left. My nipples is slightly different in shape or at least it is now she sucked the life out of my right, but I don't think this helps.

Anyway, so I've been expressing to keep my supply up on that side and I rarely get more than 20ml off whereas my right I get 60ml+. Is this normal or is it because she isn't feeding much from it?

I don't feed her off my left or even try in the middle of the night. I just don't have the energy to fight her on it and to keep trying to latch her. Maybe this is the problem?

HELP. My right boob may explode.

How old is she?
Has she been checked for tongue tie by someone who knows what they're doing? (Hint: most midwives and HVs are not trained in tongue tie)
Was the birth very quick or were there complications?
Sometimes a baby can have trouble feeding because of tongue tie, restricted mobility on one side or both due to the physical impact of the birth, or for other reasons.
It's supply and demand so if baby isn't draining your left breast effectively it will produce less milk.
They usually do prefer one side but you should still continue to offer both sides.

I advise you to get some breastfeeding support, there's the national breastfeeding helpline and there should be local groups where you are if you google it. You could ask your HV too. I've had video calls for breastfeeding support, which is awkward when holding your phone and your baby! but better than nothing and I still got some helpful advice.

How old is she? My DS (now 4 months) was the same. Like you I didn't even offer left at night initially, partly because I couldn't deal with a night time fight to latch and partly because that nipple was getting sore and it was hard to be as careful about latch at night.

In the day I tried to always offer left first even if I could only get him to latch for a minute or two. Although if he didn't latch and got worked up then I would just move to right, and just try again next time. Like you I also pumped a couple of times a day, but rarely got a huge amount.

Some time (roughly) between 4-6 weeks he started latching and feeding better on left. I gradually reduced pumping as he fed better. I would still say my supply is less good on left side as my left boob is much smaller. Also, I often have to offer right boob after left for a feed, but never really have to offer left after right. I am happy my supply is alright overall now, and he feeds enough off the left to take the pressure off the right.

I do feed him off the left boob at night, and funnily enough he actually usually now has his longest, best feed off that side at night.

I did have a friend who got an abscess on one side and ended up only feeding off the other side, she said it was tough at first but fine once her body adjusted. Which I found reassuring that my body would adjust to whatever feeding pattern we settled on!

Lots of helpful info and advice here
kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/lopsided/

With both of mine I've ended up feeding from just the right, but not until they were older. It started out just been easier to night feed from that size when we were co-sleeping. But then because the left was getting less stimulation it started to produce less, so they started favouring the right more, and so on until it I just gave up on it. However as I said they were older when the left side went out of service, cutting down milk and taking more solids anyway.

I wouldn't recommend it with a newborn, or at all really. So definitely try to get some support to improve her latch on that side.

Call a lactation consultant so they can examine your breast tissue. It you have pcos or hypothyroidism it’s very normal to have significantly less breast tissue in one breast - they can advise on ways you can make the most of what you have. For example I have the same issue as you but with my right breast - I was advised to pump more from that side and before I knew it pumping output and feed durations from that side had increased.

Feeding from my left boob never worked out for me (/us) either.

I'm kind of lazy, so I gave up and just fed off the right breast. I've never worried about it. Nothing has exploded!

I've done this with two babies (the first one I fed to 13 months and with the second one I'm at 3 months and counting..)

Doesn't seem to have been an issue

Right boob is surviving!

I’m the same- right boob makes loads and left makes less, and would have a tendency to get sore if not ‘drained properly’. I got into the habit of trying the babies on the left one first. Or trying left, right, left again, but none of them had an issue feeding from my left. I know there are specialist lactation midwives in my local area- could you ask your HV or phone the local mat unit at the hospital and check if you have this service. Best of luck with it, it’s a bit much at first breastfeeding- but intense/knackering but it does calm down as times goes on ( although this doesn't help you in the moment I know!).