Left boob producing less milk than right - anything I can do?

[ElmMum]

Last couple of feeds on the left boob, DD has struggled throughout and given up/nodded off after 10 mins or so. After a bit of burping etc if she's still rooting I've put her on the right boob, where she's fed quietly (gulping and swallowing well) for much longer.

A bit of hand expressing on the left side straight after seemed to confirm that there's nothing coming out even though the boob doesn't feel entirely empty. Can she have emptied it in 10 mins or is she struggling because she's not getting what she wants?

I think the left is producing milk (it definitely was a few days ago), as expressed with a pump last night although not a lot came out.

Why would left boob slow down like this and how can I get it going again? Right side is going great guns.

Help! Advice?!

Expressing results aren't a reliable sign of how much milk you're producing.

Most babies have a favourite side, so I think it's probably quite usual for one side to be more productve than the other.

To up your supply, feed her more frequently from the left boob. Just feeding her from it every couple of hours for a few days should show an improvement.

Oh, but don't forget the right boob altogether.

Just tried again - an hour or so after last time - same thing again. Tried massaging, stroking and shaking left boob, and brushing hair to encourage let down.

And did a bit of hand expressing until saw a few drops of milk, so put her on.

She just struggled and did small sucking but no steady gulping, and eventually started crying while on the boob. Never normally does that.

Put her on the right boob, and she fed okay for 20 mins or so before dropping off.

Is it possible for one side to dry up while the other is okay???

I'm sure it is possible for that to happen, but I'm no expert.

Put a shout out for Tiktok (bf guru) and she may be able to help further.

In the meantime I would keep offering the left boob on a regular basis.

i think most women have unequal production, in some it is more obvious.

i started a thread about this a while ago and got lots of reasuring replies. sorry, i don't have time to search for it now, but look for threads started by me??

my now 6mo ds started a real side-preference at about 3-4 mo. he will only feed for 30-60secs on the R, and also i only get a bit out when expressing (only just started this). so every feed he gets R first, which he has a bit of before struggling and crying, then L which he gulps down, then sometines a bit of R again. i have manged to keep going on only bf until last week (when started solids)doing this, and his growth has been fine.

with my ds1, i tried to get him to feed more on the (underproducing)R side to stimulate it to produce more milk, but it didn't work, and he actually ended up going down centiles and on formula by 3mo. also, my R side has always been smaller, and didn't increase in size as much when i was pg or bf, so i think it has less breast tissue, as opposed to less fat, which is the usual reason for asymmetry.

so my advice would be keep offering both sides, and keep going, there are women who feed only on 1 side completely. good luck

One thing I realised i was doing was feeding the baby in a certain order - always left first. That was making me unequal, so I made a concious effort to feed from the right side first half the time, which helped.

My dd always preferred the left boob as the right one had an inverted nipple, one year later and the right boob is smaller in size. I am told that they will go back to same size but I wish I 'stimulated' the right one from the start. DD still uses it but won't feed long. If yours doesn't want to know you will have to express to keep it going.
BFN states you can freeze bmilk for up to six months, so you can make a few reserves for weaning if you wish (to mix into baby porridge).