Breast Preference

[CheekyGirl]

My 15wk ds is refusing my right breast!! he will sometimes take it if he is sleepy. I have tried tricking him with under arm etc, but he's got wise. He will never take it if he's wide awake, hungry or windy. Any ideas?????????????

warning - A right old mish mash of comments coming up

just read post saying lo hasn't pooed for a couple of days (magscat). My ds didn't go for 9 days and HV said it was perfectly normal (!!!!). Evidently leaving it for so long is quite normal for BF babies.

with regards BF from R breast. Ds still has trouble at 5 mths. Held him like rugby ball for a couple mths. Propped his bum up on cushion on settee to my right side and that seemed to help. It reduced by engorgement signif. It was an idea from NCT and gp- suggested ds was feeding at the wrong angle as I had blocked ducts and mastitis.

Back to original message (cheekygirl), friend of mine fed 2 babies for 1 1/2 years on just the left breast !! She didn't mind the lopsidedness too much

apologies, I've gone emoticon mad

I agree, Magscat, I think ds has a pain too. i took him to see a paediatrician a few days ago after begging for a referral from my gp. He was really lovely and agreed that ds was in some sort of discomfort. He is prescribing an antacid for reflux as he thinks this could be the problem. Hope it works.

Ds has also not been feeding much yesterday and today, he just doesn't seem hungry. He's been straining and posseting alot too.

I'm going to die of sleep exhaustion too, I don't remember ds settling at all last night, seemed to spend most of it rocking him and trying to get him to feed/sleep unsuccessfully.

Hi cheeky and magscat. Haven' been on for ages! Things haven't really changed xith us either but as ds has been putting on weight, and feeds well for two (last ones of the day) out of five feeds, I'm making do! Am still offering both breasts, and invariably he'll feed better from his favourite, but he seems to be ok. I contacted La Leche for advice, and tbh, I was a little disapponted. She suggested I get rid of dummy and bottle and offer the breast for comfort sucking, which might help ds to appreciate both sides, and to feed better in general. I have NEVER let ds comfort feed, and it's not after 19 weeks that I'm gonna start!! We'll just muddle along I guess until he or I get bored. Good luck to both of you, hope you get the support/advice you need!!

evansmummy, as someone with a on eyear old who now has to comfort feed every time she needs to get off to sleep I think you are wise not to start now!!!!!!!

Re the feeding on one side, I don't find it a problem apart from not being able to wear a bra...

Hey, is it normal that my newborn wouldn't feed from me? even expressing the milk she would take an ounce and spit it at me. does anyone think this shows signs that my milk supply isnt good? would this suggest there would be problems breast feeding in the future!

stacey - do start a new thread for this one.....with more details about the age of your baby and what happens when your baby comes to the breast. Not enough info to comment, really, at the moment (except to say no, it is not normal what you are describing - but it can be fixed).

I've got the one-sided feeding thing going on as well - I'm worried that when I stop bf I'll have permanently different sized boobs. Anyone know about this?

This worries me too, mog, the difference that I have is huge. I think I'll have to have another baby!

Hey Cheeky- how's the antacid working? I went to GP today (dd has a cyst that needed checking) and mentioned the feeding problem. She seemed to have no explanation and therefore more or less dismissed it as 'distractable' baby in a bad routine - e.g. she gets too tired to feed properly and too hungry to sleep properly. I agree she won't settle to feed when any distractions around (like 3 yr old brother jumping on sofa next to her & yelling head off) but I still son't think that's the whole story. Infacol over last few days seems to be helping.

Evans - you getting any sleep yet? My dd feeds best at end of day too. Weird. GP suggested starving her at night (well trying to make her go longer) so that she feeds well in the morning. Easier said than done when I don't want to wake up her brother & I think she'll just get into a paddy & not feed. Might try it though.

When are you planning on introducing solids and will you give up bf? Think it'll make things worse for us or better?

Hi Mags! Know what you mean about so-called 'health professionals', my hv is useless, I've stopped asking her advice cos it's just not worth it. In her eyes, as long as babies put on weight, there's no problem... She's partly right I guess, but still doesn't make feeding any easier.

Evan is sleeping now through the night. At least I think he is. We moved rooms, so that we are now in my parents spare room (we're living with them for the moment), and ds is in our room. I got so tired and cranky, and I was just certain that he didn't need night feeds cos he wasn't hungry. So now I just let him get on with it, and he may very well wake in the night, but he doesn't cry or scream for food or anyhting else, so I presume he's ok with the new arrangement! It does mean that we no longer have our bedroom, but it'sa small price to pay for some sleep!

So ds is now on five feeds a day 7am, 10.30, 2.30 pm, 6.30 and 11ish (dream feed). The 6.30 feed and dream feed are wonderful cos ds is sleepy and hungry. But the daytime ones are still hard work. He still feeds better off the one side, but I still try to offer both so I don't get too lopsided!

It's weird this weaning thing. I don't know about here on MN, but on Bounty, everyone was so desparate to wean asap! I'm excited about it (have even started preparing and freezing cubes of puree!!), but really don't wanna start! It's gonna make even more work! I'm pretty sure ds is almost ready, he's 19 weeks tomorrow, but I always said I'd wait til 6 months, so I'm gonna try! I'm definitely gonna carry on bf though, don't want to stop, even though I find it hard work. It's such a nice feeling! And I'm hoping it will make a difference to our difficulties. At least eventually there'll be less and less milk feeds during the day! I think I'll finish by missing it though. Might just carry on forever...

Evansmummy - I'm incredibly jealous about your nights!! We are still feeding at least every 2 hours. He feeds well in the night, which helps if he's been distractible during the day I suppose.

I've only just started the antacid, so it's hard to say if there's a difference yet. Also, ds has a really terrible cold so he's grumpy and off his milk anyway! At the moment, he'll only feed if i get him off to sleep with his dummy first!!

We also tried him on a bottle (1st time in about 8 weeks) and he refused point blank. Now I don't know what to do if he refuses me - I've got nothing to fall back on!! It also makes the prospect of returning to work at the end of June a bit daunting!!

Wow Evansmummy - sleeping through. Jealous here too. On a good night Lily wakes for food at midnight, 4.30 and then she's up anywhere between 6&7am. A bad night is every couple of hours but touch wood not been too bad lately. I think I'm going to start a new thread re. weaning & bf - will check some old ones first though I think.