My week old baby cries when fed on one side - is there a problem?

[fruitstick]

DS2 is a week old today and feeding well, but today when he feeds on the left side he seems to pull off suddenly and cry. He is definitely happier on the other side.

It is now getting sore on the side under my arm and I'm not sure whether this is due to him not feeding enough on this side or there is a blockage/infection.

Should I express? I think I may also be developing a slight crack.

BTW I also seem to have enough milk to feed octuplets so that's definitely not the problem

Help

if you're worried about blocked ducts etc it mightbe worth exressing.

but what you could do which would be more effective is try holdinghim in the rugb ball position? so he is basically inthe same position as when feeding on the other side

does his ear look ok? just wondered if it could be an ear infection or something that is worse when lying on that side?

or it could maybe be something as simple as overative letdown or oversupply that's worse on that side than the other and he struggles to cope with?
or slow letdown that's frustrating him?

fast letdown is possible, when i take my bra off it drips on my feet so lord knows what happens when he sucks!

Will try other position first - thanks

was going to suggest either ear infection or fast letdown, but I've been beaten to it!

Watch out for his positioning and latch if he is making you sore too. If the let down is fast they can tweak at your nipple to try and stem the flow and this can cause problems. You could try feeding with you lying back at an angle, as this can help stem your flow, and with him in a more upright position...google biological nurturing and you'll see what I mean.

If it's any consolation, things generally calm down after the forst week or so.

I would try not to express if you can help it at this stage, as this will just signal to your body that it needs to make more milk and could exascerbate the problem.

there is lots of good information on all things BF on www.kellymom.com

congratulations by the way

oh, and try lansinoh cream on your nipples if you haven't already.

I was going to suggest kellymom, there is some interesting information there about how to manage oversupply, which sounds like it could be the problem for you.
The other thing to think about is that your baby may just be uncomfy on that side - have a stiff neck or something from his birth. It could be worth looking at cranial osteopathy if altering positions etc doesn't have any effect.

Could be torticollis- dd had it, and always complained about feeding on the left. GP can easily diagnose and give physio regime to sort it out. hth

I had the exact same problem with DS when he was a newborn. He would pull off and cry on just one side and gave me one hellishly sore cracked nipple.

I took him to see a Paediatric(sp?)Chiropracter when he was 3 weeks old and found that his right shoulder was out of alignment. This was causing him discomfort when he was feeding on my left breast.

After about 3 appointments DS was fine and I saw a definite improvement after the first visit.

I was told that his shoulder may have been like this from either being cramped inside the womb or durning his birth.

He is now a 14mo rascal and absolutely perfect!!

I had this problem too - I even started a thread about it months ago. Someone advised me to try feeding lying down so that the breast was sort of hanging. It worked wonders and after a short while the problem went away.