2 month old suddenly having trouble with right breast - help!

[Schulte]

Hi

My 2 month old has always fed better from my left breast - somehow we can't get the position quite right on the right. I expected it to get better with time but in the last few days, she's had real trouble feeding from my right. She latches on and gulps down the watery milk, then as soon as the flow slows down she comes off, arching her back, then latches on again for just one sip, then comes off again. This coming on and off continues for a while until she starts crying. I try to reposition her, she latches on again, then cries again, and eventually we both give up. It's not wind as she's not a windy baby, and she doesn't have any problems feeding from the left.

I am now worried that since my right breast never seems to get emptied properly, I'll develop mastitis / other problems... I am planning to go to a breast feeding clinic next week so someone can help me with the positioning, but in the meantime, has anyone got any ideas what I might do differently? And, WILL we run into more problems if the breast doesn't get emptied properly?

Thanks everyone!

schulte - how's your letdown on that side? does the milk come out really fast?

It does but I assumed it was the same on both sides. When she pulls off, the milk goes everywhere.

Hm, I am having this problem. My left breast was always the best one to get my son latched onto but the let down is really fast and he is now only latching on in a really shallow way.

Would love to know how to get him back to the way he was as I was experiencing the perfect latch often on that breast. The right breast is another story, was always the 'bad' one - but now is the one I prefer to put him onto!!

Help?

ps - sorry for hijack Schulte!

Feel free CFC, it sounds like a very similar problem!

hmm, reading the OP again maybe it's not because of the letdown.

I find that my DD does this as well. not on one particular side though. If she's coming off and on and fussing a lot I usually take her off. sometimes I'll give her my little finger to suck until she's calmed down a bit then try again.

cfc - yours does sounds like a letdown issue. Try taking your DS off and letting the milk shoot into a muslin or cloth (or cup - it's a great way to easily collect milk!) and then once it's calmed down put your DS back on.

Hi Schulte!

DS prefers feeding from my right boob and makes a complete fuss sometimes about latching on to my left (no idea why). Sometimes he completely refuses it. I was nearly at the point of giving up with that side when I decided to try a nipple shield.

Don't ask me why, but he latched straight away! After a few sucks I sneakily whipped away the shield and popped my nipple in.

Works every time!!

Hi Schulte! Have you tried a different position, like rugby ball? Orbit and DS1 both prefer that position on the right hand side, not sure why, maybe the nipple is tilted slightly? Orbit will occasionally feed on the RH side in the normal position, but he tends to do that bobbing on and off thing and be hard to settle onto it.

You could always pump on that side until you see the bf counsellor to keep up supply. Worst case scenario, my sister only ever fed her third child on the left hand side and gave up on her right completely, it was too tricky. She had small boobs though so didn't look too lopsided!

Have tried rugby ball but to no avail. She's fine as long as I am in my armchair, with a pillow on my lap. But I can't take armchair and pillow with me wherever I go

Gosh I didn't know you could feed from one side only - how long did she do that for?

Hia, I have a simalar problem with my 5 month old, she will only feed properly from the left side and I have gone really lopsided! Have you tried breast compression? I spoke to nct counsellor and she said that sometimes babies dont want to make the effort to feed after the initial flow. Breast compression helps keep the flow going so they can get the milk quicker. I tried it today and it does seem to work.
You hold your breast with your thumb on one side and fingers on the other and hold pressure while your baby suckles. If they dont then you move your hand either clockwise or anti-clockwise and apply pressure again. Good luck!

You could also try taking her to a chiropractor, because sometimes there is very minor tension in the neck on one side, and this can affect the latch. An osteopath might be another option.

Yes Boff I was wondering about that, she definitely prefers turning her head to the right so that makes sense. Sadly DH doesn't believe in cranial osteopathy and the likes. i.e. I am not allowed to take her BUT feeding went much better today so maybe she just had a few bad days

I'm glad it was a better feeding day for you schulte. Long may it continue!

All they do is to gently touch the neck down the sides, and move their fingers around a little bit to see what's there. If there's a knot or bump, it will present as a minor asymmmetry, and you just gently massage that spot once a day with your fingertips very lightly until it relaxes. It's very easy and tbh you could probably do this for her yourself.

Hey Schulte!

DD1 always had a preference for one side from birth and then eventually refused the other side altogether. The only thing that sorted her out was cranial osteopathy. It worked really quickly and she didn't need many sessions. I only tried it because 3 BF counsellors suggested it. I can tell you more about it if you want but I have to go and change B's bum now.