Feeding on one breast exclusively - will I be lopsided forever??

[kitpuss]

I have been having recurrent problems with milk blisters and blocked milk ducts in one breast. The last couple of weeks the breast and nipple have been extra painful, and my nipple has bled a few times.
Today I have got mastitis, and I am just so fed up of it.

I'm wondering whether to cut my losses and just feed from one side. My DS is 9mths so only has 3 feeds a day so one breast should give him enough milk.

Here's my question, my DH really doesn't want me to give up on one side because he thinks that the following months of one breast being bigger than the other will result in one being permanently bigger than the other because it has been "stretched" for so much longer.

Part of me thinks why should I take any notice of what he thinks, it's me who has to go through this everyday, but there is also a part of me that wonders if he might be right, and I don't really want to be lopsided for ever!!

Has anyone fed exclusively on one side and how are your breasts now you have stopped?

Bumping - anyone?

I don't think you will be permanently lopsided, but I'm not a trained bfing counsellor.

Perhaps you could feed off one side for a couple of weeks or until you feel better and then reintroduce the other side?

I always offer DD one side and she rarely has a full feed from the other the other. I don't think I look too lopsided, I've never had anyone comment anyway!

am no expert but DS2 always preferred the right side (i had a partially inverted left nipple) although he would feed from the left side. Now at 1yr, he only feeds a couple of times a day and he has only fed from the right side for the last month or so. Am not noticably lop sided

hth

I am already quite lopsided and he is still feeding from the difficult one, that is why we are a bit concerned!!

DH reckons that the good breast will just stay all stretched and saggy for life, by being full of milk for so much longer. I think he is worried because it is currently already bigger than the other.

sounds to me like your dh has too much time on his hands if he can worry about the relative size of your breasts

are you not allowed to display any physical imperfections?

as for your question, I fed mainly on the left side in the last few months and I can't see any difference

my right hand is bigger and more developed than my left though after years of writing

my dh is cool with that though

or else he's just never bothered to look

I had a good one and a rubbish one. The good one got bigger in pregnancy and was always noticably bigger when b/fing. I gave up using the rubbish one about 6 weeks before I gave up altogether.

they both look the same now.

I've fed DS exclusively on the left side because he had a better latch there than on the right. And I've been exclusively pumping the right side twice a day. I'm still a little lopsided, but then I think was before anyway!

I fed ds2 from the right side only from about 7 months as he had fits every time I tried to put him on the other side till eventually the supply dried up on the left. I was lop-sided for a few months then they both looked the same-ish. I stopped feeding altogether at 13 months and now at 16 months you can't tell any difference.

My mum was telling me my brother would only ever feed from one side. She never noticed any lop-sidedness until I came along and fed on both sides, her breasts seemed to be a bit confused by this and got lopsided for a while. I've never noticed any difference, so it must have sorted itself out eventually.