hmmm why?

[gorge2003]

ok so my dd is 7 weeks old...posted about a week ago about going back to breastfeeding after a 2 week gap (she wouldnt take the breast at all)

so spoke to my hv who said latch or express 6-8 times a day and keep a diary and top her up with formula after latching her on...no more than 4oz.

things are going ok...sometimes she will latch for 10-15 mins before getting stroppy that there isnt enough milk...last night she latched for 30 mins at 10:30pm and then slept til 3:30am (no formula after the 30min feed)

today she has been a bit fussy again managed to latch her 3 times.

BUT she seems to have developed a dislike to the left breast...why??? she didnt have a preference when she was ebf (until 4 weeks)

should i keep encouraging her to go on left breast even though she screams and hates it or just let her have the right one?

will this cause any problems with me trying to re-establish my milk supply?

atm im only managing to latch/express 4-5 times a day (3.5yr old ds running riot) BUT there is defo more milk now than there was a week ago and she will latch fairly happily now

so why with the breast preference and should i just left her have the right one?

I don't really know the answer but you could try 'fooling' her into thinking your left is the right - by having her in the same position as you would with right but just over a bit so she's actually on the left iyswim, you might need extra cushions etc. Or try the rugby ball position on the left.
hth

thanks will see if that helps at all!

This happened to me! I was advised to take a bath with ds and try to get him to have a feed from the rejected boob in there. It worked really well as he was so relaxed, he fed and fell asleep! No problems after.

All the best

Just wanted to second the advice above and say 'well done, go you' etc. It would be great to hear about how re-lactating progresses for you both .

Couldn't help wondering if she is expecting a bottle more when postioned at your left breast (assuming you are right handed that is) IYSWIM? Or if you are left handed, maybe she is used to feeding lying the other way?

well atm hubby does bottles cos dont want her getting too confused so dont think thats the problem and when i did bottle feed her she was on right side even though im right handed was just more comfy....

i have doen the bath thing but no change...she did latch onto left one earlier so maybe its the start of her not having a preference anymore.

she has been a bit of a pain today and yesterday and had big problems latching her, but if she wont latch i express...but hey just a couple of sucks helps doesnt it??

haven't heard from hv again and she seemed really supportive and was amazed i was starting again...said to hubby 'im really impressed not many people try and start again'

there does appear to be a little more milk everyday but still not getting her on enough...i would love to co-sleep so she can comfort suck in the night but hubby isnt keen on the idea even though he knows how much i want to do this!

you know what i thought it would literally be a case of putting her on and milk would return quickly but been a week and still nowhere near enough.......think i was a bit naive iyswim

the hard work will be worth it, and i love it when she is latched on and gazes up at me!

Perhaps the letdown is slow on that side? My DD used to be very fussy so I would put my DS on first (her twin) to get the letdown going and then put her on and she would latch on fine then.

So maybe expressing for a minute to get the milk going and then putting her on might work?

but tbh there is hardly any milk in there...she will feed for 5 mins and then start screaming thrashing around etc...and if i try and express i get about 4 drops of milk (i know expressing isnt an indication of amount of milk) but my boobs feel pretty empty tbh!

i just need to get her on more often really but she wont comfort suck...she thinks boobs=food!