Help! My DS is in a monogamous relationship with my right boob.

Ok so long story...I'm hoping someone has some advice to help us out, technically I think 1/2 this post belongs here and 1/2 belongs in breastfeeding problems and support. Mods feel free to move if that's the case!

Here's a bit of background;

• Austin has lots of trouble with atachment after birth, I have quite flat nipples.
  
• After a rocky first two weeks we managed to establish breastfeeding.
  
• My work had a staffing emergency when Austin was 8 weeks which has resulted in myself going back to work for 10-15 hours a week. DP is with Austin during this time and he feeds him EBM with a bottle.
  
• My first shift at work (5 hours) i tried to get by without pumping...BANG...mastitis infection on right boob, got an abcess on boob, lots of fun.

Ok so here's were the problems have started. I started favouring the right boob for feeds in order to clear up the mastitis asap. Stupidly, I let the feeds on the left decrease and now my supply has totally dropped on that boob. I've tried offering this breast first at every feed but Austin gets really frustrated with it and refuses. Will pumping this breast after every feed work my supply back up? will those lactation cookies help?

Problem number two...Austin has suddenly decided he hates the bottle. DP can't get him to take it, we've tried different flowing teats (i have a fast flow, in the right boob anyway) and bottles & different temperatures. He's going approximately 5-6hours without a feed, which worries us both. He's still putting on weight and is still quite happy during this period of time, eg; settles to sleep & plays happy. He only gets angry when DP tries to put a teat in his mouth. Have you experienced this before? what did you do? should we try feeding him the EBM in a cup? i'm contributing this to his sudden unsettled behaviour in the afternoons, his last feed before bed used to be the same as his others approx 20mins, now he feeds for 40mins plus and it's a really frantic suck suck suck with him shaking his head, like he's trying to get as much as possible in before bed, but my boob feels like jelly and I'm pretty sure he's not getting much? does that make sense? His first morning feed before I leave for work is still normal.

Thanks so much for reading this, and thanks in advance (from my right boob especially) for any advice anyone might have!

xxxxx

This is the time when milk supply swaps from being hormone driven to being suck-driven. it is completely normal for:
bubs to get fussier and want more milk
boobs to feel floppier
Feed him as often as you can - be willing to cluster feed when you get home - and things will sort themselves out. As long as he is still weeing lots and pooing most days and gaining weight then he's getting enough.
As for the bottle - he's becoming more aware. Can you get him to start sucking on a finger and then swapfor the bottle? Or maybe even feed him with him lying on a cushion on the floor, so it's not in a "booby-style" position?

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This is the time when milk supply swaps from being hormone driven to being suck-driven.

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:yeahthat:
I would maybe try & feed off your right boob first, then offer the left - so that he's not too hungry & frustrated with the left side. If he won't stay on at all, and it's not going to stimulate it you could try expressing on that side for a bit after he's finished feeding.

I agree with KMN if he's gaining weight, having wet & dirty nappies etc he's probably getting enough milk. I suspect it might be the reason for the longer evening feeds?

Bottle refusal - I don't know, we have the opposite problem ;) but I think the idea of laying him on a cushion is a great one. Pie often feeds better like that anyway. Also if he will play with it, don't make it an issue but let him muck around with it a bit & he might just come back around? :dunno: just a thought.

Good luck :)

Firstly, the bottle might not be necessary. Try him on a cup. Babies can lap milk up like little kittens if they need it. If he still rejects it, he's probably just happy to wait for you. At that age my DD could go for more than six hours without a bf and it sounds like he might just be timing his breaks to coincide with when you aren't there. As long as he's making up for it when you're around and your DP has EBM 'just in case' and offers it, he's probably fine.

If his weight gain is good and he has plenty of wet and dirty nappies, I'd relax and keep your expressed milk just in case.

As for the dodgy bb... Most women have a baby that prefers one side over the other. So that I could encourage DD to keep using my LHS at all, I would offer it first (she never usually lasted very long on that side as it didn't let down as fast), offer RHS, then switch her to a football hold and re-offer the LHS. She still never fed as much from the LHS, but I thought it was at least evening it up a bit. Women can successfully bf from only one side, the other will just adjust to supply him more. So you don't need to worry about it, as such. You could try expressing just a little right before you feed him, so that he doesn't have to wait, but I was never organised enough to give that one a go!

Pumping afterwards might also help to build the supply up, but if it's extra that he doesn't need (thanks to the other side), you might just find you end up with a larger stash of EBM!

GL and let us know how you're going.

Thanks so much for the help ladies!

DP treid feeding him yesterday sitting in his rocker and it worked pretty well, so we're going to keep persisting with this.

The football hold on the left hand side worked really well, he was much less fussy and happily sucked away for a while. However I'm beginning to think I might just let it go, I've got such a large supply in my right breast and a freezer full of extra milk already. And I'm pretty much used to the lop-sided boob look now :lol:

Thank you again so much girls xoxox