Breast Refusal on one side - 13 month old

[Shanti]

I'm having trouble with breast refusal on my Left side. DD has never been a huge fan of this side since birth as it's a flat nipple It was always very challenging to get her attached to it from birth then she got used to it as her suck got stronger and she would take both sides..... she's always taken the R side more though so always had more milk on the R side and that's fine.

Lately however she's not interested at all in the L side and I still have milk there when I hand express so I know there is milk there but I feel it's pretty empty now! I'm not ready to just feed on the R side only.... any ideas how to get her interested on the L side again? I don't want my milk to dry up on that side. Do you think if I pump the L side a bit to get the milk up on that side it will make her more interested? It's always had a slow flow that side too I think.

We often feed cradle position, lying down and with her sitting on my lap straddling me. But none of these positions make any difference, she still prefers R side! She might have a little suck on the L side but then gets really upset with me if I don't give her the R side... her 'favourite'. I've always been able to give her L side especially of a night time when she would be really thirsty/hungry and she would take either side she just wanted boob but now she is a bit smarter now that she's a 'toddler' and she knows!! She just wants R side!

I am worried that if I refuse the R side and only offer the L side one day then it will affect milk supply on that side and she might wean herself iykwim?!?

Any thoughts? Thanks

[mbear]

DS only feeds on Right side....has done so for about a month. My left side is pretty much dry up now........ive tried and tried to get him to suck from that side (football hold, lying down etc etc), but zilch......so i figured at 8 months, whilst Breastmilk is still imp, he will still get what he needs from my right side, he has solids should he still be hungry...to date we've had no problems - he's above average for his weight etc etc.

I still offer left (after right...or i would have a fight on my hands)....he still sucks...but not for very long..

Its prob not the post you were wanting,but just letting you know, we went thru the same thing, my DS younger than your DD...and we're travelling fine. ONly downside is i often look lopsided......

[Shanti]

ONly downside is i often look lopsided......

That IS the problem for me! haha! I don't want to be lopsided! Already the R side is the bigger boob! (you know how we aren't born exactly even lol)

We've gone through stages of breast refusal esp in the early months so it's not new to me the whole refusal thing but just lately she's harder to convince that the L side tastes just as good They turn one and end up getting sooo cheeky don't they?!? She's so strong headed!!

Weight gains are perfect here too... she gains at least 300g per month and doesn't appear to be slowing down so no probs there.

[mbear]

Yep....my DS is the same...very strong willed, knows what he wants. If he was 2 months or something, i would be perservering to no end. But at 9.5 months, im over it (in a good way), i know what he's like, i know he wont have a bar of it. Im tired at 5am, he just wants to feed at 5am....so i just hang the right out .

[Jennifer13]

DD pretty much gave up on leftie after 18 mths. It was there for a very brief comfort snack, but not a proper feed. But it still did something for the remainder of our bfing experience.

[meow]

I didn't feed on the left side for ages (stopped about 16 months I think) and didn't seem to be lopsided.

[Shanti]

ooooh thank you girls for posting. So it may not really be a big deal after all? I will still keep offering it to her even if she has a little suck here and there but it's not like the early days/months where I 'needed' her to feed off that side and it was stressful so that's ok.

DD co-sleeps with us and she is on my right side (in her cot pulled against our bed) so my R side just gets flopped out all night long any wonder it's her favourite....

[MantaRay]

It sounds like the others have been able to reassure you already. DS2 also only fed from one side from about 15 months or so. It certainly doesn't mean the end of bfing for you.

Luckily for me the lopsidedness wasn't too noticeable (especially if I didn't look ), but some mums find that padding their other bra cup can help. Remember that you will notice it more than anyone else too - so sometimes not looking isn't such a bad thing!

[Shanti]

Thanks MR for your support (as always)

[attc]

I've been BF'ing from the left side only since DS was about 9 or 10 months. He is now 13 months old and we still only feed from the one side.

He initially refused the right when he was teething - I think it hurt him to suck on that side. I started off expressing to keep up supply, but then I just got sick of it (or would be out and about too much etc), so gave up on that and just embraced the one sided feed! I actually thought I'd be weaning at 12 months, so I was even less worried about it at the time.....funnily enough, at 13 months, we aren't even close to weaning - he still is going strong on the booby - so one sided feeding definitely doesn't affect ongoing BF'ing.

Probably not what you'd want to hear, but yes, I am lopsided - I often put a nursing pad in the other side. No one notices (DH excluded) unless I specifically point it out to them...lopsidedness is not ideal, but certainly not the end of the world either!