My 9 day old son prefers right breast. Very rarely he takes left one.help.?

Question

Any ideas hw to get him to latch on left one also?

Answer 1

Firstly if that is a licensed lactation consultant you need to report them to their regulatory body.  You also need to fire them and hire a new one.

Yes its true that you can nurse exclusively from one breast, and many women nurse twins and triplets -but that's hardly the solution to your problem.  The solution to your problem is to keep working on latching on the less preferred side, and keep the supply up on that side and eventually baby will take it.  Then you won't end up lopsided.

Lopsided! What can I do?

...When baby prefers one side, or when supply or breast size is greater on one side

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/...

Answer 2

Hopefully you have a breast pump?? If you do I would keep pumping the left and freezing the milk. Maybe your milk just hasn't came in quite as much on that side.  You should check out

http://www.kellymom.com

It has TONS of great information about breastfeeding!

Answer 3

I had this same problem. Begin him feeding on the right and gently move him to the left without changing his position. I.e. cradle hold on the right then move him to football hold on the left. He may get used to the right one, but maybe not. My daughter always preferred the right and never really took the left very well. My right breast always made more milk. When I had my second baby, I found it was exactly the same. My right one just has more ducts I guess, and makes more. Both of my girls always preferred the right!

I pump my left breast to even out the size. I reserve the pumped milk for supplemental feedings. Or, if you find that you are left with too much, you can put it in a dep freezer for 6 months and use it to mix with cereal when he is older.

Answer 4

my little boy prefers the left side so do i its alot easier and more comfortable for the both of us, so what i do it when i bf in bed i always put him on the right side and dont change sides! genius!! but you may want to pump otherwise you will become lopsided! im always walking round with one boob bigger than the other lol!

congratulations xx

Answer 5

My daughter also preferred the right breast, so at first I had to try different positions and the first few weeks before I fed her on the left side I had to grab the nipple and pull on it some to soften it up and make it stick out more so she could latch on easier.  Also, pumping for a couple mins on the left before you feed him from it will soften it up and get the milk flowing well so that as soon as he gives it a little test suck he gets milk and he'll keep going.  I would only offer the left one until he latches on to it, even if it takes several hours.  He may pitch a fit, but eventually he'll do it, trust me.  He won't starve in one day, so just keep at it.

You definately don't want to resort to feeding on only one side.  I don't see why any lactation consultant would say that's ok instead of trying to fix the problem.  And, yes, your b*****s will look different at the end of breastfeeding if you did that.  One would be just sitting there while the other one is constantly getting stretched out, even more than it would with breastfeeding from both because it'll be doing the workload of two b*****s.

Answer 6

research shows that most women have 65% more milk in their right breast than the left one. so i guess the baby has made the right choice, so to say.. :)

mine was the same. what i did was when he is hungry i would put him on my left breast first so that he can suck vigorously to get the little milk on it. and while my right boob is still producing more milk than my left, it has atleast started to produce more milk than it used to.

good luck !

Answer 7

Try different positions ....the best position for us was laying down in bed tummy to tummy. Another idea is to feed from the right...when he's got a good sucking motion going, switch to the left quickly and if need be you can always finidh with the right. If you absolutely can not get him to latch to the left right now, feed from the right and pump your left...this will relieve any pain you have plus you'll have milk stored up in the freezer...just keep offering both b*****s, I'm sure eventually he'll take from both ;) Best of luck!

Answer 8

Are you by any chance left handed? My son would prefer the left breast because my right arm was stronger and held him better. I got him used to the right breast using the football hold. Try looking up different types of holds and try them all, see which one your son prefers while on the left one.

He's now 6 months old and doesn't care which one he gets, as long as milk is coming out :)

Answer 9

Keep his body in the same position as when he's nursing the right side.. Use a pillow on your left side to help hold his bottom half. He likes laying on his left side.  It's the position change not the breast. Good luck!

You can't just feed from one breast.. he will never want the left side... and yes,  you will be waaay bigger on one side...  :)

Answer 10

You will need to try to position him differently.  My son also prefered the rightside.  I think it was more comfortable for him.  You will just have to find out what works best for him.  

Answer 11

My son was the same way.  I would recommend that you start him on the left breast and then move him to the right.  If he's not taking as much from one breast, then you may end up with one breast larger than the other.  If that seems to be happening you might try pumping from the breast he is ignoring.  You could also try only feeding him on one side at each feeding instead of both sides at each feeding.

Answer 12

I'm not a doctor and I'm not saying this to scare you, it was just my first thought.

If this is a new problem, and hasn't been going on too long - consider that he might have an ear infection.  It might be because it hurts him to lay on that side... the pressure in his ear.

If there are no other symptoms and it just seems to be a preference with feeding, then try some other positions.  Try the position where his body is basically behind you but his head comes up under your arm and he nurses this way... maybe the change of scenary will distract him... good luck!