During my 9 weeks maternity leave with my second child, I exclusively breast fed. Except for one minor bout of mastitis in my left breast in the second week, I didn't perceive any problems with my production. My son gained weight well, weighing 7 lbs 7 oz at birth, never dropping his birth weight and was 13 lbs 14 oz at his 2 month checkup. I alternated breasts when feeding and my baby always seemed full, often only wanting to nurse from one side before being done. Well, I went back to work this week (today's my 4th day) and I just started pumping, 2 times/day at work (electric dual hands free pump for 12 min sessions; it would not be possible to fit more sessions or longer sessions because of the type of work I do) and noticed that at each session, my breast milk volume was WAY different between breasts-- 1-1.5 oz on the left and over 5 oz on the right. At this rate I'm afraid my left breast milk production will just dwindle and my right one won't be able to keep up when he wants 8-10 oz a feeding. My breasts look the same size. With my first child 3 years ago, my breast milk production was only a little different but the other way around, with left breast being the workhorse and consistently making 5 oz/pumping session while the right lagged a little with 3-3.5 oz. Since I noticed this problem a couple days ago, I started trying to have my son nurse more from the weak left side, but he'd cry after suckling for just a few minutes -- probably because nothing's coming out! -- and is happy as a clam when I then put him to the right side. Anything I can do to boost production to the gimpy side? Is this normal at all? Is this a sign that I lose production from one side? I've even started pumping in the middle of the night to try to increase stimulation but it hasn't seemed to make a difference and it's cutting into my sleep. I'm stressed out about not being able to feed my baby like I had planned and he's not even 3 months. Help!
Moms of twins breastfeed so 1 breast can certainly product all the milk needed for a baby. That being said, he might prefer to be held with his left cheek against you so you might want to try feeding him starting with your left breast holding him so his left cheek is against you. If you always start on the left side it'll drain that breast of milk and will increase milk production on that side.
Good news: This is completely normal. Your other breast will make up the difference, and you will absolutely be able to continue to nurse your baby as long as you would like. When my daughter was about 4 months old, one of my breasts dried up completely. I tried it all and couldn't manage to get any milk to come out, pumping, nursing, etc. I continued to nurse for another 4.5 months and then stopped for unrelated reasons. The working breast just produced more and more milk until it was making as much as two breasts had been.
Bad news: Some other moms may be able to give you advice, but for me, nothing I tried worked. Nothing even helped that much. It was (to the best I can figure) because of the pumping and one breast just didn't pump very well. And I was extremely uneven by the end, with one breast back to pre-nursing size and the other full of two-breasts worth of milk! That was hard on me.
More good news: after I stopped nursing, my breasts evened out again. The one that had been full is not unusually larger now, despite all the stretching it did. You wouldn't even know it, looking at me now.
I hope you have better luck than I did fixing the problem, but even if you don't, your body has ways to compensate, so don't stress too much.
I think you are doing everything right. Nurse him on your left side first and then switch to the "better" side. Keep pumping the left side, etc. However, I wouldn't get up at night just to pump that side.
I had that same problem. I always started him off on the "bad" side and continued on the other once nothing came out and he got all fussy. So it never dried up completely. But at the end (I nursed for a full year) he probably got 90% from one side. It took a while to dry up completely. We took a break once for almost a week and then we resumed and milk production went back to normal within a few days.
Are your nipples the same size? You may try a larger shield on the one side. That helped me immensely when I was pumping.
I had a similar problem. I too had mastitis and had to go and get it lynched and that was a HUGE ordeal, and it was in my right breast. After that, milk supply on the right side just wasn't the same.
I still produced milk but not nearly as much as the left and starting out my right side was making almost double the left side so I had all kinds of milk saved up when I went to work.
Other factors can go into a decrease milk supply-lack of sleep is one of them and stress.
I'd continue to do what you are doing, maybe even pump longer on that side or even pump on that side while you are nursing on your right. That was suggested to me by someone in the nursing group I went to at first (Le Leche League). It was a bit awkward at first, and my husband had to help me out but it did work.
I wouldn't give up on your left side. Continue to offer it when you can and then after feeding pump for about 5 minutes and get what you can.
Also when you are pumping try and get in 2-3 let downs and even try massaging your breast before and during pumping to help the milk come down.
It should be fine. I had one good producer and one 'meh' producer at work, too, and DD kept growing. As long as you can get the amount you need, don't worry about it. And I had a long commute home, so sometimes I put on my jacket backwards, used the hands-free pumpin pal and pumped some on the way home, too. You can also successfully nurse only one side, all the time if the one side stops altogether. You might want to pad your bra, but one underperforming breast is not uncommon.
