Can you breastfeed from one boob?

crazy cat lady

I had my little girl 3 and a half weeks ago. I started by exclusively breastfeeding her, but she seemed to be on the go all the time! I started expressing to try and boost my supply and noticed that I was getting hardly anything from my right breast. I developed shingles on my right side after giving birth so I'm assuming that this is partly to blame!

A few days ago I started combined feeding and then made the decision yesterday to stop breastfeeding alltogether. I have contined to express, mostly to relieve the pressure but also as I want to give my lil lady the best. I'm still getting lots of milk from my left breast, but hardly anything from the right.

I'm really missing breastfeeding her. I don't know if its a maternal thing, I just know I miss it!

If I give a couple of feeds a day from my left breast and give up on the right, will the supply just dry up in the right?

I know I run the risk of being uneven in size! But I think I could live with that.

Has anyone fed like this? Did it work?

Thanks. CCL

cbyrd

does it hurt to feed from the right side?? maybe if you try to feed her again from this side supply will pick up?? i'd ask the phn but i'd say if you've supply coming on one side use it...
i'm breastfeeding too but i give him one 4-6oz bottle of aptamil at 11pm.. then he sleeps all night:D i started this tues week ago cos he was just ridiculously hungry at night it was my phn who suggested it.. glad she did he's much more settled now and sleeps better during the day.. do you have a local breastfeeding clinic??? i find it great cos i get him weighed every time i go..

they also get hungry days where they seem to feed nonstop.. this is natures way of increasing supply when they're just about to grow..only happens with breastfeeders cos they need to..

cbyrd

my turn for a question..seeing as we've now graduated from the pregnancy board..
do you get amazingly hungry after feeding??? and when is the bleeding supposed to stop?? these are things i should know but after 7 years i've filtered out that information...

ebmma

crazy cat lady wrote: »

I had my little girl 3 and a half weeks ago. I started by exclusively breastfeeding her, but she seemed to be on the go all the time! I started expressing to try and boost my supply and noticed that I was getting hardly anything from my right breast. I developed shingles on my right side after giving birth so I'm assuming that this is partly to blame!

A few days ago I started combined feeding and then made the decision yesterday to stop breastfeeding alltogether. I have contined to express, mostly to relieve the pressure but also as I want to give my lil lady the best. I'm still getting lots of milk from my left breast, but hardly anything from the right.

I'm really missing breastfeeding her. I don't know if its a maternal thing, I just know I miss it!

If I give a couple of feeds a day from my left breast and give up on the right, will the supply just dry up in the right?

I know I run the risk of being uneven in size! But I think I could live with that.

Has anyone fed like this? Did it work?

Thanks. CCL

I'm confused...If you enjoyed breastfeeding why did you decide to stop altogether?

January

She's expressing milk. So I assume her daughter is still getting the expressed breastmilk?

lowdenclear

crazy cat lady wrote: »

I had my little girl 3 and a half weeks ago. I started by exclusively breastfeeding her, but she seemed to be on the go all the time! I started expressing to try and boost my supply and noticed that I was getting hardly anything from my right breast. I developed shingles on my right side after giving birth so I'm assuming that this is partly to blame!

A few days ago I started combined feeding and then made the decision yesterday to stop breastfeeding alltogether. I have contined to express, mostly to relieve the pressure but also as I want to give my lil lady the best. I'm still getting lots of milk from my left breast, but hardly anything from the right.

I'm really missing breastfeeding her. I don't know if its a maternal thing, I just know I miss it!

If I give a couple of feeds a day from my left breast and give up on the right, will the supply just dry up in the right?

I know I run the risk of being uneven in size! But I think I could live with that.

Has anyone fed like this? Did it work?

Thanks. CCL

I've been combined feeding for 5 months now. There have been times where one side or the other has been painful for various reasons so I'll give it a break for 24 hours or so and just feed DD on one side. Perhaps giving the right side another go might work? Btw, a friend of mine told me that she fed her son from only one side as he refused the other completely, so it is well doable.

Another thing... I can NEVER get very much at all from expressing -- maybe a half an ounce altogether. That's from both sides, pumping for maybe 15 mins each side! Yet DD is satisfied. Insane... I guess it's true that the baby can get much more out of the breast than we ever can.

lowdenclear

cbyrd wrote: »

my turn for a question..seeing as we've now graduated from the pregnancy board..
do you get amazingly hungry after feeding??? and when is the bleeding supposed to stop?? these are things i should know but after 7 years i've filtered out that information...

Amazingly hungry... before, during, after, take your pick! Sometimes I feel like I could eat my own arm off!! Thirsty, too.

Bleeding... I can't remember exactly how long it lasted for me. It eased off to a kind of straw coloured discharge and had finished up by about 4 or 5 weeks PP.

crazy cat lady

ebmma wrote: »

I'm confused...If you enjoyed breastfeeding why did you decide to stop altogether?

I didn't realise how much I enjoyed it until I stopped! I decided to stop because she was feeding all the time and never seemed satisfied. You feel like you're doing something wrong when you have a baby that never seems contented.

I tried just about everything to boost supply to the right side! Feeding and expressing. Even now I can feel that my left boobie is full and the right one is empty.

I spoke to my phn and she didn't really give me much advice. Just agreed that my poor supply was probably due to the fact that I'd be sick, quite anemic and had hardly eaten since giving birth. My baby was quite big and has some appetite so never seemed satisfied.

I think for the minute I'll keep expressing and see how I feel in a few days. As long as the baby is fed and happy thats all that matters!

January

cbyrd wrote: »

my turn for a question..seeing as we've now graduated from the pregnancy board..
do you get amazingly hungry after feeding??? and when is the bleeding supposed to stop?? these are things i should know but after 7 years i've filtered out that information...

My bleeding stopped at around 6 weeks. It got very light at around 3 weeks but I felt that if I pushed myself too hard (I had a c section) that it would get heavy again.

lowdenclear

I just wanted to add another thing... Whatever you decide, go with what works for you and your baby.

I have to admit, the first 4 weeks were awful for me but it started getting easier after that and now I am so glad I stuck with it. It's something we both enjoy & I love it when DD has a mouthful of me and grins up at me - it's so cute and so funny! I had decided early on that I'd give it 6 weeks and if it wasn't getting easier I'd quit.

The other thing is I spent the first 2 months trying to get back to exclusive bf'ing but DD just loved her topups too much. I was so disappointed and felt like a failure after deciding to go with combined feeding. In hindsight, this is what works for us -- I just wish I had went with what worked for this baby at this time rather than spending so much time and effort trying to get to some ideal that would never have worked for us. Maybe for another baby it will.

I've found that a lot of bf'ers go on about how you should be exclusively feeding whereas bottle feeders go on about when are you gonna quit bf'ing and give the poor child a bottle already!! :P At the end of the day, you are the child's mother so have confidence in your ability to know what is best.

Billiejo

Yes. You can definately breastfeed from one side only. Make sure the breast is empty as the fat content which comes last is thickest and suckled slower resembling stops and starts.

On the side which appears to be redundant feel for the duct glands (feels like a string of beads) all the way around the breast about 1-2 inches above the nipple and gently massage the area.
Also try to remember that Breast milk is made during the period of darkness (night) governed by the hypothalmus in the brain.
Sadly and Painful as it is, the cure for soreness / mastitis is to continue feeding.
PS. As a matter of interest the stats are in to suggest that BF appears to prevent childhood leukaemia in addition to all the other known benefits.

laughingtoaster

have you talked to anyone from la leche or cuidiu? I have found them very helpful, I wouldn't have lasted the first few weeks without them. they each have phone numbers you can call for advice & support and they hold regular meetings where you can meet other mums and an experienced counseller to share experience.
(some people seem wary of la leche, I think some members may be perceived as militant but I have had only good experience with them and you can ignore any advice that doesn't feel right for you.)

from my experience, the first few weeks were chaotic, constant feeding seems to be the babies way of stepping on the accellerator to tell your body to up the supply.
we had a phase where I spent every evening from 6 to 10 sitting on the sofa watching dvds & eating while dd fed and snoozed.

just to let you know that at around 6 weeks, your baby will probably have a growth spurt and will feed like mad, at around this time your boob(s) will feel less full and you may think there is a problem (I did) but there isn't. your boobs are adjusting to supplying milk on demand so don't need to feel full as much.

as lowdenclear says, do whats best for you and babs, if you decide on combining bf and bottle try not to stress about it.

best of luck

here are some useful sites

http://www.cuidiu-ict.ie/fulcrum.html?ep=10
http://www.lalecheleagueireland.com/
http://www.kellymom.com/
http://www.drjacknewman.com/

LegacyUser

crazy cat lady wrote: »

I didn't realise how much I enjoyed it until I stopped! I decided to stop because she was feeding all the time and never seemed satisfied. You feel like you're doing something wrong when you have a baby that never seems contented.

I tried just about everything to boost supply to the right side! Feeding and expressing. Even now I can feel that my left boobie is full and the right one is empty.

I spoke to my phn and she didn't really give me much advice. Just agreed that my poor supply was probably due to the fact that I'd be sick, quite anemic and had hardly eaten since giving birth. My baby was quite big and has some appetite so never seemed satisfied.

I think for the minute I'll keep expressing and see how I feel in a few days. As long as the baby is fed and happy thats all that matters!

Hi, ebmma here, can't login.

I haven't breastfed anyone before but everything that I read so far seems to say that it takes 6-8 weeks just to establish your supply. And it is perfectly normal to be feeding constantly. And after that it should settle in something a bit more sane. Don't know if that helps.