Breastfeeding itself can bring with it a whole ream of questions. How can I get my baby to latch correctly, how do I increase my milk supply, how can I breastfeed with inverted nipples, to name just a few. Mostly breastfeeding is straight forward and you won’t encounter any breastfeeding problems, but if you do there are sooo many great sites out there to help answer these questions. In this post I won’t be answering any of those questions, BUT I am here to help with your one sided breastfeeding problems! This post should also help you if your baby only wants to nurse on one side.
I will start by saying that I am not a lactation consultant or nurse or an expert when it comes to sharing breastfeeding advice. I am simply a Mum who has the same issue that you are looking for help with and I am just sharing my experience!
Some of the links that I share may be affiliated links, this means that when you purchase an item through that link, at no extra cost to you, I will receive a very small percentage of the sale.
Ok, so the first question:
Can you breastfeed from one breast only?
Short answer, YES, absolutely you can breastfeed from one breast only! I should explain how it ended up that I was only nursing from one breast. Long story short it REALLY hurt for me to feed my daughter from my right breast. I didn’t have mastitis, it just felt so toe curlingly ‘nippy’ – for want of a better word – every time she nursed. This same side I also had less of a milk supply. I continued to try for the first four weeks but I eventually stopped and solely nursed from one side.
Why didn’t I try and use a nipple shield you ask? Well here is why, because I am an idiot and I didn’t think of it at the time!
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My baby only nurses on one side. Can I pump the other side?
Yep, you sure can and I would recommend that you do! When I first stopped nursing on one side, I did pump that side instead. Then gradually I pumped less and less on that side and because of that my milk supply dwindled. The reason I gradually stopped was I just found it overwhelming at the time. This was my first baby and I felt as though if I wasn’t nursing my daughter, I was pumping and I found it all got a little too much for me.
Will my baby get enough milk if I feed from only one breast?
Yes, provided that you are nursing regularly your supply should keep up and so far my daughter has been very content. There were a couple of difficult nights where she was having little growth spurts and she would just want to feed for two hours straight at night, but I am imagine this would still be difficult if she was nursing from both breasts!
What will happen if I only breastfeed from one side?
I am not going to sugar coat it, you will be lobsided! One boob will be completely bigger than the other! I am assuming that once I stop breastfeeding they will both end up the same size!
How long can I breastfeed from one side?
My daughter is now 7 months old and I have been nursing her from one breast only, and I exclusively breastfeed, since she was about 4 weeks old. This last few weeks I have started pumping just to get her used to the bottle in preparation for weaning her off breastfeeding! As she is getting bigger I do worry about not having enough of a supply for her, but so far she has not cried in hunger yet!
I have stopped producing milk from one side, what will I do?
There are many ways that you can try and increase you milk supply, but if you are at your wits end and have tried everything, just know that it is possible to exclusively breastfeed from one breast only!
