After writing about breast milk production yesterday and the differences in production that some women experience, I realized that there is a whole other subject directly related to this which I wanted to address separately. Some women produce different amounts of milk from each breast – and you can read about this in yesterday’s post. But some babies develop a preference for nursing on one side vs the other and it may or may not have anything to do with how much milk each breast produces.
If you think your milk production is pretty even in each breast, and yet your baby still seems to show a preference for one side or another – there could be other factors involved.
1) Your nipples may be different. If one nipple is inverted more than the other or one protrudes more than the other, your baby may find it easier to latch onto one breast vs the other and may develop a preference for that side. This problem can often be averted by using a hand pump or even hand-expression to make the affected side easier to latch onto.
2) Your breasts may have a different feeling when they are full. Often, when your breasts are very full, it can be difficult for a baby to latch on. If your baby tends to prefer one side over the other, especially when you are engorged, you can try pumping or hand-expressing the less-preferred side to make it easier for your baby to latch on. My son actually always preferred my more-engorged side – even though it produced less milk. I have a feeling it was just his ability to get a good latch and wasn’t related to how much milk he got.
3) You baby may have a positional preference. Some babies like to nurse when lying on one side more than when lying on the other side. When you switch breasts, you typically turn your baby around so that they are now lying on their other side. If you find that your baby has a side preference, but it doesn’t seem to be related to your milk production, level of engorgement or size of your nipples – then perhaps your baby just has a preference for which side he/she nurses on. If this is the case, try holding your baby so that they are lying in the same position, no matter which side they are nursing from. You can do this by using the football hold for one side, and a cradle hold for the other. You can also use a pillow or nursing pillow to help prop your baby up next to you so that they can have a “cradle hold” next to you when nursing from the less-preferred side.
NOTE: Any type of side-preference may lead to reduced milk production in the less-preferred side. This is an effect of supply/demand and may not be due to an inherent lower production in that side. To increase your production in the less preferred side, try having your baby nurse from that side first or add in additional pumping sessions on that side to stimulate more milk production.
Did your baby have a preference for which side they nursed from? Do you know why? What did you do to compensate? Please share your stories by leaving a comment on this post.
