being picky on nipples

[duoduo]

I am doing mix feeding with my 6-week-old boy, recently found that he likes one nipple than another, probably one shape is longer than another like teat?
what can I do to help him latch and suck on both nipple? any advice? thx.

[Martini~]

Why do you think he prefers one boob? Are you feeding one sided or both sides per feed?

Even if he has a preference, there is nothing wrong with that honey. Some children just have preference for one boob, because of different reasons! And it's not a problem as if you feed frequently, lactation & your supply will adjust accordingly. I wouldn't try to "fix it".
Keep feeding as normal, so if one-sided, alternate sided between feeds; if both sided, offer both sides but alternate the "starting" side each time.

FYI, my DS had periods when he much more liked one side then other, totally don't know why - but he usually self regulated after week or two. Sometimes I thought he had a preference for one boob and it was just a more/less hungry baby at certain times (I was feeding like in the clock.... So ie. he was usually only slightly hungry at 7 (after NFs), took big feed at 10am and so on. So what I did I started the day from right side one day and the next day 7am feed was left side.

[duoduo]

Why do I think? Well, when I offer, he only latches on one, but not the other one, I normally offer both. And this morning, he doesn’t want both, so I had to pump the milk. That’s why I asked another question in this forum: how to balance, it looks like I(or I should say my baby) can never balance between teat and nipple, now it sounds like he is more interested in bottle, which means I got additional work – pump milk. Sigh. What about @ night? I am already lacking of sleeping, he wakes up every 1.5~ 2 hours at night, and sometimes it’s worse, 40mins~1 hour I have to get up, either to feed him or calm him down.

So if my boy prefers one boob, what should I do? Pump the other one? Why do u think it’s not necessary to fix it?

thx

[duoduo]

At night, having preference on boob causes nervous, one night, I fed him 3 times, every time he only latched on Right side, I was so tired and didn’t pump the other boob. That’s why I am so concerned about this issue and want to fix it. If he can take both boobs well at night, I don’t have to add bottle, and he might sleep longer.
How to help him sleep well at night is another question I have here, I probably should post it in E.A.S.Y area?

[ZZoya]

BabyWhispererForums.com » EAT » Breast Feeding » Post reply (  Re: being picky on nipples )
Re: being picky on nipples
I had a similar case which - unfortunately - wasn't fixed until much later. You say you're using bottle - your son might be more interested in it not because he doesn't like your breast but just because bottlefeeding is always a much easier job for babies than sucking the breast. I had mastitus when my son was two weeks as he wasn't emptying me and I didn't know I should express. As a result I had to bottlefeed him while taking antibiotics and it was such a battle to get him back to BF later on! Looking back, I wish I haven't offered him a bottle at all but rather feed with a spoon or smth else.
If you want to breastfeed, eliminate nipple confusion asap by replacing the bottle with other feeding tools. Yes, it will tske more time but at least your baby has a chance to stay on the breast.
Good luck!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

So he will bf from one side but not the other? My DD2 had a big preference for the right side as I think she liked the way she was held on that side not the nipple). Tbh I always felt more comfortable on the right too!

How often does he feed at night?

[*Ali*]

How do you hold him? If in a cradle hold you might be able to "trick" him by holding him under your left arm in what we call a rugby hold to feed from the left nipple.

You mentioned the nipples are different shapes so it made me wonder if you have a flat nipple on the left side. Do you think it is that or does it still stick out a bit?

I'd stop offering the bottle completely for a bit to eliminate the bottle preference.

[duoduo]

thank u for all replies, good news is my boy is young, things change everyday, I even don't know what I did makes the change, I mean he can latch on L as often as R now (most of the time). don't know what will happen in the future, looks like my supply is increasing, so I did reduce the bottle feeding and hope thing stays stable.

I totally agree that mix feeding can cause confusion, but I do want to keep bottle so I can have some naps in daytime, my boy doesn't sleep well at night, and my Mom is here helping me, when I have the nap Mom can feed my boy with bottle, and it's not always formula, sometimes the milk I pumped.

one question is how often I feed my son at night? mine, that's another story, or I should say another challenge, I just don't know how Tracy (the author) made it, she says in the book that 3 hours is interval and only need to feed the baby once all night long. maybe they r right, they always make it sounds so easy in the book. my son would wake up every 40mins~1hour in the worst case, I don't feed him everytime he wakes up, it depends on the interval, if it's over 1hour then I feed him.

I have to spend lots of time on this forum to look for help, good thing is there is always response, it makes me feel not lonely.

thank u everyone again. switching to EASY to see if I can find the help with night sleep interval.

[*Ali*]

At 6wo 1 night feed would be exceptional and certainly not the norm. Most LOs would be on 2-3 NFs at this age but some would need more. The Research on BFing has moved on significantly since Tracy wrote the books and we like to think she would have updated her advice on feeding frequencies had she still been around.

Your LO is still establishing your supply so frequent feeds are serving an important purpose right now.

So happy to hear he is taking the left breast too now.

[Proud Mammy]

Glad to hear things are more positive for joining now.
Also to say, at 6wks, my sons were still feeding A LOT during night (as pp says, this more the norm than not). For instance, my Small would have been feeding every 3-31/2 hrs at night at that stage. My Little Man was still feeding every 2 hours round the clock at that stage.
Another point - apparently, my nephew always favoured one breast over the other and fed for a year in this manner. His mum told me afterwards, she was always lopsided  , I never noticed!!! It could be that you do have a different shape on your nipple there/ Baby prefers the position they are in when on the other side???
Again, as pp have advised you, your body is still trying to establish your supply at this point, so I wouldn't be "withholding/ delaying" any feeds.