Feeds better on one breast then the other?

[Catharine]

Hi,

My dd seems to suck better on one breast compared to the other. Is that normal?

With the left breast, I can see & hear a quick sucking/swallowing action in the beginning which gradually slows down but her sucking is much slower on the other breast from the beginning & I can only hear the sucking/swallowing sound after a few sucks.

She also doesn't settle well when she drinks from the right breast & I have to offer the left breast for 5-10mins.

What should I do?

[Karin3]

I know I have a faster let down on my left side, so Mimi prefers that side.  My let down is a little delayed on the right, and before we started solids, if she was really hungry she would get kind of mad when I put her on the right side first.  She would pop off every now and again and fuss.  She got used to it though and now actually sucks harder on the right side when starting out. (I have always fed both sides.  I didn't start BW until she was 10 wo, and I figured it wasn't broke, KWIM?) 

I would keep offering the right side.  I think your lo will probably get used to it eventually...  Mimi did.  If it's really a problem, you could try pumping a little bit first, just to kind of get things moving.  Hope that helps!

[Samuel's mum]

It's really not uncommon for people to find a difference between their breasts - speed of letdown (which you are describing), overall supply (breasts usually differ in size or milk duct configuration even if we can't see the difference obviously), nipple shape affecting latch and then potentially baby's preference and supply.

You could give her time to adjust and see if things improve or stimulate letdown as the pp mentions.

Also just to say - quite a few people on these boards always double-side feeding and have found that it works best for them. In the first book 'Secrets of a BW' Tracy mentions many people move on to double-sided feeding after a while. If things don't settle down you could consider moving to double-sided but obviously alternate which breasts starts.

[joaquinsmom]

This happened to me two with both of my kids. My cousin, who's a Doctor told me somethig about the left side having a faster letdown because of nearness to the heart, and how the better blood flow close to the heart makes letdown easier? something like that. I probably explained it all wrong, but most women I've talked to have had this happen to them. I just kept offering both sides until they kind of got used to it.

Good luck

[Catharine]

Thanks everyone!

Thank goodness for this site, I was beginning to think that I was being paranoid & over analysing things. Good to know that its normal, so I'll keep offering the second breast if her fussing continues.

[tuta]

It is the same with me, my breasts are different, and my left is bigger that the right.  It always seems fuller, lets down wuicker and my babies just seem to fit better on that one.  I always assumed that it was because I am right handed and so the muscles of that side are more toned in addition to the fact that I can still 'function' if you KWIM becaus eI can feed myself and write if he is on the left so I almost 'will' them onto the left.

[Erin M]

This happened to me two with both of my kids. My cousin, who's a Doctor told me somethig about the left side having a faster letdown because of nearness to the heart, and how the better blood flow close to the heart makes letdown easier? something like that. I probably explained it all wrong, but most women I've talked to have had this happen to them. I just kept offering both sides until they kind of got used to it.

Good luck

Me too.  That's really interesting. (and I'm left handed, so that doesn't quite go with Tuta's theory )