Feeding on one side or two sides?

[xav's mum]

Hi everyone,

Just had a question about feeding.  In Tracey's book it says to feed on one side once your milk is established.  My 4 week old daughter is quite an efficient feeder (compared to her brother!) and feeds on one side for about 5 - 10 minutes.  She lasts three hours between feeds most times.

When do I make the move to offering both breasts at the one feed or will she just let me know that she is not getting enough from the one side at some stage? Should I be offering the 2nd breasts after each feed now?

Thanks in advance,
xav's mum

[LindseysMom]

Hello there.  I was told by the Lactation consultants that I saw to offer both breasts at each feed,  Then you start the next feed on the side that you finished on last.  It also helps establish a good milk supply by feeding on both sides as each breast is stimulated more often.  Glad to hear things are going well.    Some people are able to do fine with single side feeding though so it really is up to you.

[asher and noël's mama]

i was confused about your reply.  you mentioned that the lactation specialist said to start on the one you finished off last.  is that correct?  but, that would be if the last one was not emptied, right?  you want to start on the fuller breast, so if it is the one you gave last, but was not emptied then that would be right, but if it is the one that was emptied first out of th two, then it would not be the last one. 

is this right?

[LindseysMom]

Sorry if I confused you, it can be confusing.  Ok, say you start a feed on the right side and end on the left side.  At the next feed you should start on the left side.  The reason being is because since you ended on the left side, that breast was not emptied fully at the last feed because it was the second one fed off of.  So you start on that side at the next feed to ensure it is emptied fully as emptying the breast is one of the ways your body knows to make more milk.  The other way is stimulation of the breast via suckling.   Hope that helps to clarify, if not I will try again let me know.

[asher and noël's mama]

yes, it does clarify.  thanks.  some babies though, not many, but my first was one, emptied both sides.  so i would usually start on the same one every time, worked fine, and i always had plenty of milk.  but, my newest will only eat from one side, and then will sometimes nibble from the other.  i know the important thing is just to make sure one is emptied so that they are getting the hind milk, and then offer the second, but don't stress about them emptying that one also.  but yes, you would then offer that last one, that was not emptied that next time.

[daisymelan]

I was also told to try both breasts at each nursing session... but it has come to haunt me.  My lo became a lazy nurser and only wanted what would come quick.  He wouldn't work for the hind milk and just expected me to switch him over and would have nothing to do with the good stuff.

I have been trying hard to get him to single side feed to ensure he gets all the good stuff.

This is just food for thought, but I think you will find a lot of single side nursers on this site.

[2fuzzbutts]

I have been single side feeding the whole time. Nolan is just over 12 weeks and is a whopping 17 lbs, he started at 9lbs 12 oz. My supply has been great, never any issues. I wish my LO was as fast at eating as yours! I'd say if you don't have a problem single side feeding you should continue.

[nathansmum]

Jodie- How do you get your little one back to feeding on only one side? I think I made the mistake of starting to feed him on both sides at his first growth spurt and now I really regret it and would like to go back to one side but I don't want him to be hungry and I think, like you said, that he has gotten lazy as he now fusses a lot while feeding. I have been wondering a lot about hind milk, and I want to make sure he gets in good calories as I am sure this might be part of my problem right now! (see "fussy eating" thread).

thanks!!!

[daisymelan]

Marilyn,

It actaully happened almost because of accident and it wasn't hard for us so I may not be very helpful for you.  We had a lot going on here and he was going through a distracted phase as well as teething, learning to crawl, etc.  It just kind of happened naturally.  I was stressing the smae thing as you though.... not getting the hind milk.  Do you do a dreamfeed?  Maybe that's a good place to start?  Or, what might work is switching as you normally would, but after only a minute, try switching back.  I'm not sure if it will work, but that's all I can think of.

HTH

It may be worth starting a new thread though to see if you can get some other responses.

[nathansmum]

Thanks!
I do do a DF, but I usually pump for that one and give him a bottle, but starting there might be a good idea.
I will also start a new post following your suggestion...