Anyone experience this BF problem??

Ricca'sBaby · July 2009

My LO is a week old and I had to pump exclusively for the few days after we got home with her because I was so engorged and bleeding. I started feeding her on the right side once it was healed and now I'm healed on the left side. The problem is that she now won't feed from the left side....she latches and then suddenly she "decides" she doesn't like that side and just sits there. I'm really frustrated b/c I'm having to pump after each feeding on that side because she won't take it. Has anyone else experienced this?? If so, what did you do and can she learn to feed from that side? I'm concerned that I'll have to pump the one side every time I feed her and that's something I just don't want to think about doing... Any advice right now would be so appreciative....it's been a difficult week--mostly b/c of the breastfeeding problems!!!

~Soleil~ · July 2009

Maybe try expressing some milk onto the nipple just before you have her latch onto the left side? I know it's hard but keep at it! GL!

rease. · July 2009

try the milk trick on your nipple and try different positions. at that age my daughter did the same thing but she only had the breast. sometimes newborns just are picky. i had to try the football hold and seriously a few times i had to stand and feed her so she was facing my breast like she was standing, straight up and down. it worked like a charm. one position she may like for one feeding she may not like for another. just be patient, i had nights when i would cry because she would refuse or whatnot. if you can make it through the first 6-8 weeks it does get better, i promise! im almost 5 months in and cant imagine not bf her now!

also, dont forget to use that lanolin cream, its amazing and if you are really engorged, i used a little thing (i cant remember the name of it) but it looked like a tiny bike horn and it would draw your nipple out so the baby could latch on better. (use it even if your nipples are fine, mine arent inverted but when you are so engorged it doesnt matter) you can get these at like walmart or target, in a purple box in the bf section for $10.

Poplin2007 · July 2009

One of the NICU nurses said she had this problem so she just let the left dry up and always fed off the right. You don't have to keep pumping the left; if you do, it'll keep producing milk. You might feel lopsided, but this is an option...

That said, I'd keep working on it. Have you talked to a LC?

AngieandTony · July 2009

Ditto what rease said. The horn looking thing she's talking about is called " latch assist" made by lansinoh. Keep in mind it's just as much a learning process for your LO as it is for you. Good luck!

desmerelda317 · July 2009

Try different locations too. ?When my son stopped nursing for a day I was so frustrated and didn't know what to do. ?He was so hungry but he simply wouldn't take the breast and I was getting engorged. ?I decided to get in a nice warm tub with him and I nursed him in the bathtub. ?I don't know if the warm water soothed him enough to calm down or what, but it worked.

arkabee · July 2009

My mom told me she had this problem with me when I was a baby, that I would only nurse on one side. She would put me in the cuddle position for the side I would nurse on, and then the football hold position for the other side, so that I was in pretty much the same position for both sides, and that apparently seemed to work. Good luck!

mollymurphy · July 2009

rease.:
try the milk trick on your nipple and try different positions. at that age my daughter did the same thing but she only had the breast. sometimes newborns just are picky. i had to try the football hold and seriously a few times i had to stand and feed her so she was facing my breast like she was standing, straight up and down. it worked like a charm. one position she may like for one feeding she may not like for another.?

Ditto Rease: my LO was the same way on my left side...at first, I thought he just had an aversion to the left side which was so frustrating! It was difficult, but I after experimenting w/positions, I realized that on that side, he would feed if I placed him in the football hold...nothing else worked.?I did exactly what Rease mentioned: had him face me in a more vertical position, left hand in a C-shape around my breast, right hand behind his head. In that position, you have quite a bit of control to direct baby's latch and it worked really well.?

Now that he's a little older (and I'm a little more experienced) I can now use other positions and get him to feed on that side, but at first, that was the only thing that made it work for us. Hang in there: it does get easier!?

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