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Nurse one, pump one

babygiantquestbabygiantquest member
in Breastfeeding
My son will be five weeks old on Tuesday, and we are still having issues with latching on because I have flat nipples.  (I have seen a lactation consultant several times for help with this, just to preface.)  He's doing well nursing from the left side, but my right nipple is so flat that nursing him always hurts and he is never satisfied after feeding.  It takes him much longer to nurse from the right side, and I've started noticing that he isn't swallowing as much during right side sessions, as well.  However, I am able to successfully pump from that side.  These are my questions:

1. Can I nurse exclusively from the left side and just pump the right side?
2. If I were to do this, should I increase the number and length of my pumping sessions?  (I currently pump twice a day for fifteen to twenty minutes at a time, and get anywhere from 1.5-3oz per breast.)
3. A purely cosmetic inquiry--is this going to make me lopsided?

Thank you for your help!
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Re: Nurse one, pump one

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    aylafsu88aylafsu88 member
    I have flat/inverted nipples (yay for me I got one of each)! My LO nursed much better on my flat side and not so great on the inverted side. Nursing on the inverted side was a huge PITA and we both got frustrated.  I ended up nursing the flat side 2X more than the inverted side. I nursed one side per session due to a bit of an oversupply. My inverted side still made milk and had a decent supply. Over time LO drew the nipples out more and it became easier to nurse on either side. Due to habit I still stuck with using the flat side 2X more. I never had supply issues and I successfully nursed LO. I would not EP the other side but maybe put it into rotation less often or maybe when LO gets a bit older it will not be as much of an issue. 
    In my case my inverted side was my slightly larger breast so there was not a huge difference cosmetically. My inverted side has dried up but I still nurse LO AM and PM on my flat side.  There is no difference in size at all right now and I look normal. My doula exclusively nursed on one side and ended up with a huge difference.  She stuffed her bra to even it out. Once she weaned they went back to the sameish size.

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