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Problem with latch on one breast, but not the other

whitney4126whitney4126 member
in Breastfeeding
LO will be 1 month old this week and we've had quite a journey BFing due to a tongue-tie and difficulties sucking and with tongue mobility. I've worked with a LC and several other medical professionals on this. I ended up EPing for 2 weeks and then slowly working on reintroducing the breast, which we are having much more success with than ever before. The last couple of days we are almost exclusively BFing. For the most part, I'm thrilled with our progress. LO seems to have a perfect latch on my right breast, but we have a really hard time on the left. We have to make several efforts to get it, and sometimes we just can't. It's excruciating. She has caused nipple trauma from a bad latch for just minutes before I switch. I've had 2 blood blisters on my nipple in the last 4 days. I've read about proper latch and re-positioning and tried everything I know how. I have pretty large breasts, and my left breast is at least a cup size larger than my right, and it produces significantly more milk than my right (usually 1-2 oz more in a 15 minute pumping session). Sometimes I feel like it's just too big to breastfeed with, but I know women breastfeed with all sizes of breasts . I thought I'd reach out and see if anyone has dealt with something similar or have any ideas before I schedule and pay for another LC visit.
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Re: Problem with latch on one breast, but not the other

  • flclflcl member
    You sound like you've been working hard to feed your LO... 2 blood blisters just this week alone?  Ouch!  A bad latch is really painful.  Our LO was tongue-tied too.  I wasn't sure by your post if you had your LO's fixed or not.  It made a huge difference for us, I noticed an improvement with his latch right away.  Have you tried mimicking the hold you use on your right side on your left so LO's still in the same position?  What about the C hold on your breast?  Both were helpful for our nursing sessions.  Finally, I used nipple butter and hydrogel dressing to aid in the healing process.  GL, I hope things get easier for you soon!
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  • whitney4126whitney4126 member
    Yes we had the tongue tie clipped and it made a huge difference. Unfortunately LO still had some sucking, latching issues.
    I feel like I'm mimicking the same on the left side, but I may need someone else to watch and tell me because it feels different due to the difference in breast size. I'm pretty much exclusively using the football hold on both sides at this point because it is the position that most consistently produces a good latch.
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  • hpragolinihpragolini member
    I've heard that using a boppy or other type pillow on the good breast and allow a latch. After a min or two unlatch and slide the pillow over so lo is in the exact same position and to do this each time you offer that side for a few days.
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  • htk1113htk1113 member
    I'm sorry you had such a rough start to breastfeeding and am glad to hear you're making some progress.  It took me a while to get the hang of things.

    I had this issue with different sized breasts.  My right was a super producer and much larger than my left.  With my right being so large it lays differently than the left so I sometimes hold the right breast while nursing to ensure it stays in a good position.  I also didn't always nurse baby in the same position on each breast (ie. football hold on right, cradle on left).   

    Also, a pillow (boppy or other) really helped too. 
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  • junebug555junebug555 member
    I've had the same issue with one breast being awesome and the other not, and major improvement with tongue tie clipping.  But my issue with the bad latch breast was due to flat nipple, so a nipple shield was AWESOME!!  It also got rid of the blood blisters in a week.  Another thing to try is pumping for a couple minutes just on that one and then re-try the latch.  At least try the nipple shield so that you can heal that boob and start fresh again.  DD is latching on both now and it's been 3 weeks post tongue clip.  Sometimes it still takes several attempts on the bad one.
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  • jegoffinjegoffin member
    I would try a football hold on the good side since that is what you are using and it is working and then try a cradle hold on the more difficult side. This will keep baby in the same actual position and it may help.
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