Need help - barely any milk from Left boob ...

[@llli*brady]

hi everyone, hope you are all doing well.

i have hit another bump in the road with my BF'ing journey. DS is almost 7 mos old now, and weighs approx 17 lbs.

recently (in the past 2 weeks), my left boob has been so flabby and barely full when i go to feed DS or pump. when i pump i get maybe 2 to 2.5 oz, and that takes a while. my right boob is generally much fuller and much more generous on the pump though.

anyway, i almost feel like my body is telling me, your time is almost up my goal was 1 year and i REALLY want to make it. i'm the kind of person who has always worked hard to meet my goals, and i don't want to fail on BF'ing. i even thought i could continue morning/night BF'ing once he reaches a year old just to keep the bond going.

is there a way i can encourage my left boob to catch up to the right? i don't know why it all of a sudden got this way. i feed him on one side each feeding. he is very efficient and only takes about 5-10 minutes to completely satisfy himself. we have been doing it the same way since he was born.

some other info:

DS has been on solids for about 6 weeks now. cereal 2x (maybe 6-7 tablespoons total), some apples or pears and/or some sort of veggie each day. so either 2 or 3 sessions of solids per day, including a little prune juice to help with his BM.

his weight gain has been VERY VERY slow, only about 1-2 oz a week since he turned 6 months. DH is very worried about his progress, but i tell him that he is putting out tons of wet diapers so it's ok. his BM's only come like 1-2x a week now.

DS is very happy though and thriving. he loves to play, babble, take baths, etc. he isn't crying for food and is actually very patient from feeding to feeding. he does pretty well with my nanny who has been with me for about 4 months. i would say he takes in between 15-20 oz of milk a day, in addition to solids. i know that sounds low, but he seems to be ok with it.

sleeping habits are good too. he goes to bed at 7pm and then wakes up between 6 and 7am. about 50% of the nights he will wake up between 2 and 3 for milk, and 50% of the time he will sleep right through. if he sleeps right through, he is STARVING by the time he wakes up, which is understandable



anyway, i was hoping a few of you might be able to share your experiences on whehter or not it sounds like he is getting enough? and if you encountered lack of supply on one side?

i don't know what to do and i feel like we are going to have to supplement if i don't figure it out soon...

thanks and sorry for the really long post !!

[@llli*jeannie.bean]

Are you exclusively pumping or pumping for work? 2-2.5 ounces from one breast is a lot IMO!! I never got that much unless I was engorged and we are in our 13th month of breastfeeding now. In general, pumping is not a good indicator of your supply or how much your LO is drinking. I'm sure you are doing just fine in that department. If you HAVE to pump, then there are ways to boost your supply if you aren't meeting your child's demand. Also, worrying that you aren't pumping enough will only make your body tense and decrease your let-down reflex. So, when you are pumping, try to relax, take deep breaths and not focus on the out-put. GL

[@llli*brady]

yeah i pump 2-3x while at work, and i work about 4 days a week right now. i just got scared that my left boob was flabby and limp all the time compared to the right ...

i only pump on one side at a time (to simulate my BF'ing sessions w/ DS), so in a course of a day i get anywhere from 6-9 oz of milk when i get back home. recently it's been on the low side (6 oz), and i worry that i won't be able to keep up, especially if the nanny has had to dip into my tiny backup freezer stash that day. it really stresses me out when i realize he ate more than i left him!

that's my other question - i almost want to tell my nanny don't dip into the freezer unless you absolutly have to (like he is just not satisfied with anything else). because now he eats solids , so when he is hungry she can give him some baby food as well and limit the milk intake to whatever i left that day ... is that bad?!?

[@llli*kaitlyns.mom]

I can speak from experience with the lopsidedness - my left side hardly produces anything anymore, and DD will only nurse from it for "novelty" - i.e. she doesn't get anything even with a letdown but she'll nurse for comfort there. It has always produced less but it wasn't until she was around 6 or 7 months that it just went downhill. I thought about trying to even things out but it takes a lot of effort - pumping after feedings, nursing on that side always first, potentially using herbal remedies - and I knew she was thriving on the right side alone. So IMO, if you are still getting 2 or 2.5 ounces out of the lesser producing side, I wouldn't really be concerned.

As for intake, at 7 months I probably would be feeding less cereal and more BM. Solids are still supposed to be complementary to nursing and not replacing it, and BM should still be the primary source of nutrition. Replacing nursing sessions with solids could lead to early weaning. At 7 months we were still doing just one solids meal a day, and we skipped cereal entirely after the first few weeks because it made her constipated. So, dropping that from the menu will probably help you avoid the juice.

Here are some links that might help you:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/lopsided.html
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/so...html#frequency

[@llli*rkmkeith]

PAK: I'm having a similar problem. My left side produces about 1/2 to 3/4 of what my right side does. I would like to equal 'em out too. If I could get any help, that would be great. As I have twins and am trying to stock up on BM for emergency use and like. I tend to be travelling a lot and don't really have access to a portable pump. Currently they are mainly ABM and am trying my hardest to chang it. Make it so that they are EBM.

FYI, Hubby and I are broke, along with indebt. I'm currently using a WIC Medela Lactina Plus Pump. Today I pump a total of 6.5oz. The kids haven't BFed for a session or two. 2oz was from my left side. 4.5oz came from the right. Also they are only 10wks old.