What Do I Do When One Side Produces More? (Mom to Mom #3)
October 16, 2006 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under Mom-to-Mom, breastfeeding basics
Reader Melissa writes:
Q: I am breastfeeding my 2 month old and I have more on my right than my left. What can I do?! The same thing happened with my 3 year old 2 years ago and I had lopsided breasts for the time that I was breastfeeding.
A: Yours is a relatively common concern. There are several reasons a baby might favor one breast. If it happens from birth, it’s important to rule out medical causes for favoring one side, like an ear infection or birth trauma. Similarly, if a baby suddenly refuses one side after nursing equally well on both sides, it’s a good idea for both mother and baby to see the doctor. We can rule those situations out since both your children have preferred one side.
It’s possible for a mother to have a flat or inverted nipple on one side but not the other, making it easier for the baby to nurse on one side. Such a mother could attempt to draw out the nipple.
It’s also possible for a mother’s milk to let-down faster on one side, making the baby favor that side as the easiest way to get milk. At the same time, if the let-down is too forceful on one side, the baby may reject that side. In either case, it may be helpful to get the milk to let-down through pumping or hand-expressing before putting the baby to the less favored breast.
One side may produce less milk due to a smaller number of milk ducts on that side, either as a simple fact of anatomy or as a result of injury or surgery on that side. Unfortunately, the problem can be self-fulfilling. If the baby prefers to nurse on one side, that side may continue to produce more milk and the other side may continue to produce less.
It’s not necessary to do anything to correct the lopsidedness unless you are bothered by it. In fact, it’s possible to nurse a baby on one side alone.
There are several things to try if you are concerned. Try offering the less favored side first at each feeding (if let-down is the problem, then you can start nursing on the favored side, then gently break the latch and slide the baby to the other side after let-down). It may help to offer that side when the baby is sleepy, or while you are walking or rocking to distract the baby. Try various positions and consider nursing in a darkened room. It may take time, so be patient. While you are working to increase supply on the less favored side, make sure to continue to nurse or express often enough on the favored side so that you do not become engorged or develop a plugged duct or mastitis.
Has anyone else had experience with one side producing more milk? What did you do, if anything?
My left side was a troublemaker and had tons of milk plus very strong letdown. So I always started nursing on my right side first. The problem subsided after a few months but those first few were very troublesome!
As you know it can take a while for the milk supply to regulate in the beginning. You were smart to figure out the problem and work through it by nursing on the other side first.
My left breast produces almost nothing; I can pump out only an ounce or two. My right breast produces ten or twelve ounces. My daughter and son both seemed happy nursing on either, though, so I guess that it is possible that the pump is giving false information. I never FEEL as if my daughter has eaten enough if she doesn’t nurse on the right one, but I leave that up to her.
I’ve never worried about it, though, or bothered to try to change it. My kids both survived solely breastfeeding for 6 months, and only very gradually started eating food. My son nursed until he was almost 2 years old, and my daughter is still nursing at 11 months.
One thing I find useful about it is that I can offer the left breast for comfort nursing, without stuffing my baby’s belly!
The only inconvenient thing is that my right breast is noticeably larger than my left (when full, anyway), which I’m slightly self-conscious about, though I doubt anyone else notices.
I find that I usually have this problem in the morning because I don’t pay very close attention to where I let her latch on at night. I am sure if I did the safety pin on the bra strap trick, it might regulate itself, but at 3 am I wouldn’t close the safety pin properly and I’d lost sleep that way.
Jen, naturally the pump is never as efficient as the baby, so I’m sure the baby gets more than an ounce or two from the left side, but that sure is an amazing difference in the amount you can pump from each side.
Good point about the comfort nursing. My first nursling would take in however much milk I would give her, and would comfort nurse all day long, but my second does not like so much milk and she will pop off when done. Makes it harder to care for her when she is sick.
Kate, I used to “monkey roll” over my daughter in the middle of the night, just to make sure both sides got drained or I’d have a big problem with plugged ducts. It was nice when she wasn’t nursing quite as much and I didn’t (don’t) have to worry about that so much.
thanks for answering my question. I’ll try it immediately.
Hope it helps, Melissa!
I have increased my milk supply on the left side!!! Slowly but surely… thanks again, Angela!
Excellent! Thanks for letting me know! I’m glad to hear it and it’s nice to get the feedback.
I am experiencing lopsided breasts due to my left side seems to produce a larger amount of milk than my right. I feed my 6 week old on my right side and try pump my left side at least 3 times a day but I that doesnt seem to be evening out the lopsidedness which is kind of frusterating because I can tell the difference and am worried it is really noticable. Does anyone have any advice on how I can get both my breasts more even in size?
Hello, I don’t want to alarm anyone who has more milk on one side than another, but I feel compelled to tell what happened to me. I searched the Internet when I found I was producing 4-5 oz one one side vs 1 to 1.5 oz on the other. Didn’t find anything particularly helpful on the Internet.
However, after baby turned 1, I found a lump in the non-producing breast, and it turns out I had stage 0 breast cancer, and the pathology report clearly stated that my milk ducts were almost completely filled with cancer cells. That explained uneven milk production. I encourage anyone who has a serious imbalance in milk production to seek medical help. You won’t find anything written about this on the Internet–anyway I didn’t.
Hi Teresa. Thanks for sharing your story and I hope you are faring well!
I’ve written quite a bit about breastfeeding after breast cancer. Take a look in the side bar under “cancer” if you haven’t already. I’ve also got two posts up on how to perform a breast self-exam on lactating breasts and a video on how to perform a BSE. Good for you for being proactive and finding that lump.
Best wishes for your health.
Hello all, I have had this problem since about two weeks after baby (now 5 months) was born. Its VERY noticeable, even to strangers. My daughter will not eat off of the left side, while the right makes all the milk she needs. I have returned to work and am relying on pumping to keep up my supply. When I pump I get about half an ounce (usually a little less!) from the left side and about 3 1/2 to 4 ounces off the right side. I know it may sound ridiculous but I am so self conscious! It was not a problem during the first two weeks so I dont know what to do, I am 95% sure that it is not less milk ducts. I am an active duty military so the health system is not that great. The lactation consultant (who I didn’t see until about 4 weeks post-partum) did not even look at me and just said thats how my body was. I cant stand this, I am so uncomfortable that I cannot run, I cant wear a bra because I’m a B-ish on the left and a DD-ish on the right! At first both nipples were flat but baby pulled out the right one. I am using an Evert-It to try to pull out the left side. Does anybody have any advice????
To Becky,
Wow, I was wondering if anyone on here would comment on babies that were older than a few weeks. I am experiencing the one side preference with my 5 month old as well. She prefers the right side. For about the first 3 months I could get about 6 to 7 ounces out of both. But now it’s only about 3 1/2 too 4 ounces out of the “good” side and maybe MAYBE an ounce out of the “other” side (double pumping with Medela). My concern is what happens when her appetite increases as she gets older? I know they say your body will adjust but it is still a MIND concern for me. I don’t know if there’s anyone who was able to do something to “fix” the uneven milk flow late in the game (5 months).
I can get about 3 times (or more) the amount of milk from the right breast as the left; I know that the amounts pumped may not correlate with what the baby gets during nursing…however, the concerning issue really is that the right breast has such forceful letdown that my 2-month-old chokes and cries when he nurses that side. If I try to limit nursing to the “low-producing” left side, or at least always start on that side, the right breast becomes engorged, because it never gets completely “emptied.” I am fearful of pumping to relieve this because I don’t want to increase milk supply on a side that is already too much for the baby!
A side note: all of this started a few weeks ago after a plugged duct on the right cleared, and around the same time I ran into a doorway with my left breast, hitting it pretty hard. No bruising or outward signs of injury, but is that the cause of the low production on that side? Or does it just seem low because I have such high flow in the right? Probably doesn’t matter, but how to fix these issues?!?
AND, all of this in the setting of planning to go back to work in a month, and needing to start building a storage of milk. What/when to pump?
I have a 5 month old daughter who seems to prefer my left side. My left side is currently engorged. I keep feeding on the right side to get it to produce more so that my breasts will even out. My left side is painful and will spray in the middle of the night while she’s trying to nurse on the right. This has happened in several occassions, and not just this way, sometimes my right side will be engorged, but, never for this long has it happened. I’ve been working on it for a bout a week., Usually, I can even them out in a day or two. Any suggestions?