Deciding to breastfeed exclusively off of one boob was what worked for both me, and my hungry boys.
When I decided to nurse off of my left boob only, my right boob did not experience any of the common weaning problems… engorgement, mastitis, or blocked ducts. From the start, it was uncomfortable to nurse on my right boob…not like an embarrassed uncomfortable, just didn’t feel the same as on my left.
Engorgement: when your breasts are painfully overfull of milk
Mastitis:an inflammation of breast tissue that sometimes involves an infection. The inflammation results in breast pain, swelling, warmth and redness
Blocked duct: A plugged or blocked duct is an area of the breast where milk flow is obstructed.
Like a lot of first time moms I thought that milk production was evenly distributed through each boob, but many moms experience a slower flowing or fast flowing boob, some even too fast.
Lopsided?
Breastfeeding on one side only left me lopsided, of course. My left boob was the size of a melon while my right looked like a cutie, ya know, the mini oranges, for comparison. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but the difference was easily noticeable.
My kids also noticed the difference…my left boobs milk production was more than enough food for my little munchkins… while nursing them off of my right boob was like eating on the Thursday before payday…scarce.
Wearing a regular wire bra was nearly impossible … So I stuck with sports bras or nursing bras, but the thing with these is they usually don’t conceal your nipples.
My Oldest – Experience Breastfeeding on One Side
At first, my right boob would fill up a good amount, but the flow was extremely slow. The slow flow always left him hungry…ALWAYS! The flow from my right boob was so slow, that I could feed him multiple times off of my left boob, while my right boob was trying to produce enough milk to catch up… it never did.
Once I came to the realization that I could just use my left boob, exclusively, I started having my oldest nurse off of my right boob, but just for a minute so that he could “empty it,” but not long enough to where I had a let-down while he was feeding. You’re trying to stop your boob from filling up, so don’t keep letting them nurse after it is “empty.”
With him being my first, a few months went by before I tried nursing off of just one boob, but when I did, it was a no-brainer…no more fussy baby. It was honestly just smooth sailing from there.
Yeah, I woke up some days with a rock hard boob at times which needed to be emptied immediately… You could see every vein in my boob. After a while, it definitely still got full, but not enough to where it would be rock hard anymore… my body adjusted to being one-sided.
I never woke him up in the middle of the night for feedings… my take on this is that there is no reason to disrupt their sleep. If they wake up fussing, then of course, feed them, but you get your sleep and let them get theirs.
If he didn’t wake up in the middle of the night hungry… and I decided to pump instead of wait until he woke up…I could pump 13 OUNCES…yes, 13 OUNCES off of just my left boob. I didn’t pump often because I didn’t like my electric pump at the time and he did NOT want to use a bottle, ever. I only pumped just in case I wanted to get out the house, alone… which was hardly ever.
My Youngest – Experience Breastfeeding on One Side
I didn’t wait for months before starting to exclusively breastfeed off of one boob with my youngest. I started right when he was born… before I was even discharged from the hospital.
It’s like it just didn’t work…. There was definitely still milk in my right boob if I squoze it, but it just didn’t fill up.
Quick story: My sister and I went to a Jonathan McReynolds concert while I was still breastfeeding. I did not take a pump with me and I ended up staying the night with her because it was over pretty late…I was sleepy…and would’ve had to drive 40 minutes to get home…nope! So all night my boob was just filling up with milk. My boob had been filling up for about 16 hours before I got home and when I got there, my youngest was still asleep, so I decided to pump. Unlike my oldest, my youngest would take a bottle if need be.
So, I’m pumping and it’s blue … it is thinner and has less fat than with your regular cream colored milk… I pumped 5 whole ounces of this blue tinted milk, which yes, it is absolutely okay for your baby to drink. If you didn’t pump and they just drank directly from your boob, you would never even know it was blue.
It started off blue, but as I kept pumping, the milk changed to the creamy color it should be. I pumped 11.5 ounces out of just my left boob this day.
My decision to breastfeed on one side only was purely based on the way my body decided to produce or distribute milk through my booby ducts. I’m sure a lot of women will produce milk from each boob evenly, but the important part is that your baby gets enough milk…and mine were.
You do NOT have to switch boobs at every feed just because that’s what the doctors and nurses tell you that you “should” be doing. Do what feels best for you and yours. A lot of women have a slower flowing boob…mine was just TOO slow. Why have a fussy, hungry baby, when you can just feed them off of the boob that produces more milk or the boob the baby and you prefer?
Until my next post…
Unilateral breastfeeding
16 comments
Once you are done with breastfeeding, you will be left with one boob different ( very) than the other one. Breastfed all my 3 boys , made the mistake of not changing sides with my last one. Now left with one boob hanging very lower than the other one. Not the end of the world but not very pretty to look at . I don’t like it. And personally we have two boobs for the purpose so why not using them both.
Thanks for your comment. Being left with two different looking boobs won’t be the case for everyone. Mine are symmetrical…they look and feel the same after my experience of only utilizing one boob to breastfeed.
Thanks for sharing your experience Chrishinda, I have had lumpectomy and radiotherapy on my right side in young age and have always been worried of having kids since I will only be able to breastfeed on the left side. Getting to know your experience and that this didn’t change your breasts appearance give me a lot of assurance.
Yes! I’m glad I could help!
Hi, how long after you completely stopped breasfeeding did your breasts become symmetrical again? I’m having the same issue. my son is exclusively drinking from left boob, he’s 14 month old and I plan to stop soon.
Hi! I don’t remember exactly, but I don’t think it was long. As you start to feed them less, your boobs won’t get filled to capacity anymore. So as you wean, just make sure they are emptying it, but not enough to have a let down.
Love your story, thank you for sharing. I have the same experience my son only likes the left boob will even fuss if put near the right side. My only question is how old was your child when you had this amount? I’m getting supply envy! I’m only getting about 150ml on one side for my 3 month old and I hope that it increases as he gets older as I’ve got no boob back up.
Thank you for commenting! No need for supply envy. I can understand your concern if you NEED to pump, but if your son is straight on the boob, if he’s drinking, your body is supplying. I stopped breastfeeding both at between 11 and 13 months…so this supply was between starting and the time I stopped.
Currently only breastfeed from one breast! I’m so nervous about how they will look after! Thank you for this!
*breastfeeding
You’re very welcome! Thanks for reading and leaving a comment. Mine are maybe not as “perky,” anymore, but they are symmetrical. Just make sure you’re emptying all the milk, but not enough to have a let down.
I definitely needed to see these comments so glad I am not thr only mama dealing with this one side feeding. My little one is 5 months and only takes to my left boob due to having a inverted nipple on the right side so she instantly latched day one to my left and never let it go. I am just scared how they will look after I’m done with my breastfeeding journey.
I’m glad you found my post and the comments were helpful to you! Thanks for checking it out
This is much more common than we think. My son would only feed from my left side and the right side has always been much smaller even before I had him. I think he just was more comfortable on that side and preferred it more because it produces more milk. But I am very visibly lopsided and have always been super self conscious about it. Thank you for talking about it! We should all do the same so other women feel more normal.
Ive only been breastfeeding my second child for a week and my right boob isn’t even producing a full 2 ounces in an hour’s time. Do you think I should use the cabbage method to go ahead and stop production on that side because my left has been producing plenty alone.
It’s up to you, but I didn’t try the cabbage method. If one is producing enough, then that would work for me. Thank you for checking out my blog post.