one boob with no milk

[mom2ry]

HI all - My baby girl is 2 weeks old and one of my breast is not producing milk. I'm trying to BF her but it seems my supply is going down, down, down. I have also been pumping every couple of hours and only get about 1 oz out of one breast and just a few drops out of the other one.

Is it normal for one breast to not produce anything? She nurses on both breasts for about 15/20 minutes per breast and then 30 minutes later is screaming for more. I then give her formula because I don't have anything left in my breast for her.

[Amy_G_]

nursing for 15/20 minutes on each side and then wanting to nurse again a half hour later is perfectly NORMAL for a newborn. pumping is not an indicator of how much milk you have, because most women, especially those just starting breastfeeding can't let down for a pump, and depending on what kind of pump you have, pumps are really poor at emptying a breast. and if it's just been a short time since baby stopped nursing, getting an ounce out is pretty good.

If you give a bottle of formula, when baby wants to nurse, your breasts aren't receiving that 15/20 minutes each of stimulation, and your supply will go down down down. breasts work on supply and demand. if you give formula to settle baby down, then baby isn't nursing and not demanding more milk. 2+ weeks is a common growth spurt and it's essential that baby nurses as much as they want to to up your supply.

how big was baby at birth?
has she regained her birth weight?
did you ever feel your milk "come in" with engorgement?
how many wet poopy diapers does baby have a day?
how long have you been giving formula and what made you start giving it?

[bunkybean]

Same problem! My girl is almost 7 mos. now & only nurses my lefty. My righty never got up to speed? She would get so fussy when I would try to nurse on the right cause she was hungry so I'd give her my "good" side. I have tried pumping to help produce but no luck. For months I've let her nurse the right when she's done with the left hoping to produce more but still just getting a little. We definitely eat more often. We just started a little solid food last month, until then she's been strictly bf. Weight has been fine. I can't figure it out. My first nursed both sides for 3 years. My right is now known as the stoopid boobie! Maybe someone here will have an answer for us.

[Amy_G_]

bunkybean,
often it's not that the boob doesn't produce enough milk on it's own, it's that normally all women have one boob bigger than the other one, so one will produce a bit more milk.

then one arm is our primary arm, and we tend to do things with it while nursing, whether it's typing on the computer one handed, turning the pages of a book, or even holding a glass of water, we tend to do it with our dominant hand, and having that hand not there holding baby while nursing can be at least annoying.

then baby has a side that is more comfortable. think about when you sleep, most people sleep on one side or the other if they sleep on a side. baby may also have one side of their head sore-er from going thru the birth canal or how they were laying in utero, so they tend to favor that side and will right from birth pick a side they want to lay on and nurse at.

all these things combined tend to mean most women have one boob that does most of the breastfeeding, and one that kind of helps out. sometimes if mom doesn't really push the issue, they'll become a one sided nurser completely. nothing wrong with that, since baby ideally should nurse on only one side per feeding anyway to ensure they get enough foremilk and hindmilk to grow at their best rate.

to encourage baby to nurse on the other side more, latch baby onto their favorite side and nurse, and then move YOURSELF over so baby can nurse on the unfavorite side without moving baby. then if it's a preference for how they are laying, you aren't messing that up. And consciously stop what you are doing and hold baby and stop nursing at the keyboard! ;)

[bunkybean]

Thanks so much. I feel better. My doc said "really? I haven't heard that". Which didn't help. I will try moving me & not her.