# night nursing on one side only?



## QuestionGal (Feb 19, 2006)

I'm strongly toying with the idea of just nursing DS on one side at night. He usually nurses at 10:30, 2, and 7am...so from 11-7 I'd just nurse off the one side.

We night nurse in the side lying position. He'll nurse on the side closest to him, then for the next session I just lean over more and dangle the other boob in his face (lovely description). What happens is the dangling boob ends up sore and cracked the next day because he didn't get a good latch.

So, would I ruin my supply if for those two feedings he nursed off one side? Doing so would save me so much discomfort in trying to heal a constantly re-cracking nipple. I keep thinking, breastfeeding is all supply and demand....so if he demands from the left side at night, then it will be supplied....but would this mess things up for the rest of the day? Like maybe the right side would feel left out and stop producing.









(Please don't tell me to sit up and nurse the far side at night....I'm too darn tired and depend on dozing while nursing for functionality's sake)

ETA: The rest of the day he nurses every 3ish hours on both sides.


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## anewmama (Feb 25, 2007)

When my DD was younger, she is 9 months now, when I would dangle the breast from the top side, I would frequently get sore. It was rarely a great latch. But as she got older, it's gotten easier. It's been months since I have experienced any soreness, cracking, or any kind of pain. Once her mouth got big enough, things seemed to get better.

But, this may not be the right response for all women, but I just gave up trying to rotate at night. I nurse her mostly on the side that is closest to the bed. If I remember in my sleep to switch, I try to switch. But I just do what I can do. In the daytime, I always start a nursing session with the other breast. When I pump, I can tell that the first breast that I nurse from at night is far more productive. But I really am not sure that it has anything to do with the night nursing as much as the fact that most women have one breast that produces more.

Unless you have supply issues now, I would say give it a go to just nurse from one side and see what happens. I seem to be doing ok but this is only my personal experience...


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## Vancouver Mommy (Aug 15, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *anewmama* 
When my DD was younger, she is 9 months now, when I would dangle the breast from the top side, I would frequently get sore. It was rarely a great latch. But as she got older, it's gotten easier. It's been months since I have experienced any soreness, cracking, or any kind of pain. Once her mouth got big enough, things seemed to get better.

But, this may not be the right response for all women, but I just gave up trying to rotate at night. I nurse her mostly on the side that is closest to the bed. If I remember in my sleep to switch, I try to switch. But I just do what I can do. In the daytime, I always start a nursing session with the other breast. When I pump, I can tell that the first breast that I nurse from at night is far more productive. But I really am not sure that it has anything to do with the night nursing as much as the fact that most women have one breast that produces more.

Unless you have supply issues now, I would say give it a go to just nurse from one side and see what happens. I seem to be doing ok but this is only my personal experience...

Same here. I try to even things up during the day, but I am a bit lopsided at the moment. If he nurses all night I will sometimes ask dp to switch sides of the bed with me so that ds is still in the middle.


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

I did this exact same thing when DS was about 8mo or so. I'd nurse from the left side primarily, and only offer the right side at night if I was REALLY uncomfortable. After a few nights, my right side didn't get engorged at night and it never affected my supply during the day (not even for the first morning nursing/pumping session.)

What I liked best about it was that I was guaranteed a "not full" breast so I could comfortably lie on my right side. I never wanted to wake him up if he was sleeping, but he didn't always wake at the exact same times and it was hard to get comfortable in bed at night when both breasts were uncomfortably full. With just one full breast, I could lie with the full breast on top and actually get some sleep!


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