What Did My Right Boob Ever Do to You?

By Sarah Fader

I love nursing, in fact, I’m nursing as I write this, but one thing that frustrates me is my daughter’s total disregard for my right boob. She has made it known that this is her least favorite of the pair, and she gives me hell when I’m trying to get her to latch on to it.

She loves the left boob. The minute she comes out it’s as if she’s saying:
“Hello old friend and source of food!”

The right boob is like an albatross. It comes out and she shuns it. I don’t know what it ever did to her, but she hates it.

I don’t understand it, it offers the same thing on tap, it’s never done anything malicious to her, in fact it’s only been there to help, but she might as well put a dunce cap on it and laugh at it.

I feel badly for my right boob, I really do. Maybe it’s misshapen in some unpleasant way and that’s why she ignores it. I may have to schedule a mediation session between baby and right boob. This can’t go on any longer.

Hey nursing moms out there! Did/Does your child have a boob preference?

Sarah Fader records anecdotes from her daily life at at Old School New School Mom. She also currently runs blog workshops for elementary school children in New York City and provides freelance transcription services for major television networks, in between running after a two year old.

16 Responses to What Did My Right Boob Ever Do to You?
  1. Stephanie
    February 16, 2011 | 6:47 pm

    Mine always preferred the right over the left, and I’m lopsided forever, probably! Sometimes they prefer to lie on one side over the other, so it might not actually be your breast, but the way they are lying on their side/ their ear/ etc. Try doing the football hold or holding her in the same position she prefers for the left breast when you nurse to the right. It might be awkward but maybe it will work!

    Steph

  2. Elizabeth
    February 16, 2011 | 6:55 pm

    All of my babies preferred my left side, and my fourth is no different. It produces significantly more milk and I wonder if it’s a natural thing or simply because they nurse on it more. Or maybe it’s something I conditioned them for so I have use of my right hand.

  3. Sarah at themommylogues
    February 16, 2011 | 10:05 pm

    My first child didn’t dig nursing at all. There was no latching. Anywhere. My second child did great! Both sides! Whatever. The third one? My 5 month old? For the first THREE months she would not nurse on the left side. At all. Not even a little. So it was eat on the right, pump on the left. Then, one day she decided the left side was just fine. All that milk I pumped? She doesn’t like it after it’s been frozen. Crazy babies.

  4. Jen
    February 17, 2011 | 3:39 am

    Hilarious post!

  5. Gina
    February 17, 2011 | 7:34 am

    All three of my boys preferred the left boob. It would have more milk, but I believe that is a result of their preference. With this baby I am nursing now, he doesn’t hate the right boob, he just doesn’t love it as much as the right.

  6. CH-Proud Mama
    February 17, 2011 | 12:15 pm

    Yes my lil darling preferred the right boob. The milk would gush out and I guess he didn’t have to work as hard. I had to put him on the left side when he was sleepy. I don’t think he ever noticed. Lol…keep working at it she will grow to like the right side!

  7. jenna
    February 17, 2011 | 12:28 pm

    I agree with Stephanie – I had to use the football hold with one of my daughters. She preferred my left boob as well, and I had to pump the right one so I wouldn’t feel engorged.. but it took my daughter about a month to 6 weeks to figure out that it was okay to lie on her left side to nurse! (I was also pretty uptight, since i was simultaneously parenting a 2 year-old and had to remind myself to relax.)

  8. Barbara Manatee
    February 17, 2011 | 11:49 pm

    One of my twins started to favor one side over the other around 8 months. He would get mad and then refuse. I thought it was a temporary/teething thing but he kept it up for about 2-3 weeks and then started to refuse the breast all together. They were getting more bottles by then and I think he was just too impatient to wait for the let down (he was refusing the side that put out less and let down slower) and just wanted bottles instead. He weaned himself shortly there after.

  9. melissa aka equidae
    February 18, 2011 | 8:15 am

    left one :)but she does it from the right too

  10. Allison
    February 18, 2011 | 11:20 am

    YES! I’m nursing my 12 week old and she has always loved the right more – and I definitely see (now that I’m back to work and pumping) how much a difference between the two there is – it’s sometimes 1/2 of what I get out of the right! So funny! From the lopsided pump carrying mom 🙂

  11. kristin
    February 21, 2011 | 11:49 pm

    Mine had a right boob preference. I often pumped the left since she would rarely touch it.

  12. Debbi
    February 24, 2011 | 1:14 am

    We are all left boob here too. Part of it is that I’m more comfortable nursing on that side. But I think it may be a “misshapen” issue too. The right side is always harder to get my babies to latch properly. They haven’t completely shunned it but it’s not a favorite by any stretch of the imagination

  13. Alicen
    March 17, 2011 | 10:14 am

    My daughter had a dislike of the left boob for a few weeks. On the advice of a lactation consultant – I started using a football (baby tucked under my arm) hold on that side and she had no problems at all after that with the left boob. After a couple of days I went back to the cross body (regular) hold and she was fine with the left. I don’t know what the problem was, but that’s what worked for us.

  14. engineboysmom
    May 25, 2011 | 9:07 pm

    Yes! My son shuns the left. Turns out the milk flows differently (and not as fast from the left). I learned this from pumping. My first son was the same. I have learned to live with a lazy left boob though since Im fairly sure its not my worst quality.

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