Can latch be poor just one side?

[BabyHaribo]

Dd is 10 days old and feeding gaining weight well.

Left boob is fine but right one has really sore cracked nipple and I'm getting over mastitis.

The mastitis is better on antibiotics and pretty sure I've unblocked it all but nipple is agony! It's so sore when dd first latches on but then eases off as the milk letsdown.

When in hospital I caught my nipple with my hospital bracket - sounds stupid but I know this made it sore .

Could I have a poor latch one side only? Midwife seemed to think latch was ok but I know they are not experts. As it doesn't hurt for the whole feed is it likely to be the latch?

So want to get feeding right but it feels like we've been through a lot and it's only day 10!!

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

In the case with ds1, yes. He had a stiff neck and couldn't move his head to both sides. I had to do tummy to tummy one side and the rugby ball position the other side. Once we got his stiff neck sorted he was fine.

If the MW is telling you the latch is fine but quite clearly it isn't, I would suggest speaking to an expert. Call a bf'ing helpline (NCT, la leche etc) and speak to them about it. Do it now, don't wait until things get horrendous and you're on the brink.

Good luck

[MATB1]

Yes definitely!!

I heard you're likely to feed better on the side opposite to the hand you write with. Eg. If you're right handed you'll feed better on your left boob.

Sometimes babies have tightness in their necks/jaws/chins/ shoulders too so that could be affecting things everso slightly.

Well done for overcoming mastitis and ploughing on! That must've been tough going.

I'm struggling with similar (dd2 is a week old) and planning on just gritting my teeth and baring it as I know with dd1 it will all ease off soon.

Best of luck!

[ZenNudist]

Yes. Ds2 better feeding on my right boob. I also got mastitis in the left. You know about not draining boob due to poor latch encouraged mastitis right?

Doctors seemed to think it couldn't be his posterior tongue tie causing problems 'as it only affected one side' , but I think you can compensate for poor latch by better positioning and this is easier on one side than the other. We improved massively with tongue tie snip.

Search for 'improving latch by improving positioning' on you tube. I found this helpful. Get a proper lactation consultant to check for tongue tie.

As your dc is gaining weight you should be ok if you just keep going. Things improve naturally by 5-6 weeks I have found with both my dc. It's no fun til then but worth it in the long run.

[SouthDerbyshireMamma]

My little one is 20 days old and he definitely latches better on my right than my left. I'm trying various different ways to hold him to see if it makes any difference. Its so frustrating, especially at night feeds

[ThisIsYourSong]

Yes, same here and as soon as DS stopped feeding on both breasts for each feeding I went down to one feed per day on that side. I could have cut it out completely but wanted to keep it going for those times when he was having a feeding marathon and I did need a break.

I am right handed and latched better on the right side but not sure why that was.

Definitely make sure there is no tongue tie with those symptoms too.

[CityDweller]

Yes, we had this issue. DD had tongue tie, and that made it harder to latch on one side. Do get checked for tt by an expert (don't be fobbed off my mw and/or gp). Cranial sacral osteopathy can help too, whether or not tt is present.

[BabyHaribo]

Thanks for all the replies glad to know I'm not the only one with the issue. Although sympathies for all those in pain.

I have actually just had two really good feeds where the pain was significantly less. Not sure if we latched better or if nipple is healing but fingers crossed it stays like that!

[beccajoh]

Yes I really struggled with latching on my left side, even several months in.

[Writerwannabe83]

Definitely - DS used to be an awful feeder on the left side straight from birth and ended up with blisters on my nipple it was very painful.

Strangely enough, he's 19 weeks now and ironically he feeds brilliantly on the left side but is a nightmare on the right...