Breastfeeding - size problems

A question on behalf of my wife.

She has one breast slightly larger than the other, always has - not just a
post-pregnancy thing - and baby (8 days old) doesn't take as much of the
larger breast into her mouth than she does of the smaller breast. Any
suggestions of a way she could be encouraged to take more breast?

She is definitely opening her mouth wide enough, but doesn't take/get enough
breast due to the size, and feeding from the larger breast is more painful -
especially in the first few seconds of the feed. My wife suggested that to
get enough in the mouth to make a good feed, baby would need to have a mouth
as large as mine! Not sure if that was a compliment, or who to...

Many thanks,
David.

On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 15:26:03 -0000, "ukeXposed"
wrote:
A question on behalf of my wife.

She has one breast slightly larger than the other, always has - not just a
post-pregnancy thing - and baby (8 days old) doesn't take as much of the
larger breast into her mouth than she does of the smaller breast. Any
suggestions of a way she could be encouraged to take more breast?

She is definitely opening her mouth wide enough, but doesn't take/get enough
breast due to the size, and feeding from the larger breast is more painful -
especially in the first few seconds of the feed. My wife suggested that to
get enough in the mouth to make a good feed, baby would need to have a mouth
as large as mine! Not sure if that was a compliment, or who to...

Is the baby still getting a mouthfull? Is she swallowing, can you tell
she is getting anything?
It's not going to look like she has the same amount of breast on each
side since that side is larger. I have large areolas and a nurse told
me I needed to get more into the baby's mouth, and I was thinking "If
she had anymore in there she'd choke to death". A bigger breast
doesn't mean the baby needs more of the breast in her mouth.
Check that the baby's lips are positioned correctly, and besides that
I can't think of anything else that could be a problem.
Marie

ukeXposed wrote:
A question on behalf of my wife.

She has one breast slightly larger than the other, always has - not
just a post-pregnancy thing - and baby (8 days old) doesn't take as
much of the larger breast into her mouth than she does of the smaller
breast. Any suggestions of a way she could be encouraged to take more
breast?

Well, just for purposes of reference, you want the baby to be getting about
an inch of areola both above and below the nipple.

Women with larger breasts are encouraged to use a clamping hold on the
breast that sort of sandwiches it, flattening the areola a bit so it's
easier to get more of it into the baby's mouth. This might work for the
larger breast.

Fortunately, this is a problem that tends to go away as the baby grows and
the nursing relationship gets practiced! Good luck,

--
tristyn
www.tristyn.net
"i have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
i do not think that they will sing to me."

ukeXposed wrote in message
...
A question on behalf of my wife.

She has one breast slightly larger than the other, always has - not just a
post-pregnancy thing - and baby (8 days old) doesn't take as much of the
larger breast into her mouth than she does of the smaller breast. Any
suggestions of a way she could be encouraged to take more breast?

She is definitely opening her mouth wide enough, but doesn't take/get
enough
breast due to the size, and feeding from the larger breast is more
painful -
especially in the first few seconds of the feed. My wife suggested that to
get enough in the mouth to make a good feed, baby would need to have a
mouth
as large as mine! Not sure if that was a compliment, or who to...

Many thanks,
David.


I found that a problem for about the first couple of weeks with dd#1. It
seemed to resolve itself, I just kept making sure she took some from that
breast each feed, but she seemed to feed better on the other side. You could
express a little from that breast before feeding as that should reduct the
size and make feeding easier.
Debbie

Larger breasted women tend to have flatter nipples/areolas and babies often
find it hard to keep such a heavy thing in their mouth. Make sure the
breast is supported - position baby so that when the breast is relaxed, the
baby's nose is level with the nipple. The most important thing is to shape
the breast for the baby like a sandwich. With a wide open mouth, the bottom
lip right down, the breast can be folded into the mouth with the nipple on
TOP of the tongue.

I hope this helps!

Jo

--
--
Babies are Born... Pizzas are delivered.

On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 15:26:03 -0000, "ukeXposed"
wrote:
A question on behalf of my wife.

She has one breast slightly larger than the other, always has - not just a
post-pregnancy thing - and baby (8 days old) doesn't take as much of the
larger breast into her mouth than she does of the smaller breast. Any
suggestions of a way she could be encouraged to take more breast?

She is definitely opening her mouth wide enough, but doesn't take/get enough
breast due to the size, and feeding from the larger breast is more painful -
especially in the first few seconds of the feed. My wife suggested that to
get enough in the mouth to make a good feed, baby would need to have a mouth
as large as mine! Not sure if that was a compliment, or who to...

Is the baby still getting a mouthfull? Is she swallowing, can you tell
she is getting anything?
It's not going to look like she has the same amount of breast on each
side since that side is larger. I have large areolas and a nurse told
me I needed to get more into the baby's mouth, and I was thinking "If
she had anymore in there she'd choke to death". A bigger breast
doesn't mean the baby needs more of the breast in her mouth.
Check that the baby's lips are positioned correctly, and besides that
I can't think of anything else that could be a problem.
Marie