Feel like your baby prefers one boob to the other? There's a reason for that.

It’s a little bit daunting to think about what your baby looked like on the day they’re born, compared to on their first birthday.

Particularly intimidating is the fact that almost all the nutrients they require to get from A to B come from a single source: your very own boob.

Unless of course, you’re bottle-feeding (which is fine too, obviously).

If you’re in the process of breastfeeding, have breastfed before, or plan to do so some time in the future, you’ll quickly find out that often your baby prefers one boob to the other. And according to professional midwife Cath Curtin, there’s a very good reason for that.

Listen: Midwife Catch Curtin explains why some babies prefer one boob to another. (Post continues after audio…)

“A lot of women lactate better on one side,” says Curtin on Mamamia‘s Year One podcast for new parents. “Some women, one [breast] is really big and one is really small.”

She continues: “I’ve looked after women who’s breast tissue has only developed on one side and they’ve breastfed babies really well on the one side.”

The long and the short of it is, there is no guideline for how long you should feed a baby on each boob.

“It’s just ‘respond to your baby’. Every baby is different.”

In other words, Midwife Cath’s advice is to feel it out, and do what you can.

"Mine totally had a preference," says Mamamia's Head of Content Holly Wainwright. "He liked the left one better than the right."

According to Curtin, a baby's breast preference is simply its way of best syncing up with your body to get its hands on the most nutrients.

"Our body's pretty special post-natally, we're very clever," says Curtin

"If you're baby is happy, gaining weight, weeing, sleeping, you're doing a good job."

Does your baby have a preferred boob?

You can listen to the full episode of Year One, below.

Click here to join Year One With Baby on Facebook for more content, and to discuss everything surrounding the first year of your baby's life. 

This podcast is made possible by Philips Avent.