Possible Jaundice?

[willows79]

Hey everyone, my boy's about 9 days old now and I noticed yellowing this morning. When I came home from work, the yellow is still there. Yes the corner of his eye are yellow too, of course not dark yellow, but you know it isn't the normal white color.

I am now worried though my confinement lady told me that it's normal for breastfeeding kid. He's on full breastfeeding so far, he pooped about only twice daily. Urine should be quite regular. No signs of discomfort, sleep and wakes up about 3 hours, milk.

Worried, sick, bringing him to pediatrician tomorrow morning, but hope to hear some from experienced people here asap. Can't sleep ( myself ).

First time Dad.

 

[summer rain]

It's totally normal for babies to become jaundiced. In some BF babies the jaundice occurs later, at about 7-9 days of age and can last up to 4 months in some cases. It is likely to be harmless and not a reason to discontinue BF or to supplement with formula. There are some more sinister causes of jaundice but in that case the jaundice usually develops very rapidly within the first 24-48 hours of life. All mine have been so jaundiced they look like someone coloured them in, including the whites of their eyes with a yellow highlighter pen. It looks alarming and doesn't look good on photos but it is purely superficial in our case. In their case the jaundice vanished practically overnight but before this they would be very jaundiced for anything from ten days to 4 months.

 

[willows79]

It's totally normal for babies to become jaundiced. In some BF babies the jaundice occurs later, at about 7-9 days of age and can last up to 4 months in some cases. It is likely to be harmless and not a reason to discontinue BF or to supplement with formula. There are some more sinister causes of jaundice but in that case the jaundice usually develops very rapidly within the first 24-48 hours of life. All mine have been so jaundiced they look like someone coloured them in, including the whites of their eyes with a yellow highlighter pen. It looks alarming and doesn't look good on photos but it is purely superficial in our case. In their case the jaundice vanished practically overnight but before this they would be very jaundiced for anything from ten days to 4 months.

Thanks, so I need to take a lookout if it last about 10 days? Did I get you right? I am very paranoia, don't know if I should go to the doctor or not. Worry if I don't and something happen, I'd be angry with myself.

 

[Rachel_C]

I wouldn't worry either. Jaundice is a pretty normal part of being a newborn! As long as LO is doing plenty of wet and dirty nappies and is feeding well and waking by themselves fairly regularly to eat, there really is no need to do anything. You can sit LO in natural light to help it go away - we used to sit LO in the window in just a vest. You can mention it to your doctor or health visitor at your next visit or perhaps give them a quick call, but I wouldn't be rushing off anywhere as long as LO is alert enough.

 

[fieryphoenix]

I would definitely take him to the Dr to be evaluated, they probably will say he's fine, but better safe then sorry. My lo got very sick because of jaundice, he was in the hospital for two days and was sent home with lights and a strict feeding schedule

 

[New Mrs W]

Both mine have been jaundiced. Just to say, mine were both very sleepy babies. They didn't wake for feeds in the early days, we had to wake them. Frankie was hospitalised as his levels of jaundice were quite high. This freaked me out but he was just laid in a crib with UV lights all around him. Within two days we were home. Mickey wasn't hospitalised as his levels were pretty low. To be honest, the only difference I noticed in my two was that Frankie had yellow eyes, Mickey didn't. So if I were you I would call my doctor. They take a little blood and test the bilirubin levels to see if they need treatment. Either way, it is very rarely anything to worry about and, as someone else said, getting your baby in natural light and feeding as much as possible in the meantime will help x

 

[summer rain]

It's totally normal for babies to become jaundiced. In some BF babies the jaundice occurs later, at about 7-9 days of age and can last up to 4 months in some cases. It is likely to be harmless and not a reason to discontinue BF or to supplement with formula. There are some more sinister causes of jaundice but in that case the jaundice usually develops very rapidly within the first 24-48 hours of life. All mine have been so jaundiced they look like someone coloured them in, including the whites of their eyes with a yellow highlighter pen. It looks alarming and doesn't look good on photos but it is purely superficial in our case. In their case the jaundice vanished practically overnight but before this they would be very jaundiced for anything from ten days to 4 months.

Thanks, so I need to take a lookout if it last about 10 days? Did I get you right? I am very paranoia, don't know if I should go to the doctor or not. Worry if I don't and something happen, I'd be angry with myself.

I would just keep an eye on it, it's ok if it lasts longer than ten days and is common in Breastfed babies for it to do so. I'm not sure which country you're in but some ethnicities are more prone to this harmless type of jaundice than others, for example most countries in the Far East a very high percentage of babies become significantly jaundiced and almost all babies-around 95%, have some degree of jaundice. In the west it's more like 60-70%. The fact your baby has only become noticeably jaundiced at this stage is a very promising sign that this is normal physiological jaundice and not the sinister, pathological type. Also it would be unlikely for them to start phototherapy at this stage as the real danger from excess bilirubin is during the first week of life, after this they can usually process the bilirubin a lot better and any risk of serioua complications has passed. You can get it checked with a doctor and for your own reassurance I would suggest it, but from the sound of things I don't think the level would be anywhere near the line on the chart they use where further treatment may be needed.

 

[Kellen]

Our LO developed jaundice in the hospital and got to get a tan under the pretty blue lights. Even though she was released at 6 days to come home with us (she crashed, stopped breathing and had an infection which caused the initial NICU stay) she was still yellow. Our pediatrician told us that the more I fed her the better as it would help move the jaundice causing factors out of her system. She was 2 weeks old before her biliruben levels were back within normal parameters. Now she is a very active and precocious 3 month old.