Breastfeeding Jaundice - Any experiences??

[Alisonp]

Hi everyone,

My DS is now a month old. At his 4 week check the MHCN noticed he was still a little jaundiced. :confused:

Apparently jaundice after 2 weeks is different to newborn jaundice and most likely caused by my breastmilk. We went to the GP and he ordered some blood tests which we had taken which makes it highly likely to be what is called "breastfeeding jaundice"..

Anyway, I was wondering whether anyone has any experience with this sort of persistant jaundice.

When did your baby stop being jaundiced??

What tests did your Dr do to investigate other possible causes?? (other than the breastmilk)

How did it make you feel?

Otherwise DS is doing great and has put on heaps of weight and is a healthy happy baby. He wakes every 3 hours for feeds (hence the big weight gains) and isn't overly sleepy due to the jaundice.

Thanks everyone :flowerz:

[Lillynix]

Not speaking from experience, but I do know that it is completely normal for breastfed babies to be jaundice for quite some time. As long as bub is otherwise healthy, it's fine :)

DS was jaundice for a while too, but it wasn't something I paid a great deal of attention to and neither did the CHN.

[Frazzled]

My first baby had BF jaundice. He was really quiet jaundice for the first couple of weeks and then it calmed down and then at 5.5 weeks it came back. We took him to our GP who referred him to a paed who ran bloods to check his liver function. As it turned out, he was diagnosed with BF jaundice and had to have bloods done weekly for a while to make sure that his bilibriun levels were dropping. They did slowly, but he was still jaundice till 14 weeks when I had to start FF because he was losing weight (he was also badly reflux and I had poor supply sue to early return of AF).

Good luck, just keep feeding - that is what is meant to fix it. Give him some time in the sunlight (UV helps break down the bilibriun levels).

Let us know how you go x

[shed]

yes, DS was diagnosed with breastfeeding jaundice. We went under the lights and then went to the paed a week later who told me to put him on formula.

I refused and we just kept feeding throught it and spent time in the sun and it went away.

My next baby is likely to have it as well, apparently. I won't be taking that baby for phototherapy though. I will just feed and sit in the sun.

[RedPanda]

My son was still jaundiced at two weeks. The CHN told me to just keep feeding him frequently. I don't think he was completely jaudice-free until about three or four weeks. He had a blood test in hospital and did go under the lights, but that was about it.

Just keep an eye on him. Apparantly jaundice disappears from the feet upwards, so his face and eyes will be the last to lose the colour.

[Alisonp]

Thanks for all the responses. It's so comforting to know others have been through the same thing. Even though the jaundice seems to be only mild (face only now) and the blood results have confirmed the same...it is hard not to worry:o

DS is such a great feeder, hasn't caused me any pain or issues and has put on weight beautifully. I am so loving breastfeeding :D Thankfully neither the nurse or GP recommended formula - in fact they said even if it was caused by my breastmilk there is no medical reason to stop breastfeeding and previous recommendations to do that are outdated :yes:

The GP has recommended we get a liver function test and a thyroid function test too at the same time as another bilirubin test (to check it is still dropping).

I'm making an effort to give DS some sunlight too, although with Melbourne weather the way it has been so cold and wet it's not that easy.

Anyway, thanks again.

[RHJ]

Joel's still had a bit of yellow up till about the 4 week mark. It went on it's own, no worries!

Shed- glad you kept at it!

[yummymummy90]

Hi,

When I had my little one I was 37 weeks he came out a little bit yellow...about a week later I had to go to hospital as he was sooo sleepy and would not eat...they did a test and the reading was 380....They did sooo many tests to try and find out what was causing it because it would not go away nothing came back positive for anything soo they said he is probably getting it from me BF him which is from your HORMONES I think that what he said it was a couple of months ago now...So they put him under the lights for the night and it came down a bit they sent me home that afternoon but I had to keep going back for more tests to see how he is going as it kept going up and down....it took a couple of weeks but eventually went away it was scary and upsetting for me being a first time mum and being so young and not knowing what to do or what is going to happen to him... My advice lots of sun!:D

[kylza]

My DS had BF jaundice until he was 6 weeks, my paed. advised me to stop breastfeeding, I also refused. I wasn't given any information as to why he was jaundice I just had to have his bloods checked weekly (not nice). His levels were always around 250-260 and then at 6 weeks it just disappeared and his colour and levels were completely normal. So glad I didn't take paed. advise and stop BF. But I was told if the levels didn't drop he would have to have more tests to make sure his liver was functioning properly.

[Alisonp]

I just thought I would post to update on my son so if anyone else is reading this it might help them too.

Well after posting I decided that I didn't think it was medically justified to put my son through any more blood tests unless there was a definite reason so I rang his paediatrician (he had one check him over in hospital due to the fact I had gestational diabetes so luckily we were already on his books) and the paed backed me up completely.

He said that the blood test he had already had done was sufficient to indicate breastmilk jaundice (as the billirubin was the unconjugated form) and that his billirubin level was within the normal range for a healthy exclusively breastfed baby. He said there was absolutely no reason to have any more investigations done and told me I was doing a great job with breastfeeding :D All of this advice was given over the phone with no cost to me and no need for extra drs visit or blood tests.

Anyway, thanks again for the responses :hugs: