Breastfeeding jaundice

[Bunsouttheoven]

Ds is 3 weeks old today & still a bit jaundiced.
Hv said they advice babies with jaundice at 3 weeks should go for blood & urine tests.

NHS direct says that 10% of bf babies are still jaundiced at 4weeks.

Anyone else got experience of this? We have declined testing at the moment as ds is otherwise well & healthy.

Is he feeding well and had he got his birth weight back? Was he born at term and are there any other reasons for concerns?
Jaundice after the first wee is no longer an emergency but still needs medical attention. It wouldn't harm to have him checked don't you think?

After the first week

He was born at 38/39 wks, developed it after a couple of days as is usual for thus type of jaundice.

The thing is having his levels checked involved taking blood via a vein from his hand which is quite a grim procedure having witnessed it on my another of my dcs (for another issue)

I just feel the likelihood is v small that there is a problem & going through tests for something that is quite common in bf babies seems unnecessary.

Wondered if anyone had any actual experience & how long their dcs were jaundiced for.

My first dd did but it was gone by 3 weeks (born in may so had more sunlight exposure)

Dc1 did to, if I'm honest I don't know when his went. Didn't have it at 6 wk drs check & was signed off by hv at a couple of wks as I said I didn't need him weighed.

DS was jaundiced until about 5 weeks and it then cleared up on his own.

I had the tests done ( didn't realise you could refuse). Trying to get a urine sample was fun!

The teats came back clear.

Thank you scrivette that is good to hear

My DS was jaundiced til 12 weeks, he has to have the blood and urine tests and all was fine. The blood test for me was quite upsetting, the doc tried and failed to find a vein in both hands, saying he had very poor veins (what did she expect at 21 days old). Another doc eventually managed to find a vein after about 15 minutes. Obviously if you were to have the tests done, the chances are it wouldn't be this bad but I wanted to give you an insight into what the tests involve. We were also told that it was highly likely that everything would be fine and that it was just breastfeeding/physiolog

Sorry, pressed post too early! ...Physiological jaundice. We decided to have the tests as more of a precaution but when the Hv suggested we have them done again at 9 weeks because it still hadn't gone completely, I told her that I didn't think it was necessary and that I had read up on jaundice and knew that in some cases it was still evident at 3 months.

Thanks scrum sounds horrid for both your ds & you. That's what I mean, everything I have read indicates that it is so so common to still be jaundiced much later than 3 wks. Seems ott to do all the blood tests etc this early. I feel better about leaving it to see if it clears having now spoken to several other people who've had a similar experience to yours.

Ty

My DS left hospital at 1 week with jaundice. At 3 weeks we were advised to get the blood and urine tests to check whether it could have been anything else such as a urinary infection. Agree that its not very nice to see your tiny baby with needles in his hands. Tests were clear and the jaundice cleared up around 5/6 weeks, then everyone commented on his healthy skintone :o We are in France so may be different in UK.

My dd was jaundiced until 4 weeks or so when it gradually faded - like your little one she was otherwise healthy and alert. My hv got a bit obsessed with it and started stressing me out about it, but luckily I had a lovely GP who said that dd was completely healthy and normal and that it would soon sort itself out, which it did. If you have a nice/baby-friendly GP it may be worth visiting them to see what they say.

Thank you all for your replies, I think ds is gradually losing his yellow tinge. Need a bit more sunshine pls & less of this blinkin' rain.