DD has jaundice and is sleepy. Help and tips needed please.

[McKayz]

DD was born in the early hours of Wednesday morning. BF is difficult, quite a lot of pain when feeding but it's getting better.

MW came yesterday and said that DD has jaundice, MW on Thurs never mentioned it. Apparently it isn't terrible but they'd like it gone by Monday when they are coming to weigh her.

She is having wet and dirty nappies so I do think she is getting something from me. The MW said it might be a good idea to express and cup feed a few times a day as well as feed her myself.

I have just put the pump in the steriliser so I can do some expressing if I need too.

She is sleepy, so at the minute its hard to get her to feed as much as she should. She's just done 15 minutes feeding and is now asleep. I am going to try and wake her for a bit more.

Any suggestions to get her feeding more would be great. Thank you.

I really struggled to get my dd to wake, the tips I was given were to strip her off and tickle her feet but in all truth as soon as she started feeding she fell straight back to sleep! The only thing to add is lots of skin to skin contact because she had colic she slept on my chest ( not recommended I know) I felt she would smell the milk as she would practically start rooting without fully waking.

Where is she sleeping? Keep her with you for all sleepsso you can stick a boob in as soon as she roots.

It's hard when they're so sleepy. Both my DC had quite severe jaundice and I woke them every two hours to feed them (more often if they were awake). I have read other advice on here that says you can leave it for longer but tbh I had the same problem as you with keeping them awake. Try and strip your DD down to her nappy to wake her up a bit when you want her to feed. Second tickling feet and also back of neck.

I didn't express but I suspect the reason the MW is suggesting is so you can see how much she's taking - the fact that she has wet and dirty nappies is a good sign. I think just keep putting her to the boob to get your supply up. When she's asleep put her in front of the window (but keep an eye that she doesn't get too hot - can still get sunburn) - sunlight also very good.

Basically you want to flush it out and keep her in the sunlight as much as possible.

She is sleeping in her pram at the minute as the MW said whenever she isn't feeding to put her in front of the window.

I have tried stripping her off, changing her nappy, tickling her, but as soon as she goes on she falls asleep again.

Can you sit with her by a window? If she falls asleep on the boob does she fall off the boob or is she feeding when asleep?

You could use a wet (not too cold though) facecloth against her tummy or back. You could keep switching sides quickly. Try taking a bath with her maybe (would also help increase flow I think).

I remember I also used to put on some dodgy hip hop music and do really annoying high pitched rapping, dancing and tickling - up the tempo on the dancing and tickling every time they drifted off. Reckon my DC were so annoyed they fed just to shut me the F up.

She usually falls off.

We've just had the 2nd dirty nappy of the day and it was much more yellow. This morning it was sort of dark green so I guess the meconium has gone now.

That's a good sign.

Do y

Switch nursing and breast compressions can both help get more milk into a sleepy baby. If you're still getting pain when feeding, is there any local BFing support you can contact, or you could try one of the phonelines?

Are your windows double-glazed? If so, this might stop the right light from getting through. Assume not if your midwife has already mentioned it.

Yes they are double glazed. MW said to put her next to the window so I guess she thinks it'll help.

My milk has come in today. Feeling extremely full and very heavy. She's just had a 30 minute feed and is sleeping so I am really hoping that by Monday the jaundice has gone or is much better.

It took over a week for the jaundice to clear up here but it was always of a normal level. They can do a blood test to check if needed. You should start to see an improvement soon :)

Some sunshine would probably help too!

She was up most of the night and now is hard to wake up. I guess she has day and night confused!