Breastmilk jaundice?

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Just looking for a bit of reassurance I suppose.

DS2 is a month old and was born at 38+5 by ELCS. He developed mild jaundice in the first couple of days but midwives were not concerned, saying if he would be "a lot more technicolor" if there was a problem!

Now he's a month old he is still visibly yellow, particularly the whites of his eyes.

He is bfing continuously - never more than 90mins or so between feeds and usually stretches of 3-4 hour cluster feeds. I know I have loads of milk as still tandem feeding DS1. I can feel the latch is right and hear him swallowing.

The bfing manual says it's so called breastmilk jaundice with no further info beyond "don't worry, it will pass".

When should I start to be concerned?

What goes the GP say?

My DD looked slightly yellow beyond the six week check, I think it lasted until at least eight weeks. We were referred back to the hospital at the check, not because the GP was particularly worried but because there is a 'pathway' in our area that says they have to. The hospital took her billirubin (sp?) level and checked her over but were not worried at all. She had pretty bad jaundice in the first week from missed dehydration (poor feeder) so had been very 'technicolour' when she was little

I remember them talking about 'staining' the whites of the eyes and the skin that can take a while to go. If your GP wasn't worried then I wouldn't be, but you could always get them to have another look if it's still concerning you.

Thanks for your replies.

GP not concerned, said about 10% of bf babies are still jaundiced at 4 weeks. She didn't know beyond that when I should start to get concerned though and just said "keep an eye on it" which wasn't massively helpful.

If he is still gently bronzed at the 8 week check I will enquire about a referral for a bilirubin test just to make sure all is well.

again for the reassurance. He feeds so often and for so long that I have had no sleep and starting to lose it a bit I think. He has so much wind, vomits a lot, and his bowels seem to cause him so much discomfort that he doesn't feed well lying down and when he's not feeding/dozing on the breast he is grunting and fussing, so no sleep for us at all

You poor thing, hope you get some sleep soon.

My LO was born at 37+2 and had prolonged jaundice, following the 6 week check we were referred to paediatrics to check whether it was just bf jaundice or whether there might be any underlying issues. At the hospital they took bloods etc, then they had to take more but in the meantime the jaundice cleared up by itself, I think at about 16 weeks.

He was also a poor feeder but did eventually improve, oh and he pooed about ten times a day for months, I think it was his system flushing the jaundice out.

Sure your LO will be fine but do nag the GP for a referral so the paeds can put your mind at rest x

My ds had this and it took ages to clear up, maybe 10 weeks. We were referred for blood tests and the results were below the worrying level, even when he seemed really yellow.

The doctors were more concerned with other factors, like the colour and frequency of his urine, how well he was feeding and how he seemed in himself. All of which was fine.

Like yours he fed all the time.

If you are ever worried, take him to the GP. They never, ever, ever mind seeing a baby.

Jack Newman posted about breast milk jaundice this week on Facebook and States it can be normal for up to 8 weeks - no idea it could take that long to dissipate!

I always put mine at the window as well to encourage it to go.