Breast feeding and jaundice.

[Writerwannabe83]

DS was pretty jaundiced at birth and didn't really improve. He was assessed by the MW on days 7 and 14 and she was happy that although he was still jaundiced nothing needed doing from a medical angle as she thought it was probable due to him BF.

Fast forward to him being 4 weeks old, we were in A&E for another issue and the doctor passed comment that DS was still jaundiced so took some blood to check his bilirubin levels - the results were fine.

I saw my HV last week when DS was just over 6 weeks old and she wasn't happy that he's still jaundiced so sent us to A&E to have his levels checked again. Once again they were fine and dropped further from when they were checked two weeks ago.

He's now almost 8 weeks and still has a yellow tinge to his eyes and jaundice colouring to his torso. Nobody seems to know and the doctors obviously aren't concerned.

Has anyone else experienced this level of prolonged jaundice?

If his bilirubin levels are fine then he isn't jaundiced medically speaking - it seems more that his skin and eyes haven't lost the yellow colour yet even though actually his blood is fine.

Does he get plenty of sunlight?

Sounds like he doesn't have jaundice, though :)

Your HV did the right thing in having him checked.

He was checked.

He was found to be normal - on both occasions.

Sounds like the yellow tinge will continue to fade.

Our dd was born 15 weeks ago. Had jaundice (due to anti e antibodies)& was in neonatal till she was 13 days having phototherapy. She was still yellow 4 quite a while after. But I was told bf babies with jaundice take longer to get back 2 a normal colour. Unfortunately our dd ended up becoming anaemic & having a blood transfusion.thankfully our dd was finally discharged a few weeks ago.

My dd had the yellow tinged skin and eyes for some weeks, I can't remember exactly when it cleared up, it seemed to disappear overnight in the end, but think it was gone by 12 weeks.

She was never actually checked for bilirubin levels at all, as she was feeding well and regularly and growing more alert they were not worried.

My midwife did say that the effects of jaundice could hang around longer in breastfed babies and that this 'breastfeeding jaundice' was not a cause for concern. However, I don't know if that is a fact or if she was just speaking from her personal experience, she was certainly very supportive of breastfeeding.

mini - he didn't at first because I'd had a CS so couldn't re ally get out, but we go for daily walks now and his Moses Basket is in the sunlight.

tiktok - the reason the HV sent me back the 2nd time was because his yellowishness had increased in her opinion. I see him every day so to me he just looks normal but she thought that in the week since she had last seen him his colouring looked worse, not better.

I guess I'm just destined to have a yellow baby for a while

I nn my dd minion
I'm sure it will go soon.
Has the hv recommended put ur dc in sunlight-when & if we get any???

DS 2 is 6 weeks and still is jaundiced. Had phototherapy in hospital after he was born. He was referred at 3 weeks by GP to prolonged jaundice clinic at hospital (3 weeks as he was premmie). He had various blood tests and urine test (apparently Utis can be a cause of prolonged jaundice). All came back ok ( bilirubin levels were raised, but not at levels that would indicate treatment). Diagnosis was 'breast milk jaundice'. They think there is an enzyme in breastmilk which causes prolonged jaundice. We've been told if he was still jaundiced at 8 weeks to bring him back in. We were told in the interim to look out for him getting more jaundice, stools being white or grey and dark urine. These symptoms could indicate a serious problem with the liver and would need urgent investigation.

Yes my baby was very jaundiced and he was yellow for at least 8 weeks. By 8 weeks he was better but still had a bit of yellow in his eyes. Doctors were unconcerned. I think if the levels are normal there should not be much to worry. Try and feed as much as possible and expose to light next to a window.