Prolonged jaundice and the odd glass of wine - need a reality check!!

[babypowder]

My 14 day old has now been referred for prolonged jaundice screening. She is maintaining weight (lost 8lbs after birth, regained 5, lost 20g, gained it back again in 2 days) and is exclusively BF. She seems to me to be perfectly healthy with bright eyes, she is alert, her urine is clear and her stools are a screaming yellow. I'm not hugely worried about the screening.
My question is ... can the occasional glass of wine contribute to jaundice? I have had a few single glasses of wine over the holidays, drunk very slowly so that I could savour each sip! A glass lasts me about 2 hours. I understood that very little alcohol came through into breastmilk, but could even the most miniscule amount stress her liver further? Or am I just being a worrywart?

just posted the following on your other thread

Ds1 had jaundice up to about 7 weeks - but he spent time in special care from 2 days old and had allsorts of tests and triple phototherapy for 10 days
His bibirubin levels were very close to the level where a transfusion was needed and they were only giving him 12 more hours at one point before they got a special liver consultant in

he is no a loud, exuberant 4 year old with no problems (apart from he is never still or silent )

Do ask your midwide/HV if you are unsure though. the bilirubin test results would have been acted on if they were dangerously high though i amm sure

oh god wine does NOT contribute to jaundice or prolong it
enjoy

Aw....babypowder, I really hope you can stop worrying about this. Breastmilk jaundice - which is what I suspect your baby has - is a rare but almost always totally harmless condition which needs monitoring but no treatment (you can search for it on the web - plenty of info about). It's not affected by your miniscule intake of alcohol affecting the liver, and while no one really knows what causes it, it's for sure not your weensy little glasses of wine

Hi Babypowder, don't worry about the jaundice or the alcohol. its actually quite commaon for babies to stay just a touch yellow for several weeks when bf. as long as the baby is well and doing all the normal baby things, carry on! In our part of the world babies aren't referred until they are 4 wks old and then only if there is still concern over their feeding.

like popsy's ds, my ds had prolonged jaundice too (and was born in November - these winter months seem bad for jaundice because there's very little sunlight or even light at all!).

I'm glad you're going for screening - they'll just keep an eye on it which is what you want. Don't worry about the wine!

DH says that if we could harness the energy I waste worrying about things we could end our reliance on fossil fuels forever!!
I shall have a small glass of wine tonight and toast our little yellow baby!