14 day old & jaundice

[koeda]

My 14 day old DS has had jaundice since about day 5 - we went to hospital for 2 days in a row for blood tests but (fortunately) levels were not high enough for admission. Instead I was instructed to feed him (I am exclusively bf'ing) every 2 hours until day 14. Which I did - very very hardcore...

I am now truly knackered and decided to try letting him do a bit of demand-led feeding as of day 13 night. He fed about every 2.5hrs, then yesterday changed to every 1hr during the day, last night every 3-4 hours, then today he has slept most of the afternoon (feed at 2, then I woke him at 4.30 and again at 7.30pm as I'm nervous he's still sleepy from the jaundice). So I'm not really waiting for his cues as still nervous....

I guess I'm just looking on reassurance - I'm really unsure of myself, plus the erratic nature of demand-led feeding combined with possible sleepy jaundice is making me not trust DS/myself.

He still has a bit of jaundice and the policy at the hospital I am with means that we have to go in for a check next week for prolonged jaundice - as he still has it post day 14 as determined by midwife visit today. He has gone over his birth weight already though and doing loads of poos/wees - but maybe that's because I was force feeding him?

Pls someone tell me it's OK for him to go up to 3hrs btwn feeds - even if he's still a bit jaundiced. Or do I need to go back to waking him more frequently until jaundice has gone? I basically can't tell the difference btwn normal sleepy newborn and jaundiced sleepy newborn!

Sorry for the ramble - I thought going from 2hrly feeds to demand-led would be less stressful but I am now feeling more anxious without the routine.

I'm not remotely medically qualified but DD and DS were both jaundiced for ages (DS especially so) and needed treatment. I think I had to try and feed them every 3 hours or so (2 hours does sound very hardcore) but even that was only for a few days and it was sometimes impossible to wake them up enough to feed.
I'm sure it's absolutely fine for him to go 3 hours. I remember one night DD slept for a totally uinheard of 5 hours and hadn't woken us up and I went into major panic mode when I woke and realised she hadn't fed for that long but she was fine.
If he's gaining weight and doing lots of wees etc he sounds fine. Mine were yellow for a long time.

Thanks tvfriend - that's just how I feel about the sleeping. I am sure everyone else would love a sleepy baby but when I can't tell whether it's because he's jaundiced and not able to tell me he is hungry (and I am knackered and too scared to fall asleep for hours) I can't relax.... :-(

I hate the alarm on my iphone with a vengeance now...!

Thanks Starlight. I've just sat down and listed his feeds and I can get him up to 10 feeds in 24hrs if he has 2 more before midnight. I'll wake to feed if necessary to get us there.

Sounds a bit scientific - I'm not normally like this and would much prefer au natural demand-led! But thanks as it has reassured me that he is getting enough :-)

I woulmd ask for a blood test to see how high the level of biliruben is.

You know I did have the 2 readings but the midwife took my notes away today. We are going in to the hospital on Monday so will ask them to do another blood test then. Poor little lad - his heels are running out of space.

I remember when DD was 3 weeks old the MW got all panicky about her still being so yellow but the hospital were far more relxed when we went in. I think they stay yellow for quite a while even when there levels become OK. Good luck next week.

Hey there. Again I can only go from my experience. DS was jaundiced from day 5. Nobody was even interested in it, they just said it was breastfed jaundice. I went to the GP at 3 weeks and asked about it because he was sooo sleepy. Then he was referred for bloods at 4 weeks, which were fine. I used to set my alarm to wake him for feeds. I woke him three hourly at night, then tried to feed him two hourly during the day. I remember I was so spooked and worried by the amount he slept in the early days, he was literally only awake for a couple of hours in the evening. Shortly after four weeks he 'woke up' !

Why not try for three hourly feeds if you feel in need of the reassurance of a routine, then if he asks for milk before then you can always give it. Try not to let the worry ruin your enjoyment of the early days. If someone had said that to me I would have wanted to scream in their face .

Get the result & get them to check it on the graph they use.

My dd had jaundice & had phototherapy for 6 days - was very exhusting as 12hrs with short bf breaks & then 4hrs on & 4hrs off for the rest. She had a blood test every day & it was checked with her weight. Once she was 2 wks it was checked with her age as well. Her level was still higher than normal at nearly 2wks old (I think 13 - but not sure I remember correctly). It was ok with her weight & age to not need any more treatment. At 4wks she was still a bit bronzed (the words of the gp!) & then at 6wks ok.

Good luck & best wishes

Thank you for all your advice / kind words. It's hard to relax and enjoy my beautiful bundle when feeding has been so regimented and I'm not quite sure if he's able to do demand-led yet. I'll look back on this like all of you have done and hopefully be reassuring others on MN in the future!