Help! Jaundice in 2 day old!

[SassyPants87]

Hi all had baby 2 days ago and we’ve noticed his eyes getting yellow and the skin on his face. I’m breast feeding and milk hasn’t come in just yet so he hasn’t had a lot of wet nappies but quite a few dirty ones!

midwife on the phone is saying if he’s difficult to wake then take him to A&E but I thought all newborns were difficult to wake! My first baby never woke, I had to keep waking her and she was fine. I think I can probably wait until midwife comes tomorrow?

can anyone let me know if their experiences of jaundice in new borns?? Should I do fldomr formula feeds whilst waiting for my milk to come in to try and flush it out?

Please go to a and e. Jaundice can be serious if not treated. It's a quick test but important to do.

I agree with a & e. I cannot get over the fact that mums and babies are chucked out of maternity units so early now before things like jaundice show up. Both my babies had it but those were the days where we were kept in hospital a few days partly to make sure our milk came in ...

You don't need to give formula but if baby is hard to wake it's sensible to get the level checked. They can then make an appropriate plan. You really can't tell by looking how high it will be, and it really depends. Baby should start to cluster feed today or tomorrow to bring your milk in, if baby is too sleepy to be doing that it sounds wise to get checked.

Just go to A&E for the test. No point risking it.

If your community midwife is coming out tomorrow she can do the test, strip baby down and feed three to four hourly tonight or more if baby keen.

Jaundice levels can rise quickly and if they go too far it can result in brain damage, I would heed the midwife's advice and go to A&E tonight.

Thanks everyone

midwife is coming out tomorrow to do the test. So I’m not sure how much quicker A&E will be as they will also need to do the test, wait for the results etc. I think my milk has started to come in now feeling massively engorged. Baby fed quite well just now so I will just set a 2/3 hourly alarm and keep on feeding! I think midwife is coming out in the morning

My first had jaundice and my second is now three days old and I am constantly on jaundice watch. We made the midwives check her levels 3 times before leaving the hospital yesterday - can you go back to the post natal ward and ask them to check quickly rather than the wait at A&E? The community midwife who came to see us today said jaundice would normally develop on day 3 or 4. My milk came in today - I used a pump a little bit last night to help speed it along as really didn't want her to lose too much weight. Good luck, hope you're enjoying lots of sleepy snuggles too!

I'd probably be concerned about lack of wet nappies but I'm not a midwife!
Definitely wake for feeds, every 2-3hrs max.
We were readmitted with jaundice with my first baby. It was pretty hideous having to go back in to hospital when wanted to be at home.

The midwife told you to take him to A&E if he's difficult to wake. Is he difficult to wake?

The first jaundice check is Instant results on a hand held thing.

Our newborn had jaundice. Slightly different scenario as we were still in hospital due but my milk hadn’t come in (difficult birth) and we thought he was getting more than he was. I’d agree with the previous posters about getting baby checked out ASAP.

One of my wee ones had jaundice and had to be under an UV light for 24 hours. Agree with the others, best get checked out as soon as.

Can you phone the maternity ward at your hospital?
my baby had jaundice and needed to go under a lamp for a day, my milk also took ages to come in due to a long and difficult labour which resulted in baby having lots of bruising.
personally I’d phone maternity ward tonight for advice.

Paediatric nurse here. If he's sleepy and not waking, with reduced we nappies you need to take him in to be checked. Unlikely you can go back to post natal ward. He'll be under paediatrics now. So will go to a children's department. Your midwife will either refer you or you go to A&E depending on your area.

*disclaimer, I've been a paediatric nurse for 18 years and poor feeding breastfed babies terrify me. More than any other type of patient. Mainly because I am useless with supporting breastfeeding!

...how can you have spent 18yrs as a paediatric nurse and be useless at supporting breastfeeding? How is that acceptable?

I know the basics, but there is very little support in teaching it to staff. It's years since I've had training on it as I work on a surgical ward.

All 3 of mine had jandice - the middle one required treatment at the hospital

I'd strip baby down, blow blow on fert, wet cloth etc to try and get them to wake. Middle was definitely very sleepy with it and it was somewhere between day 3-5 (he's a strapping 3 year old now) he was readmitted. They wanted him taking at least 12 feeds in a 24 hour period

A bit of jandice on its own wouldn't bother me - baby 1 and 3 cleared up on their own with no problem, baby 3 had very yellow eyes with it and did need a little.blood test but she remained below treatment levels.

but a very very sleepy baby with no wet nappies does need seen

Not to worry you, but my ds had jaundice at 2 days old, caused by my milk taking a few days to come in ( even though he appeared to be feeding) and was hard to wake with few wet nappies. We took him to a&e and it turned out he was almost hypoglycaemic, and had to be under UV lights for 2 days. It was a really horrible experience and so I'd really recommend you don't wait to get it checked out, it can spread very quickly

Take your baby to A&E.

The worst case if you are wrong and don't take him is so much worse than the worst case if you are wrong and do take him. Get a check as soon as possible i.e. go to A&E.

Low blood sugar/hypoglycemia can really impact newborns and very hard to see without tests.

Some have this even if feeding -

Jaundice symptoms look similar to hypoglycemia

If hard to wake & no/little wet nappies just go to A&E

If you are waiting for M/W overnight then I would set alarm, feed, check regularly and have a time if MW does not arrive that you decide to go to A&E

Goodness, I had no idea jaundice was so scary. My Dc had jaundice and I was discharged and told to make sure they had sunlight. Thankfully it sorted itself out. Reading this I had no idea it was dangerous.

My 5 month old was very jaundice for the first week. He was a small baby too and i was sick with worry. Was really hard to wake.

The midwife can check it in about 3 seconds -im sure it's called a drager or something like that. If you are really worried definitely go to a and e but if she is coming out tomorrow it may be better to wait (although you may have a sleepless night )

Keep offering feeds. To be honest I was formula feeding so a little easier for me

As the PP said I would set alarms and keep checking/ trying to feed. Midwife told me they really worry if the levels are still high after 2 weeks.

I'm not a medical expert at all and you do what you feel is best - that's just my experience (although it's limited)

Hope you're ok ❤

Go to A&E - you will be prioritised as you have a newborn. Our baby girl turned out to have jaundice off the charts and ended up in NICU for a few days. She had to have a double blood transfusion. If you leave it too late, it can cause brain damage. What scared us is that she didn't even look that yellow! Better to be safe than sorry when they're that tiny. Best of luck x