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?

I went to A&E and they took his obs. The wait was horrendous and even more so going in with my post partum body in pain!! They didn’t think his jaundice looked too bad and he was actually quite alert and awake. They’ve said best thing to do it wait for midwife to come tomorrow and in the mean time wake him every 2/3 hours for a feed. If I think my milks not come in yet then they suggested topping up with formula to ensure he’s hydrated and flushing out the potential bilburin.

The issue is you need yourbaby to be suckling to get your milk going and they won't do that if they are sleeping due to having jaundice.

If I were you I'd try baby on breast, then offer formula to flush out the bad stuff and get them eating.

My son got re-admitted to hospital for jaundice and weight loss and was on two lamps for three days.
The test comes back within a few hours.

Also in the morning, try and strip baby down and place by a window. You will need heating on and place him on a cosy blanket. Or even use a cosy water bottle (absolutely not too hot) but something to keep cody whilst he's stripped down getting the sunlight.

@Toddlerteaplease bizarre post , how can you be useless re breastfeeding in your careers, one of the key starting points for good health in a baby is being breastfed .
OP all of my bf babies were jaundiced at first, I was told it was quite normal for ebf babies in the beginning . It’s always difficult to wake a newborn and if it’s impossible to rose then try everything.
I think it’s v normal in a baby who isn’t getting formula from the start to get a bit jaundiced on colostrum. Maybe some of the pp responding haven’t ebf a baby.
Definitely get baby checked anyway but all mine were jaundiced, I put them in direct sunlight and gave vit d but all the advice given to me was that it was absolutely normal in ebf babies but if it doesn’t pass to see hcp.

If I think my milks not come in yet then they suggested topping up with formula to ensure he’s hydrated and flushing out the potential bilburin.

I got trapped in hospital with a jaundiced baby. In the end, the night shift midwife said 'just give her a bottle or 3 and get out of here'. I was so heartbroken at the time (FTM) but it was good advice. The midwife spent all night packing her full of formula and then sticking her back on my boob and we got out by mid-morning.

And congratulations on your lovely new baby ❤️

@Hungrycaterpillarsmummy flush out what bad stuff with formula ?? Formula is a highly processed product. The op should definitely get her baby checked out by professionals asap but it’s more important to keep waking the baby up and trying to get Baby to latch at this stage then “flushing out bad stuff with formula “

The bilirubin.

That you know so little about the mechanism of jaundice to question this, suggests you shouldn't be commenting.

And before you hop back on that high bf horse, apart from the bottles for jaundice at 4 days old, my baby was EBF to 6 months. It's formula, not crack.

Really surprised by the advice on here , I was always advised ( had first baby in a northern European country that is renowned for good breastfeeding rates and education) that jaundice was a natural process for lots of ebf baby and if latch etc ok to definitely not supplement with formula but wait until milk came in and it would clear. All three of my bf babies were jaundiced and it all passed once milk came in, I never used formula . I was told it was a natural process. Again the op needs to get baby checked out of course.

It's important to get baby feeding because otherwise it is a viscous cycle.
Baby gets jaundice, baby sleeps, baby doesn't feed, baby too sleepy, jaundice gets worse.

Believe me,. I know what happens since I was in hospital with my son for three days and nights with it. But if I had been "on it" with waking and feeding formula I know we wouldn't have been in as bad a situation.
However, I didn't I just let me baby sleep I had gone through a full 72 hour labour and I was in a dreamy state too.
By the time we did get to hospital my son almost needed blood transfusion his levels of jaundice were so high.

So yeh,my advice is to get any latching to get ops milk in and use formula until it does.

You are talking absolute bollocks since I did use formula myself.
First when the midwife did a home visit and told me he was jaundiced and to get some formula Into him.
Then at hospital when we got re-admitted we were out on a feeding plan and since my milk wasn't in I had to supplement with formula until it did but they told me to always try with BM first then go to formula.

So stop with the nasty comments.

I wasn't quoting you! I completely agree with you! Your name is just at the start of the quote I quoted because the other quoter used it!

@Duttercup i stand by everything I said ,!9”I don’t think it’s crack, it is a highly processed food (I’m allowed say that btw) and the UK and Ireland have the lowest bf rates in Europe.?There’s a serious lack of education about it here which is a huge problem and why women doubt themselves and use formula tops ups. Look at the statistics. I’m firmly in the facts and science camp.
Vast, vast majority of mothers formula feed and I think it is a problem. Im
in Ireland and the formula lobby is huge here , our bf rates are staggeringly low. Minuscule in fact so I think misinformation is a bad thing re bf.
Best of luck op and congrats!!

Right so here you admit you don't have a clue.
It may your babies had low levels of jaundice but for the people who had to go to hospital, maybe, just maybe, we know a bit more about it that you

Ffs

Oh I see! Yes I see it now. Sorry!

@Hungrycaterpillarsmummy Ha, no worries. Team Fed is Best (and not stuck in hospital under lamps) all the way.

Also op don't worry if you do have to use formula.
It's just short term and once your milk is in you will be flying with the breastfeeding. It's just short term to get them over the jaundice

Absolutely

La league and Kelly mum are great sources of information re breastfeeding op especially at the beginning. Sounds like you are getting good support and great that your baby is alert , that’s a really good sign, just keep latching the baby on and your milk will come in! My friend abroad just had a baby and she’s also ebf and baby was jaundiced, day 6 and the baby is fine , her milk came in and baby is a lot more alert. She’s in a good country with good bf education thankfully . Best of luck and enjoy those newborn cuddles !

Just wanted to say you did the right thing by going to A&E for checks. Our little one went through similar though possibly easier as we were still in hospital at the time so had help immediately to hand. Just keep setting the alarm for the 3 hour feeds and it really doesnt matter if its BM or formula. Look after yourself as well. I remember it being exhausting when the alarm sounded as I'd literally just gone to sleep. Big congrats on your little one you will get through this!

My ds had jaundice and was under lights for 3 or 4 days. This was 22 years ago so a) it was normal to stay in for a couple of days so they realised it was happening while we were still in hospital and b) it was a proper incubator with UV lights (I believe that nowadays they can put them in a "light suit" or something like that?). The side effect/benefit was that I got moved out of the 4 bed ward into a single room because of the light from the incubator

Fortunately the midwives were really supportive of breastfeeding and never once suggested formula . They did teach me techniques like wet cotton wool on his feet to wake him up and even (later) a tiny drip into his ear.

He was always a slow feeding and sleepy baby and I usually had to wake him to feed him. He probably got into the habit while he was jaundiced

He dropped from the 91st centile to under the growth curves in the 1st 2 weeks but then followed them in parallel for about 7?weeks before edging up to the (for him) 50th centile, which is where he stayed. He is now a healthy - albeit not very tall (good for a scrum half ) 22 year old

The midwives in the hospital were great: they gave me an expressing machine after a week to supplement his feeds with EBM and even though I was re-admitted for a week with a nasty infection (with hindsight I was quite seriously ill) when ds 2 weeks old, I was able to spend my time feeding ds and using the hospital grade expressing machines. Made zero difference to his rate of growth. Consultant paediatrician (who saw him just as reassurance) wasn't interested in this healthy boy in front of him and more interested in what my dad was doing (retired radiologist who used to work with him - and if he'd thought there was anything wrong with his PFB GC, he'd had whisked him in himself ). It was he who said ds would get on to the 50th centile - and just to continue breastfeeding and enjoying my baby Lovely man.

With hindsight, ds was a classic case of a " Non Failure to Thrive" baby who was exhibiting catch down growth in addition to his slow start post natally because of his jaundice, and adjusting to his correct growth curve.

He was fully BF for 13 months (weaned at only 4 months - the only thing I'd do differently)

@Shootingstar2018 - I remember those alarms And because he fed so slowly they seemed to leave no time for me to sleep. I admit to slightly extending the gaps because he was taking so long on each boob (somewhere I still have a diary of how long each side, when and the state of his nappies )

@justdontkno1 because we only tend to see the mums who are struggling with breastfeeding. The breastfeeding advisors are long gone. So there is no support to help us support the mums. Particularly if we've not breastfed ourselves it's really difficult To help. My ward also vary rarely gets them anyway as we do surgery. So even more out of practice. We can occasionally get a midwife to come and help, but they are usually to busy.

I’ve been doing regular feeds tonight and there’s been a few poos and tiny amounts of wee! But surely if he’s doing poos then he must be getting something from me? I think if he’s not had a wet nappy at next alarm I will give some formula instead

Wet nappies wise babies are only expected to have as many wees as they are days old. I.e. 1x wee day 1, 2x day 2, 3x day 3 and it's over the full 24 hours. Babies should have least 2 poos per day.

You don't need to supplement with formula if you don't want to at this point. It is normal for jaundice to appear 48 hours or so post-birth. It's a normal physiological process. Keep putting baby to the breast regularly (2-3 hourly) and if baby isn't actively suckling for at least 5 mins then I would hand express and give the EBM. It's also normal for milk not to come in until days 3-7 on average, and like you said it's starting to come in now which is fab!

I would phone the midwife first thing and explain you went to A&E and can they visit as soon as possible. I'm sure most midwives would prioritise you 🙂

Hope you manage to get some rest at some point and LO's jaundice clears up quickly xx