Breast fed baby, sleeping and jaundice

[Bellsx]

Hi ladies my baby was born on Friday at 40+1 natural delivery with forceps. I am exclusively breast feeding him but just want to know how long should he be sleeping for throughout the day as he does seem to have a lot and is there any ways of keeping him awake for certain periods? Also I had my midwife check today and he has slight jaundice which they now check using like a thermometer piece of equipment that they put on their chest click it 3 times and it gives them a number which corresponds to something they then put on a chart if it's below a certain level then fine but if it gets too high he might end up back in hospital for light therapy. My question is how can I ensure this doesn't happen, any advice greatly appreciated.

Congratulations 🙂 It's really common for babies to have a bit of jaundice, my daughter had it too. The things I was told were to make sure she was feeding lots - wake him if necessary, mine slept constantly to begin with but fortunately fed every couple hours at least even if she wasn't fully awake! The other thing was to make sure she got lots of natural light - we put her moses basket under the window and made sure she wasn't too wrapped up. That was in February, should be easier at this time of year!

If you can't wake him easily do things like tickle his feet, take his clothes off, change his nappy... Enjoy the snuggles!

I wouldn't try and keep a newborn awake for any periods, just be pleased you've got a sleeping baby!! I've had 2 children and I haven't ever thought I needed to wake them, they woke themselves to feed (both were breastfed) and didn't have any issues.

I don't think there's anything you can do to help jaundice (I might be wrong?) both my children had it and all it meant was they didn't discharge us from the midwife as soon as they would have otherwise, I don't think it's that common going back into hospital with it, well no one in my extended circle of friends or family had this.

Just feed, feed and feed, when he’s awake do lots of skin to skin and following his feeding cues. Jaundice is normal below a certain level and usually peaks day 3/4 then should begin to resolve, try to feed atleast every 3-4 hours and even if he’s sleepy try and put him to the breast for a dream feed if it goes past around 4 hours which hopefully it won’t🙂

My newborn just ate and slept the first few weeks . He was never awake more than a few minutes after nursing . He was a very sleepy baby and I had to wake him every 3 hours to nurse . By the time he was a few weeks old he started waking on his own to nurse and that was every 1-3 hours . He use to cluster feed every evening too (5pm-ish until 10pm-ish) from about 3-6 weeks old .

We had the same thing. It's a vicious circle as the jaundice makes them sleepy so they don't feed well, but need to feed to get rid of the jaundice. Do wake them regularly to feed and ensure you get your latch checked and the baby checked for tongue tie if there appears to be any issues with feeding. Our tongue tie was not picked up by the home visit midwives and so baby lost a lot of weight and jaundice got worse.

Hi so my little one was jaundice and breastfeed. He had light therapy. But when home he started getting bad again. I was told to give him natural light obviously carefully . Mine was a winter baby so I had the curtains open and sat near the window. Also it's important to ensure they are feeding regularly. I had to wake mine up on advise from the dr. I would have to tickle his feet or check to encourage feeding. As he was a lazy boy. Lol. Congratulations and I wish you all the best. It's a hard time when they are so little.

Just feed, feed, feed. I had a jaundiced baby in February like @Flora20 so there wasn’t much opportunity for natural light or exposed skin. I was feeding at least every three hours and topping up with expressed milk from a bottle. Went slightly longer than three hours at night sometimes if he did have a longer sleep (maybe twice? ) if he fell asleep on the boob I would tickle his feet, stroke his face, or even delatch him for a few seconds.

It was tiring and difficult but we avoided going back into hospital, and my DS started gaining weight after a week.

Just feed baby as much as you physically can. It’s normal for them to pretty much just sleep with wakes to feed. Don’t let him go more than 3 hours without a feed. Wake him up by stripping him off and changing his nappy if you need to. After he’s finished the first breast, wake him up a bit and offer the second breast. Try to aim for at least 10 minutes per feed, 20 or more is optimal. Don’t worry if baby is waking hourly or more for feeds, this is called cluster feeding and is very normal. They tend to be most unsettled overnight as your prolactin levels are highest and this helps to stimulate milk production so it’s a good thing! They do usually settle in the early morning around 5/6am. Physiological jaundice (Sometimes called ‘breast milk jaundice’) will clear up on its own as long as baby feeds.

Feed as much as possible! My son was the same, and because he was so sleepy it got worse and we were admitted. Blowing on his cheek, changing his nappy, tickling his feet all helped him latch and wake. I also expressed and fed him by syringe too to try and get more into him. Good luck xx

My baby was very jaundiced (needed several lots of treatment in hospital). As PPs have said - feed, feed, feed. My DD was too sleepy to breastfeed properly so we used a cup and a syringe. Once home with her, we parked her moses basket in the window - sunlight helps to break down bilirubin. Good luck, establishing breastfeeding with a jaundiced baby isn't easy, so make sure you take all the help and advice you can. And congrats on your little boy!