RP: tips for waking jaundiced 1 week old to feed

monlyn9

Repost from breast feeding

DS was 1 week old yesterday. We have been battling jaundice all week. On Monday he was admitted for light therapy and released on Tuesday. We went back for a check on Wed and again today and both times the levels were up from the day before. I know that BF more frequently can help flush his system he hasn't pooped much today, but had been fine before now but he is so sleepy. I have tried waking him up by changing his diaper but he fights taking the breast and the falls right back to sleep. He will only eat every 3 to 4 hours and I would like to feed him more often. He isn't gaining weight either. He was 8lb 5oz at birth last Wed, 7lb 11oz at release on Friday, 7lb 9oz at pedi on Monday, and was 7lb 6oz when I weighed him this afternoon. Any advice would be appreciated.

LSU628

Try undressing him while feeding or if he falls asleep, rubbing along side of his jawline, putting your cold hands on him, or even getting a colder, wet washcloth and rub it on his feet if he starts falling asleep on you.

FreshBakedBrownies

LSU628:

Try undressing him while feeding or if he falls asleep, rubbing along side of his jawline, putting your cold hands on him, or even getting a colder, wet washcloth and rub it on his feet if he starts falling asleep on you.

Yes, all this.

When my baby was 3 days old he was hospitalized for severe jaundice.  He also would fall asleep nursing and none of these things worked.  The doctors said jaundice makes babies weaker. I think nursing was wearing him out.  I had to start supplementing with a bottle (either breastmilk if I could pump extra or formula).  It helped rehydrate him and get him to recover faster.  Even when he was too sleepy to nurse, he'd often take the bottle. It was just easier for him.  I'm know a lot of exclusive BFers say introducing the bottle isn't good that young and to use a syringe or spoon.  I used a bottle though and we are doing great with BFing now. Good luck to you getting your little one through this!

NortyLeigh

kittynap:

We woke our DS to feed every two hours when he was jaundiced. We stripped him naked before feeding. When he would start to nod off DH would run his hands under cool water and then put his cold hands on his back. Tickling his feet was also helpful. Good luck!nbsp;

We had to do all of these, plus put ice on him! We have those reusable ice cubes that we used for about a week per our pediatrician. DS would still fall asleep but it definitely helped!

laxkal23

ss456:

LSU628:

Try undressing him while feeding or if he falls asleep, rubbing along side of his jawline, putting your cold hands on him, or even getting a colder, wet washcloth and rub it on his feet if he starts falling asleep on you.

Yes, all this.

When my baby was 3 days old he was hospitalized for severe jaundice.  He also would fall asleep nursing and none of these things worked.  The doctors said jaundice makes babies weaker. I think nursing was wearing him out.  I had to start supplementing with a bottle (either breastmilk if I could pump extra or formula).  It helped rehydrate him and get him to recover faster.  Even when he was too sleepy to nurse, he'd often take the bottle. It was just easier for him.  I'm know a lot of exclusive BFers say introducing the bottle isn't good that young and to use a syringe or spoon.  I used a bottle though and we are doing great with BFing now. Good luck to you getting your little one through this!

 

This was our issue. CJ was preemie and jaundice. We called the nurses station in a panic because I couldn't wake him one day. It took a bit of work but the nurses roused him by messaging his feet and doing skin to skin. In the end we would bf for 30 min as best we could and then supplement with pumped milk, if he didn't latch well or fell asleep without really eating. The supplementing really helped and as he got stronger his breast feeding improved and the supplementing stopped. It took about 10 days for him to get strong enough and eat consistently enough that I didn't have to supplement anymore. Now he is a breast feeding champ. I would suggest giving a bottle or syringe of pumped milk when he doesn't feed well after a feeding to get him healthy then you can work on exclusively nursing. 

kieannb

LSU628:

Try undressing him while feeding or if he falls asleep, rubbing along side of his jawline, putting your cold hands on him, or even getting a colder, wet washcloth and rub it on his feet if he starts falling asleep on you.

We did this. Mostly the cold cloth, only we rubbed it everywhere.. Feet, arms, legs, face. Just keep trying

monlyn9

Thanks for all the feedback ladies. Last night we started doing a combo of nursing and bottle feeding pumped milk. At our 1am feeding I gave him 2 oz from a bottle and then he nursed for about 15 minutes. Hopefully doing this several feedings per day and just nursing the others will help get that jaundice out and his weight up!