NER... taking nb in sun for jaundice?

DomerJenC · February 2009

Since it seems like 99% of babies are jaundiced, and I fully intend to bf and wait for my milk to come in, and I will probably raise some flags w/ the pedi due to my home birth, I want to be able to help the bili #'s along as best as I can.

My question is how do you put the baby in sunlight w/o burning them since you can't put sunscreen on them? I'm all about bringing the baby out in fresh air right away, but I'm nervous about the Hotlanta sun.

Do they really think it's a great idea to leave us alone with this child?!? LOL

brownmouse · February 2009

DomerJenC:
Do they really think it's a great idea to leave us alone with this child?!? LOL

Aww. I feel ya here...I can't answer your question though. I've even newer to this than you.

papagena · February 2009

I'd ask your pedi that one - since you are in a warmer area - direct sunlight for a nb in that kind of sun might be a no no, especially since we've kind of ruined the atmosphere's natural protections. You may not have to worry about it though, DS wasn't jaundice, and he didn't get any supplementation, and my milk didn't come in for 3 - 4 days.

renee143 · February 2009

you just want indirect sunlight. ?a walk in the park in the afternoon in good. ?resting by a window works too.

jerimbato · February 2009

Ditto the indirect sunlight, and for fairly short periods of time each day I think.

I didn't know you were having a home birth- so am I. It seems pretty rare around here. I'll be looking forward to your birth story.

MrsAHoffman · February 2009

Indirect sunlight is what our pedi told us to do. Apparently, all newborns have at least an itty bitty bit of jaundice. In the rare event that the jaundice is bad enough to require whatever special treatment they give (we didn't have to deal with it), I would just be a huge stickler about not feeding the baby with a dropper and using bottles that are really hard to suck from. Babies who get used to the dropper and easy flow bottles often have a harder time transitioning to the breast (not always of course).?

Teacher_2_b_in_3 · February 2009

papagena:
I'd ask your pedi that one - since you are in a warmer area - direct sunlight for a nb in that kind of sun might be a no no, especially since we've kind of ruined the atmosphere's natural protections. You may not have to worry about it though, DS wasn't jaundice, and he didn't get any supplementation, and my milk didn't come in for 3 - 4 days.

Same for Abby. She lost quite a bit of weight in the hospital because she didn't latch well. She was veeerrrryyy low on the billi #'s. They told us that jaundice wasn't/wouldn't be an issue. I hope the same is true for oy!

Asands · February 2009

I laid DS in the morning sunlight that shined through the windows. The Pedi told us to be sure and keep the window (shades) open so sunlight could get in. I also took him outside some and would just walk around for 10 minutes or so. GL!

lar1203 · February 2009

ds had jaundice. we are in Ga and ds was born in may. we brought him out in the sun for about and hour. i watched him carefully to make sure he didn't get burnt. his was no longer yellow and he didn't burn...

Laroogirl · February 2009

Ditto what everyone else posted about indirect sunlight through the windows. My DS was born Jan. 27th and it was way too cold to go outside. He was pretty close to having to use the lights at home for his jaundice, but we managed to get his numbers back down and never had to supplement with formula either.

mrsjjd · February 2009

You'll need to take DC out in the sun for frequent, but very short amounts of time. Also, after you've been in the sun, wipe DC down with a wet rag. If you don't wipe DC down the bilirubin that was leeched out by the sun will be reabsorbed by the body because it will still be just sitting on the skin, so essentially all the time in the sun will be "wasted". I think most people deal with jaundice longer then they should have to because no one tells them that if you don't wipe the bilirubin off it just reabsorbs. These were our midwives instructions, we followed them to a T, and all signs of Jaundice were gone in a few days...

mrsjjd · February 2009

and....this is just my personal opinion, but I think home birth babies have less jaundice problems in general because there is less disruption in BFing, so baby usually start sooner, milk comes in faster, ect...

Dobie_Mama · February 2009

We did indirect sunlight via window as well. By the time we got DD home, it was beginning of January with six inches of snow on the ground. Sun bathing wasn't really an option. LOL

smurfetteinred · February 2009

I wouldn't even worry about being jaundiced yet. My ds wasn't and I know both my cousins who had kiddos within months of me didn't have jaundice issues either. So that's 100% of us who didn't deal with it (my ds was enormous so that probably helped but cousins were averaged sized).

If it is an issue then you dont' have to take them out into blazing sun. Indirected shade is just as good - they still get the effects of the sunshine. Plus we're not talking about hours out in it but less than 5 minutes every now and then is usually sufficient to help along normal jaundice.

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