Breastfed Jaundice

OnWayto3 · June 2015

Anyone else find out their baby has breastfeeding jaundice? LO is still very yellow (2 weeks pp) and although the doctor says not to worry, it causes no harm, my mama-bear instincts cause me to worry endlessly. Any info you can share is appreciated!

mishmardhiono · June 2015

We were jaundiced,LO 's levels was 219 and the treatment was to be under the lights for 48 hours and to bf,ebf & forcefeed 49mls of formula every 3 hours (this was when she was 3 days old) I'd ask for a blood test to check levels and go from there. But in the mean time lots of sunshine can't hurt

Sammy K · June 2015

We were given a vitamin D supplement as well. You can find it in just a botany grocery store/pharmacy.

ETA stupid autocorrect

aj1327 · June 2015

Ours was jaundice. The latest bilirubin count was 10 at 2 weeks. It had been 16, and our pedi recommend formula for 24 hours, which was extremely hard on me. She mentioned the breast feeding jaundice, which I don't think we have, but she also said it was nothing to worry about. I think when that's the case, the levels really don't get high enough to worry. I researched it quite a bit, and asked lots of questions and everything said to keep breastfeeding. I was extremely stressed over the jaundice until his levels started dropping. You're doing great! Hang in there!

ETA: we were also given a Vit D supplement. @Sammy K how is your LO taking it? DS got choked up the first time I gave it to him so I've started splitting the dose in half with 2 evening feelings. I'm thinking that now that he's used to the texture, he'd take it better all at once, but it totally freaked me out.

Sammy K · June 2015

@amccoy129 She won't take it straight, she spits it back out. I put the syringe in the corner of her mouth after she's latched on and slowly give it to her that way. It's a little messy, but more goes down than if I just give it to her.

mrs1374a · June 2015

Our daughter had a bit of jaundice too. Nothing alarming enough for her to be under the lights. But you could tell by looking at her. She is 11 days old now and I think she looks so much better. Her doctor said just keep nursing. She told me we can't start the vit d until she is 2 weeks, which will be Wednesday.

aj1327 · June 2015

Sammy K said:
@amccoy129 She won't take it straight, she spits it back out. I put the syringe in the corner of her mouth after she's latched on and slowly give it to her that way. It's a little messy, but more goes down than if I just give it to her.

This is a great idea. Definitely trying this today!

auburnmamma · June 2015

Yep. We are four weeks old and still a little yellow. We did two days on the bilibed when we were a week old. Our level at our two week visit was 13. Pedi said continue to nurse and know he will be a bit yellow for up to 8 weeks.

Sammy K · June 2015

mrs1374a said:
Our daughter had a bit of jaundice too. Nothing alarming enough for her to be under the lights. But you could tell by looking at her. She is 11 days old now and I think she looks so much better. Her doctor said just keep nursing. She told me we can't start the vit d until she is 2 weeks, which will be Wednesday.

That's funny, our ped told us to start vitamin d when we were at our weight check at 4 days. But follow your doc!

teather5 · June 2015

We are 5 weeks and still have some yellowing. Highest bilirubin was 17.5 and had to do a little supplementing bc little guy wasn't eating enough (too sleepy at breast plus latch issues due to his size) and was down to 10.5 around 2 week appointment and got the OK to go back to EBF. I got worried a few weeks ago that it was going up again and took him in just to double check and all was good, but still jaundiced slightly. It's stressful. I feel like I'm doing something wrong but he's gaining and has great output and alertness now. In fact, today at lunch a doctor approached us asking if we had had is bilirubin checked. Needless to say I held it together and then cried the whole way home. I'm glad to hear there are others with similar situations. None of us are alone!

aj1327 · June 2015

teather5 said:
We are 5 weeks and still have some yellowing. Highest bilirubin was 17.5 and had to do a little supplementing bc little guy wasn't eating enough (too sleepy at breast plus latch issues due to his size) and was down to 10.5 around 2 week appointment and got the OK to go back to EBF. I got worried a few weeks ago that it was going up again and took him in just to double check and all was good, but still jaundiced slightly. It's stressful. I feel like I'm doing something wrong but he's gaining and has great output and alertness now. In fact, today at lunch a doctor approached us asking if we had had is bilirubin checked. Needless to say I held it together and then cried the whole way home. I'm glad to hear there are others with similar situations. None of us are alone!

I got super emotional about the jaundice and also felt like I was doing something wrong. It's great to know I'm not alone!

henrytviii · June 2015

This thread is making me think I so call the clinic tomorrow. LO is 5 weeks Tuesday and people are commenting all the time about how "tan" he is. He was jaundice his first week. He's feeding really well and he's almost doubled his birth weight, 7-3 to 12-12 so I think he's fine. But he is definitely orange/yellow and I get a lot of comments.

teather5 · June 2015

henrytviii said:
This thread is making me think I so call the clinic tomorrow. LO is 5 weeks Tuesday and people are commenting all the time about how "tan" he is. He was jaundice his first week. He's feeding really well and he's almost doubled his birth weight, 7-3 to 12-12 so I think he's fine. But he is definitely orange/yellow and I get a lot of comments.

That's how I felt/still feel and why I called and went back in- do it for reassurance if nothing else! Worth the time/copay/etc for peace of mind!

devyns2nd · June 2015

I'm nervous for our check up tomorrow. LO is still so yellow and not eating well (ebf). I give him his vit D drop everyday.

We have an oily drop the Dr gave us and I just put it on my nipple before he eats. I didn't know you could buy it anywhere!?

OnWayto3 · June 2015

Though I don't want anyone else to be going through this, it is reassuring to know I'm not alone. It makes me feel awful-- between LO not gaining enough weight and then having jaundice, I just don't know what to do. She falls asleep while eating all the time. I'm glad to hear Vit D may help... does that seem to be working for those of you who are trying that method? I bought those drops and will start using them tonight.

Sammy K · June 2015

We're not quite to 2 weeks but we're seeing improvement. We're doing vitamin D, sunshine, and lots of BF. LO is a great eater, so I'm lucky. When the weather is ok, I strip her down to just a diaper and feed her outside for 5-10 min. She seems to like it, too. Good luck mamas, I hope you all start to see improvement!

devyns2nd · June 2015

LO didn't gain enough and his levels are high. Looks like we will be supplementing with formula and trying different things to up my milk supply

apparently I've been starving him.

aj1327 · June 2015

@devyns2nd hang in there! You're a great mom for staying on top of it!

Sammy K · June 2015

@devyns2nd I hope you can get your supply up! That's frustrating.

OnWayto3 · June 2015

@devyns2nd Do you know how much milk you're making? Have you tried using the supplementary system with your pumped breast milk? This bf business is not for the faint of heart! Good luck, girl!

devyns2nd · June 2015

Thank you guys! I'm just happy that I know what he needs. I'm going to supplement with formula until I get a pumped stash and his bilirubin levels are going down instead of up.

Serenamarr · July 2015

My lo had a level of 8 when we left the hospital. A bad latch turned into complete breast refusal and me hand expressing into a spoon to feed him (my milk hadn't come in yet) and his levels went up to 14 while his weight went down. I felt so guilty and like I was failing him, it was the most miserable 24 hours of my life. I had Fi go out and buy organic supplementing formula but never had to use it because my milk came in that night and I can't even describe how nice it was to have lo have a full belly. I'm exclusively pumping which isn't what I wanted but the bottom line is your lo is full and healthy! I was also advised to put lo in the indirect sunlight (by a window) for 20 min front and back to lower his bilirubin and when I did that I actually saw a physical difference immediately in how yellow he was.

emaddock · July 2015

We just got diagnosed today at 3.5 weeks old. So far no adjustments to his feeding but I fear that may be coming. He also has reflux so it could be a combo of both--not eating enough and then spitting it out. Hopefully this clears up soon!!

Sammy K · July 2015

I thought LO's color was improving and then a random person today commented on her "nice color" and "gorgeous tan." I just said thanks because I didn't want the conversation to go any longer. So much for progress. Womp womp.

CanadaMom17 · July 2015

amccoy129 said:

Ours was jaundice. The latest bilirubin count was 10 at 2 weeks. It had been 16, and our pedi recommend formula for 24 hours, which was extremely hard on me. She mentioned the breast feeding jaundice, which I don't think we have, but she also said it was nothing to worry about. I think when that's the case, the levels really don't get high enough to worry. I researched it quite a bit, and asked lots of questions and everything said to keep breastfeeding. I was extremely stressed over the jaundice until his levels started dropping. You're doing great! Hang in there! ETA: we were also given a Vit D supplement. @Sammy K how is your LO taking it? DS got choked up the first time I gave it to him so I've started splitting the dose in half with 2 evening feelings. I'm thinking that now that he's used to the texture, he'd take it better all at once, but it totally freaked me out.

Walmart (and likely drug stores) sell concentrated drops - one drop/day needed only.

cbrtncanadian · July 2015

Definitely went through this as well. Mommas here is what I took away from our experience.

When LO is experiencing jaundice energy can be depleted leading to the lazy feeding/falling asleep and not getting enough food. This was incredibly frustrating for breastfeeding because I felt like I was doing it wrong. But we weren't he just didn't have the energy to feed this way.

My LO wouldn't BF when he was in hospital for this reason so I pumped and supplemented with formula. Feeding this way was reassuring because I knew he was getting what he needed and he didn't fall asleep or become upset.

I felt the same way, broke down when they told us he would have to stay in hospital for the fibre optic light therapy. But there's no fault of ours in this.

Babies are also more likely to be jaundice if their mother was (and I was at birth so no surprise there).

Our Pediatrician and public health nurse recommended vitamin d drops. 400iu (one drop)/day. I believe you can get it almost anywhere - we got ours at the Walmart pharmacy section.

The good news is it improves and eveything gets better - keep doing what you are doing! LO has returned to a beautiful pinky colour at 11 days!

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