Information on Jaundice Updated

my second daugther was jaundiced due to incompatible blood types. She spent 4 days in the NICU and did well with the lights and IVs. Although I was breastfeeding, I allowed them to give her formula as they said the more she ate, peed and pooped, the faster she would get better. I also pumped every 2 hours and brought in milk. She is now 17 months, super healthy and still nursing. The NICU is the best place for her as this type of jaundiced is different from regular jaundiced. Good Luck! I know how scary this time can be.....she will be okay and home soon!

my daughter and i are also incompatible blood types, her jaundice was very bad as well. there is jaundice and then there is jaundice, you know? some of them are well beyond putting them in the window. her level was over 15 in under 5 hours from birth, the blood transfer kit was already out. luckily she leveled off just under the cut-off point, i think it was 17. they wouldnt let me breastfeed her at all, said the enzymes in my milk would make the jaundice worse, plus since my milk was just starting to come in, there just wasnt enough of it yet to flush out the bilirubin. she was big, over 9 lbs, i think that had something to do with it too, needed more volume.... ironically, she was the only one of my 3 kids that had latched on immediately after delivery, i was sooooo thrilled.... sigh..... then they took her to clean her up and just never brought her back. ugh i could cry right now remembering how i felt as it became more and more clear to me that something was wrong....
anyway, i pumped every 2-3 hours around the clock to get my milk in asap, and we gave her as much formula as we could get into her while she stayed under the lights. it was so upsetting, but what can you do? i had all my cute little signs ready for her tank "NO formula, NO pacifiers please, BREASTFEEDING only"... etc.... lol,,, anyway, i saved all the milk, of course, and they released her from the nicu after 5 days and let me nurse. and also ironically, she was the only one of my 3 that again, latched right on and we never looked back, never had to give her formula after that, she was a champ, and we never had one single problem breastfeeding, she was almost 2 when we reluctantly stopped because i was pregnant again. my point being that it will be ok :) just get her healthy and home and it will all be good. congrats and good luck...

Updated

my daughter and i are also incompatible blood types, her jaundice was very bad as well. there is jaundice and then there is jaundice, you know? some of them are well beyond putting them in the window. her level was over 15 in under 5 hours from birth, the blood transfer kit was already out. luckily she leveled off just under the cut-off point, i think it was 17. they wouldnt let me breastfeed her at all, said the enzymes in my milk would make the jaundice worse, plus since my milk was just starting to come in, there just wasnt enough of it yet to flush out the bilirubin. she was big, over 9 lbs, i think that had something to do with it too, needed more volume.... ironically, she was the only one of my 3 kids that had latched on immediately after delivery, i was sooooo thrilled.... sigh..... then they took her to clean her up and just never brought her back. ugh i could cry right now remembering how i felt as it became more and more clear to me that something was wrong....
anyway, i pumped every 2-3 hours around the clock to get my milk in asap, and we gave her as much formula as we could get into her while she stayed under the lights. it was so upsetting, but what can you do? i had all my cute little signs ready for her tank "NO formula, NO pacifiers please, BREASTFEEDING only"... etc.... lol,,, anyway, i saved all the milk, of course, and they released her from the nicu after 5 days and let me nurse. and also ironically, she was the only one of my 3 that again, latched right on and we never looked back, never had to give her formula after that, she was a champ, and we never had one single problem breastfeeding, she was almost 2 when we reluctantly stopped because i was pregnant again. my point being that it will be ok :) just get her healthy and home and it will all be good. congrats and good luck...

It sounds to me that most of your daughters health problems are caused by the "something else" Jaundice is very simple, but in your case, it could be more complex. After babies are born and the umbilical cord is cut, their liver begins to clean their blood. Jaundice occurs when there is too much billirubin in the blood to be filtered. The lights mentioned in other posts is called phototherapy and it is the most common way to cure jaundice. If the solution to recovery is formula, then do not be afraid to use it. Most mothers are against it, but they would choose it over a sick child. Since the hospital wants you to use it, see if your insurance will cover it or if the hospital will send a bunch home with you.

Both of my babies had jaundice and they came home with us. We were given a bili blanket with one and a bili bed with the other one, to bring the biliruben count down. Basically it's just a light that is on the baby all of the time, for a few days. We did have to bring the baby to the Dr. everyday so they could prick his heel to check the biliruben levels in his blood. Our pediatrician told us that jaudice really isn't that big of a deal unless the bili count gets over , I can't remember the number and that Dr.s make a bigger deal than necessary about it.

My #2 and #3 were really bad. My son was so bad, that they whisked him away before I knew what was going on, and, it took hours for my husband to track the doctor down to get some sort of explanation. He was under the lights in the hospital, but, they never made me supplement. I just kept nursing him as much as they would let me, and, finally, they sent us home with orders for direct sunlight about 10 minutes a day, and, to keep him by a window as much as we could. He was attached to my breast round the clock to help flush him out. I think we went through a case and a half of diapers that first week, but, he was cleared up WITHOUT supplementing. Here is an article explaining that it is pretty NORMAL for breastfed babies to be jaundice, and, how supplementing is NOT necessary. Best of luck. Just know you are not alone! :) It even recommends doing the lights in the room with the mom, to help maintain the healthy breastfeeding and mother/child relationship.

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Both my boys were jaundice and I'm afraid that #3 will be too. They only had to stay 2 nights and then I was to supplement with formula after breastfeeding. I was more lax about this with my first son and at his one month check up he was still slightly jaundice. I formula fed him for 3 days and then he was fine. The doctor thinks it was my breast milk. #2 levels didn't get as high as my first due to the doctor knowing what to expect. I made sure to supplement until he no longer took a sip of formula. His jaundice cleared up much faster. Sun light never helped me either, unless I should have took them outside all day.

My daughter had jaundice as well, but i think it was mild, the nurses put her under a blue light for 24 hours, after the 24 hrs she was fine. She also had a heart murmur which concern me the most but the pediatrician would come and check her and he told me it was closing so i felt relived. So keep feeding formula, ur daughter's health is more important, jaundice, i dont really think its real bad, i think the "something else"is causing her to get a bit sick!! I'll pray so everything can be good for u and ur family!!! And congrads on ur new bby girl!!!

Not sure about the formula/breastfeeding issue. But with jaundice, when you get home put your daughter in the window - the natural sunlight helps reduce the jaundice. We did that when my son was an infant - worked like a charm.

My son was jaundiced as well. I wouldn't worry about supplementing in the meantime with formula. I had to do that anyway due to having a procedure after he was born and being on meds that were bad. But I continued pumping and as soon as everything was fine I was able to breastfeed just fine. It's really not that bad. I was a little concerned when I first heard but I think its more common that I thought.

Are you in a room that has a window view? If so, sit and rock her in the sunlight. You'd be amazed at how much this will help her out. We had to deal with this issue with our twins when they were born...in the middle of winter...not fun. Hope you get to bring her home soon!

Did your daughter test positive for coombs? Our son was diagnosed as coombs positive the day he was born. His numbers got to almost 16. We were told that he'd have to be hospitalized if they went beyond 14. He was not hospitalized because he continued to gain weight. One of the side affects of jaundice is lethargy which leads to not eating enough and not being able to 'poop' which is the only way to get rid of the broken down red blood cells. With coombs, the cycle keeps repeating itself. We had to check in every 6 hours to let the ped. know how often he was having wet diapers. Because Zander continued to gain weight we were able to keep him at home, but we had to take him every other day for blood work and then every other day for a weight check. Once his levels started to decrease we were able to discontinue the blood work. His skin was yellow to below his knees by the age of 5 days and at the age of 13 weeks he still had a bit of yellow on his ears and his eyes. He is absolutely fine at the age of almost 15 months. We also had to supplement with formula, but only after I had nursed to make sure he could flush the bilirubin. Once his numbers decreased I was able to cut back on the formula.

I'm wishing you the best!! Congratulations on the birth of your daughter!!

Oh I know I'm going to get crucified for this but continue to supplement with the formula so that the baby can have bowel movements. The chances of your daughter being able to breastfeed once this is cleared up are still very good. Continue to pump in order to encourage your milk to come in and your supply to remain high. If she has problems returning to the breast/latching, then see a good LC for assistance.

Right now the most important thing is to rid the body of the toxins that cause the jaundice and it sounds like you're doing all that you can to make it happen. Good luck to you and your child!

They will not release her from the hospital, until her blood levels are in the safe range.
My son, our hospital was like that.
I breastfed exclusively.

My son's jaundice, did not on its own, normalize.
We had to, at home, have him under those "blue lights" for 24 hours a day, for about 1 week.... and still had to take him to the hospital for blood testing to check his blood levels. Once he came home from the hospital... his jaundice worsened.

Putting him under sunlight like some suggest did not help. One Doctor told us to do that, but it did NOT help.
His blood levels, were elevated and rising. The bilirubin levels.
So you MUST... get appropriate care for it.

At the hospital, for your baby... they should have her under the blue-lights. That breaks down the bilirubin...

Jaundice, if it reaches a certain level, can cause brain damage.
Some hospitals are stricter about that, than others, before they release the baby to go home.

all the best,
Susan