I had to stop giving breastmilk to my baby because the doctor said that it was causing the baby to have jaundice (yellowing of the skin). Did this happen to you? When did you start breastfeeding again?
2006-09-13 13:43:19 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
according to many drs breast milk can cause/worsen certain types of jaundice (not all jaundice is the same as it were).
here is an interesting article:
http://www.drgreene.com/21_100.html
2006-09-13 16:29:05 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
AAH, what a horrible doctor!
I hate when doctors recommend mothers stop breastfeeding - it is borderline negligent! The baby has to poop and pee a lot so the jaundice will go away. Frequent nursing helps this happen, but if your milk is not in yet, it will take a long time for all of the toxins to exit the body (hence the yellow coloring).
To prevent jaundice with one of our kids, we supplemented (breastfed and then added an ounce or two of formula on top of each feeding). We used the breast pump to make sure the milk continued to come in, so there wouldn't be any drawbacks from supplementing.
Don't stop breastfeeding if you have milk!!
2006-09-13 22:44:06 · answer #2 · answered by jane 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If I were in that situation I would get a second opinion. Rarely, if ever, does breastfeeding need to be discontinued even for a short time. Your doctor may be giving you bad information. I'd suggest you get another opinion and also contact a LLL Leader and/or a Lactation Consultant.
How old is your baby, when did the jaundice set in, how high are the levels and is he peeing/pooping and gaining weight?
Read the information below at the Kellymom link.
2006-09-13 21:35:29 · answer #3 · answered by momma2mingbu 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My son was born with Jaundice. My doctor also said not to nurse as much because it makes it worse. The La Leche League informed me, however, that it was the other way around. The more you nurse, the sooner it will go away. I personally didn't stop nursing. My son's jaundice went away, and he's healthy. Nursing does not cause Jaundice, and as long as you put your baby in sunlight it should go away. I wouldn't suggest you stop nursing. If your baby's pretty much healthy the jaundice will go away but it's hard to re-establish a good milk supply. Breast is Best!
2006-09-13 21:12:57 · answer #4 · answered by Violet 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
It's very, very rare to actually have to stop breastfeeding for jaundice. It's also quite likely that your doctor is wrong about this- doctors are not actually taught much about human lactation, and this is something that they frequently give poor advice about.
I would strongly urge you to get in touch with a La Leche League leader, either locally or on their message boards (links attached) and do some more research about this before you go too much longer.
It sucks that we can't trust doctors to give us good advice about breastfeeding. :(
2006-09-13 20:56:19 · answer #5 · answered by kalirush 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
my son did have jaundice but it had nothing to do with my milk it has something to do with the babies liver i never knew milk could do that! u learn something new everyday.
i had to stop breast feeding because i wasnt producing enough milk and my poor boy would be feeding on each breast for an hour at a time and still not etting enough. i am pregnant again and going to give it another go.
2006-09-13 20:47:46 · answer #6 · answered by Krissy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your doctor was wrong. Breastmilk does not cause jaundice. It actually helps it to go away more quickly.
2006-09-13 22:24:06 · answer #7 · answered by I ♥ EC 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Babies usually get jaundice because they don't have enough liquid in their system to remove the bilirubin from their system. Bilirubin occurs naturally in our blood. However, the baby can also get jaundiced from an incompatibility of blood types with their mother.
My newborn turned yellow and it was very upsetting. The reason was he wasn't getting enough breast milk from me. It was alleviated when I supplemented with formula.
2006-09-13 21:39:39 · answer #8 · answered by tish 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How old is your son? Mine was a bit jaunticed but it wasn't noticed until he was on the recovering side of it. I was told that it is common in breastfed babies until the mother's milk comes in. If that was the case then the best thing to do was to keep breastfeeding to encourage the milk supply and the baby should have been monitored and possibly supplimented if necessary. But to be told to quit breastfeeding - never heard of it.
2006-09-13 20:48:14 · answer #9 · answered by AlongthePemi 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
When my daughter was born, she dropped so fast that her faced slammed into my pelvis. This made her very bruised all over her face. Before we left the hospital the dr.'s told me that she was jaundice due to the bruising. I asked the dr. why it was taking so long for it to go away (about a week), and she told me that it was actually going away very quickly. This was because I DIDN'T breast feed. She told me that babies that take breast milk can't flush it out of their system as fast. So my guess is that once your baby is starts to flush this out of his/her system, you will be able to breast feed again. Good Luck!
2006-09-13 21:32:18 · answer #10 · answered by r_u_kidding 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋