my 4 day old baby has jaundice..pls help?

Question

im currently using the phototherapy and i just read this article online that symptoms for jaundice getting worse is (execessive sleepiness..wont wake up to eat, less bm and wet diapers per day..etc) my baby is currently sleeping under the phototherapy light and has been for the past hour and before that i breastfed him but for only a couple of minutes before he slept and i put him in...should i wake him up and feed him..im getting worried he isnt eating enough and isnt having enough bm and wet diapers..he sleeps all day..wat should i do? im going in to see him doc on monday..but i wanna do something about it now..thanks in advance

Answer 1

hi, my youngest had issues with this too. she was almost orange in color by her 5 day.. she was also using that light .. she looked like a little glow worm..
her tests was always very high near the 20's and we were in the hospital every day for 3 weeks... over this... her poor heels were raw from being poked every day ..;( she used that light for that long too... i will say relax some.. keep using the light .. and sit by any sunlight you have coming in ..even if you have a fish tank sit by that too.. it all helps.. sounds odd but it helps.... as for him not being alert .. wake him up.. cuddle him ...lots of skin to skin contact .. will help... if his appetite is down.. don't wait how ever long between feedings.. make it sooner even if hes only eating a little.. at a time... every little counts .. and if he is awake give it a shot ..
hope this helps you some you .. i know how scary it can be .. but keep doing what ever your doc tells you on this.. it will be OK
best wishes to you and your little one.


p.s.
if you nursing the baby .. continue to do so.. like everyone said as well..like someone else.said... my doc.. told me to stop nursing her.. and everything in me felt it was wrong to do so.. she was my third child my milk was just starting to come in .. and he wastelling me to stop.. all i could think was if i do that now.. i will mess up my milk suppply so.. it just felt wrong.. so i nursed her as others said more often.. i even just let stay latched on while she was sleeping if she did.. ..;) as long as she liked.. so try your best not to stop

Answer 2

It is totally normal to lose weight, and he should be starting to gain weight any day now. They don't get really concerned unless he is not back up to his birth weight within 10 days. Did the doc say where the hernia is? Most common is a hernia where the force of labor and crying pushes a little of his intestine against his healing umilicus (belly button) making it bulge a little. If this is the case, then once the belly button falls off and heals up, they simply put a little gauze and a bandage over it to give a little counter pressure so it heals tight and the intestines don't get pushed into any serious trouble. If it is an internal hernia somewhere else, it will be dealt with as the baby ages and is better able to handle treatment. A herniated umbilicus doesn't usually hurt and most hernias don't hurt unless you move and irritate them in a particular way, all of which is unlikey at four days old. Military doctors are frequently overworked and sometimes have been trained in other things then thrown into Family Practice. Learn now to be your own and your baby's advocate. If you need time, ask for it. If you have questions, ask them and keep at it until they satisfy you. Don't be rude, but don't just go home because they seemed busy. He should be starting to gain weight now and since it is a maybe hernia, you will have to wait for now. Try not to let the mommy worries get you into too big a tizzy (I called the doctor weekly at first, I totally know how you feel) you will feel more confident and more comfortable every day.

Answer 3

You should wake the baby every 2 hours during the day and every 4 hours at night.

If you can't wake the baby to feed you need to get to the ER. (That's only if you can't wake the baby, not if baby refuses the breast).

Breastfeeding should NEVER be discontinued because of jaundice. Supplementation should be with mom's milk if at all possible. Supplementation should never be by bottle. Offereing expressed breastmilk (or formula) in a syringe, cup, or SNS can allow a sleepy baby to get breastmilk more easily without cause nipple confusion.

At 4 days old the baby should have 3-4 wet diapers on day 4, 4-5 on day 5 and 5-6+ thereafter. The baby's poop should be bright yellow (ie no more meconium) by tomorrow at the latest but 3 days is the usual guideline. Pee should be light coloured or clear but with jaundice it is sometimes pink.

A wet diaper has 45 mL of liquid, pour that into a clean diaper to get an idea what a wet diaper is. A poo is the size of a US quarter. More is better. A baby may pee less often but more at a time, or more to the point you might not notice until there is more pee. That's fine. If you are having a really hard time with trying to figure out if the baby has peed put a paper towel in the baby's diaper.

IS BABY GETTING ENOUGH? -- QUICK REFERENCE CARD
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/enough-milk.html


http://www.kellymom.com/bf/start/basics/hunger-cues.html
"My newborn wants to sleep all the time! Should I wake him to nurse?"

Yes, if he doesn't wake on his own. Many newborns are very sleepy in the early days or weeks and may not exhibit hunger cues as often as they actually need to eat. Newborns should be nursed anytime they cue hunger, but at least every 2 hours during the day and at least once during the night. Once your baby has established a good weight gain pattern (at least 4 ounces per week, for babies under 4 months), you can stop waking baby to nurse and let him set his own pattern.


Breastfeeding and Jaundice
http://www.kellymom.com/newman/07jaundice.html
Two Types of Jaundice

The liver changes bilirubin so that it can be eliminated from the body (the changed bilirubin is now called conjugated, direct reacting, or water soluble bilirubin--all three terms mean essentially the same thing). If, however, the liver is functioning poorly, as occurs during some infections, or the tubes that transport the bilirubin to the gut are blocked, this changed bilirubin may accumulate in the blood and also cause jaundice. When this occurs, the changed bilirubin appears in the urine and turns the urine brown. This brown urine is an important clue that the jaundice is not "ordinary". Jaundice due to conjugated bilirubin is always abnormal, frequently serious and needs to be investigated thoroughly and immediately. Except in the case of a few extremely rare metabolic diseases, breastfeeding can and should continue.

Accumulation of bilirubin before it has been changed by the enzyme of the liver may be normal—"physiologic jaundice" (this bilirubin is called unconjugated, indirect reacting or fat soluble bilirubin). Physiologic jaundice begins about the second day of the baby's life, peaks on the third or fourth day and then begins to disappear. However, there may be other conditions that may require treatment that can cause an exaggeration of this type of jaundice. Because these conditions have no association with breastfeeding, breastfeeding should continue. If, for example, the baby has severe jaundice due to rapid breakdown of red blood cells, this is not a reason to take the baby off the breast. Breastfeeding should continue in such a circumstance.


Jaundice
http://www.breastfeeding-basics.com/html/jaundice.shtml
Nearly all infants are jaundiced to some degree. In the vast majority of cases, newborn jaundice is a normal process, which many researchers feel may even serve protective functions, such as guarding the infant from the effects of oxygen free radicals. It makes sense that something that occurs in the majority of babies so routinely may be part of nature’s plan for the human infant.



Jaundice Helps Babies!
http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=21&action=detail&ref=1243

Answer 4

Yes, wake him at least every two hours during the day, and at least every three at night in order to feed the baby. Make sure that he gets a good feeding session in - more than just a couple of minutes. To wake him a little more, undress him, gently run a cool cloth over her face.
The lights are the best way to get the bili levels down, but breastmilk is the next. It is a natural laxative, and that will help him to eliminate more bilirubin.
You need to nurse at least every two hours to keep him hydrated and to stimulate your supply.
6-8 wet/poopy diapers in a 24hr period is what you're looking for.

Answer 5

Frankly, I think the way that doctors handle jaundice just scares the crap out of you for absolutely NO good reason--happened to me,

The cure for jaundice is to nurse him more. Wake him up to nurse if you have to. He needs to be nursing every two hours--from the start of the feed. So if he started at 8:00am, he needs to eat again at 10:00am. Wow, your son sounds just like my first! He was a sleepy eater who had a touch of reflux. It's not in your head, they are a more challenging child. You might find that you need to undress him for feeds, that you'll need to rub his back, tickle his toes, trace his ear, anything to keep him awake. This is OK.

First of all, don't worry. Second, nurse him as much as possible. If you can, take him outside to expose him to sunshine--that helps like the lights.

Whatever you do, don't stop nursing, the cure for jaundice is to nurse MORE not less. One stupid doctor told me to supplement with formula for a couple days, which dropped my milk supply and I almost quit.

I'm going to link some information for you so that you don't worry. The other thing that will SAVE you, is to get a book on breastfeeding, like The Nursing Mother's Companion Guide, The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book by Newman, etc. I wish I had had a breastfeeding book at the beginning with my first because I had so many questions that needed answering, It's like having a lactation consultant on your bedside table. Send baby's dad out to pick up a copy as soon as you can.

I mean, think about it, if almost all breastfed babies get jaundice, don't you think there's a natural reason? In fact, a study just came out that said that jaundice is protective and beneficial for a breastfed child and not something that needs to be overly managed.

Don't worry, everything, I mean *everything* will be better in about 6 weeks. If you can make it through the next 6-7 weeks, you will be home free.

Answer 6

give the lights some time to do their job your baby will probably be on them for a few days, you should probably feed him at least every 3 hours, not all babys will wake up when they are hungry they are happy to starve thats what my sisters dr told her about her baby, the more bms the baby has the better because it means that the extra bilirubin is being broken down and leaving his system, good luck and i hope your baby gets well soon

Answer 7

Keep breastfeeding as others have advised. Wake him to feed him . Be sure that you are getting plenty of water so that you are producing enough milk. Even with the lights, it can take a few days to clear up.

See some more advice at the source below.

Answer 8

Let him sleep for 2 hours, then wake him up to feed. If falls asleep before at least 15 min of eating gently wake him and try to feed longer. Breast milk digests in about 90 min, so I would make sure he eats at least every 2 hours. Goodluck with your baby!

Answer 9

With a new baby they will fall asleep while eating. The sucking is calming to them, so you have to keep him awake, play with his feet, unwrap him, and keep doing this until he has nursed well for a while, but remember your babies stomach is only the size of a large marble or golf ball right now, but the only way to get rid of jaundice is to get tehm to nurse. Often times breastfeeding babies have a longer recovery from jaundice because they do not get as much fluid as formula fed babies, so feed him often, even waking him every 2 to 3 hours to eat. Whether he wakes up or not on his own. Feeding water will not help though, bilirubin is only expelled in feces, so water will not flush it out. Good Luck! If you need more advice, email me. [e-mail]

Answer 10

My baby was slightly jaundice when I brought her home. The Dr told me to feed her every hour just a little bit and that would help clean her system out. She wasn't as bad as your baby though so I would see your Dr before Monday. Cal him or her, that's what they're there for.