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Breast fed Jaundice
Hi
My son is nearly five weeks old and still has a tinge of yellow in his skin. We have been referred to a jaundice clinic at our local hospital next weds. Has anybody else heard of breast fed jaundice? Do I need to be concerned??
My son is nearly five weeks old and still has a tinge of yellow in his skin. We have been referred to a jaundice clinic at our local hospital next weds. Has anybody else heard of breast fed jaundice? Do I need to be concerned??
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Replies
My DD was admitted to SCBU with jaundice and dehydration at 3 days old. She stayed under the double lights for 2 days and her belarubin (sp?) then dropped to an acceptable level. I woulod say she was still varying shades of yellow for a good 6 weeks after that.
We were told that jaundice is more common in bf babies but that the benefits of breast milk by far outweigh the effect of the janudice on the baby. To put it into context, we were told under no circumstances to consider topping up with formula when DD was ill, despite the fact she was dehydrated! I'm glad now we were told that as we a re still successfully bf and she's 8 months now.
At the jaundice clinic, the docs will probably just take a history, encourage you to keep feeding, check your LO's weight gain, maybe check his belarubin level and maybe do some bloods to check the cause of the jaundice.
Really it's nothing to worry about - jaundice is only really dangerous to babies when it reaches extremely high levels (at least that's what we were told!)
Hope it goes well.
xx
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