Breast Milk Jaundice

My 3-year-old was re-admitted for jaundice because my breasts weren't producing enough milk and he kept losing weight and he was dehydrated. We were in the hospital for a week - tried a combo of breast milk and formula and then just ended up on formula only. He also had a resistance to dairy so we ended up with soy milk - the same was the case with my 4 year old as far as the dairy problem.

Hi S.-
When my daughter was born, we were at the hospital everyday for a week doing billirubin tests. We also did the light therapy at home. It was very overwhelming. The doctor said it was due to my breastmilk which made me feel worse! But, after talkingto my uncle (a pediatrican) he said that it was ok to continue breastfeeding. The light therapy gets the billirubin number down and once it gets to a certain number and the child is a certain amount of days old, the number stabilizes...so continuing to breastfeed won't spike the billirubin level back up.

It was a lot to take in as a new mom, but I was relieved to know I wouldn't have to stop breastfeeding.

Good luck!

S.,
I'm sorry you are going through this right now. I don't know anything about it, but I wanted to direct you here to find GOOD information on it.
http://www.kellymom.com/newman/07jaundice.html

Good luck!!

I know that it's been a long time since you wrote this, but I hope that the following info might be helpful for you...

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/t029600.asp

http://www.kellymom.com/newman/07jaundice.html

http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVAugSep99p75.html

http://www.llli.org/NB/NBJanFeb93p12.html

If you stopped breastfeeding then and want to relactate now, here is information for that also...

http://www.llli.org/NB/NBrelactation.html

Best wishes,
J.

2 of my girls were jaundiced. The older was born 6 weeks ealry and showed as jaundiced her 5th day. She had the blue light for 2 days. My little one was jaundiced at about 12 for almost 2 weeks. They told me to continue to brestfeed and it would help her. I was also told to open the blinds and remove as much clothing as possible. The sunlight would help. We never ended up putting her under any lights.

KEEP BREASTFEEDING!!! Oh my gosh, I can't believe how hospitals still make such a big deal about jaundice.

Both of my sons were jaundiced as newborns. I have a wonderful doctor who told me, jaundice is NOT A HEALTH problem. It's a PIGMENT problem. Breast milk is the best thing for a jaundiced baby as breastmilk is a natural laxative and pooping is what gets the bilirubin out. So PLEASE keep breastfeeding and relax about the yellow baby. :) I had yellow babies until they were both 8 weeks old and my pediatrician did not even bat an eye. THe phototherapy is usually not necessary, and all it really does is interfere with the breastfeeding relationship which is so vital to the baby's health and well being. So nurse constantly, on demand, as much as you can. It will go away. Don't stress. Breastfeed.

Read Dr. Sears or Dr. Mendelsohn's books. They will help calm your fears. He will be fine. Just nurse and nurse and nurse. That's the best medicine for everyone.

Wanted to add, I think that 27 is where they only need to start THINKING about the lights, and even then it's probably not necessary. Advocate for your baby and find a ped who will support you. You know what is best. Breastmilk is the best food for a jaundiced baby. NOT formula. :)

I was bound and determined to breastfed no matter what since I couldn't exclusively breastfed with my first. My daughter was very jaundice but, never exceeded the limit. She was jaundice for at least 3 weeks.. and seriously maybe longer but her levels were low enough that it was not an issue after 3 weeks. In retrospect, the only reason that I would have done the formula was to get the Drs off my back and get the big needles out of her feet (she still has scars at 3 from all the jabs). On the other end of things, she had her first anaphylactic reaction at 4 months old when she barely took a sip of formula. So, I am very thankful I did not introduce it to a newborn that might not have been able to fight anaphylaxis. I am sure every situation is different. Listen to your momma instinct. Congrats on your new little guy!

My oldest son had jaundice & also had to be hospitalized for 3 days when he was 5 days old. I was advised to take him out in sunlight to help get rid of billiruben & to continue feeding formula. He already was primarily on formula due to his hospital stay~during which time I pumped. I gradually, over about a weeks time returned him to exclusively breast milk.

I can't help much more than my baby was diagnosed with the same thing yesterday. I was told to continue breastfeeding and that it wasn't uncommon, but that it should clear itself in a matter of weeks. We were at level 9 though.

There is no reason why you shouldn't breastfeed, if that is what you want to do. Breastmilk will help the baby poop out the bilirubin quicker, ime. My breastfed baby pooped every time she nursed and her jaundice was completely gone by the end of the first month. As long as his levels are within the normal range, just continue to nurse him frequently and the jaundice will clear up soon.

Hi S. - Congratulations on your new baby! My daughter also had Breast Milk Jaundice. She didn't have to have photo therapy but we did have daily visits to the doctor for about 1 week. I continued to breastfeed her the entire time. Unfortunately I feel that often times formula is suggested to quickly. I think you have to think about all the benefits of breastfeeding that formula doesn't offer. What really helped my daughter was getting out in the sun. We went out for a lot of walks so she could get some natural vitamin D.
I hope your son continues to get better. Best wishes to you and your family.
C.

I found this on webmd.

http://children.webmd.com/tc/jaundice-in-newborns-hyperbi...

In breast-fed babies, mild jaundice sometimes lasts until 10 to 14 days after birth. In some breast-fed babies, it goes away and then comes back. Jaundice may last throughout breast-feeding. This isn't usually a problem as long as the baby gets enough milk by being fed at regular times.

Keep feeding that baby. Make sure its getting enough sun. I feel for you, first child had to undergo the billi machine. Good luck.

my second son was jaundice. I breastfed him as often as posssible and had him in sunlight for short periods. the sun helps the jaudice and pooping helps the jaudice so that is why I nursed him as often as posssible. If he gets to used to the bottle it might be hard to go back to nursing

My son is now 5 but when he was new his bilirubin went up to 23.8. I was breastfeeding and noticed that he was a bit of a lazy eater. While in the hospital under the lights I was told to nurse him then my mom would give him a bottle of pumped milk and if he was still willing a bottle of formula. It took a really long time to go away but I wouldn't stop breastfeeding. On the drastic end of things they can give your baby a blood transfusion to try to speed things up. I know this is really hard. Good luck.
N.

S.,
I had breastmilk jaundice too. My baby had jaundice levels that reached 15 when she was a week old, but didn't have to be treated. Then, after a month, I noticed that she was starting to get noticably yellow. At her two month dr appointment, I had her levels checked, and they were at 18. The dr told me it was breastmilk jaundice and that I should put her on formula for a few days. I said NO! There are so many problems with formulas, allergies and links to type 2 diabetes and digestive problems, that I just didn't want to do it. I called my la leche league leader, who said as long as the levels don't get over 25, which they will not reach in breastmilk jaundice, the baby was OK. I had to tell my dr that I was going to disagree with her, which was not comfortable, but I had to do what I thought was best for my baby. Anyway, the yellow lasted another month, but gradually decreased as I fed her a ton and put her in the sunlight as much as I could. By three and a half months, she was not yellow at all, and her levels were in the normal. So, it was a looong process, but the baby was in no danger even though she had high levels, and I never had to stop breastfeeding or supplement with formula.
Good luck to you!

i recently went through the same thing with my now 6 month old son. he was hospitalized (number was 20 or 21) on day 6 and responded well to the phototherapy. at his 6 week check up, he was still yellow and had his bili checked and it was still a little high, but nothing dangerous. i was told by my ped to NEVER stop nursing even though it was breastmilk jaundice. breastmilk is the BEST for your baby and if you do some research online, you'll even see some stuff saying it's odd when babies don't get jaundice. breastmilk is "nature" and a little breastmilk jaundice is fine and normal really. i highly recommend you continue to breastfeed your son and not worry too much about it. my little guy was yellowish (or, as i liked to say - had a nice tan) for his first couple of months and then it went away once he got older. he is 6 months now and pale as could be!

PLEASE do not stop nursing your child! This is the best thing for oyur child, and no formula can contain the antibodies in your milk to protect your infant! At this point you need to talk to a good lactation consultant and go to a LA LAche League meeting to gget support. If you are near the NW suburbs there is a fabulous nursing group at the St. Alexius hospital on Mondays from 10-12 (come when you can) called B. E. S. T. Especially with the swine flu season coming in the fall a sick baby will nurse but will not eat or drink formula so it is VERY important you are nursing to protect your child! Your body makes antibodies in the breast milk within 2 hours of "catching" a germ! Thats AMAZING!!! You are your own Pharmaceutical company!If you feel you need to supplement with formula please make sure you contact a LC to keep your milk supply up while its establishing right now and then move as quickly as you can onto the breast and off of the formula

My daughter developed jaundice after we went home. We had to go back to the hospital becuase she was actually very sick with it (she went under the lights and all). I get the breastfeeding is best but sometimes people can get so fixated on "breast is best" that they ignore that there can be problems with breastfeeding too. I did EVERYTHING I could to breastfeed my daughter for several months but I was not producinig enough milk for her and that's what caused the jaundice. I breastfed, supplemented with a tiny tube that gave her formula in addition to breastmilk when I fed, pumped, worked with a lacation consultant, etc. I just never produced enough milk so eventually my daughter was formula fed. She's a happy, healthy, very, very smart (got herself into the best public middle school in the state), and absolutely beautiful.

Certainly keep trying to breasfeed but unless there is an allergy involved, supplementing with or switching to formula isn't as bad as some make it out to be. Good luck.

Moms - please, please no one respond and tell me that I should have done something different or didn't try hard enough or long enough or ask how I could not breastfeed my children. You cannot believe how judgemental people are about this topic. I went through a lot to try and breasfeed but people are still critical.

S.,
I continued to breast feed, but supplemented with formula. I just went through this with my little guy (now 5 weeks). I supplemented for 2 weeks and his levels slowly improved.

www.kellymom.com is a great resource for nursing moms. you may want to check it out. Sounds like you have gotten some good encouragement. Jaundice can be very serious at the high levels, it's not just a pigment problem, as one person said. But check with kellymom, because you may not need to use formula:)

Both my kids had jaundice, not as high levels as your. However my daughter was yellow for a long time after birth. I continued to breastfeed. I believe I read somewhere that colostrum lowers bilirubin so continue to breastfeed frequently.

Dr minkus in skokie encouraged me to breastfeed.

KEEP BREASTFEEDING! Don't bother pumping until your baby is a bit older.

There is no clinical evidence that stopping breastfeeding will do anything to prevent or reduce jaundice. In fact, the only research I was able to find specifically says that women are mislead into thinking their breastfeeding caused the jaundice and that if they are given accurate information they are more likely to continue breastfeeding.

Here's the reference for that:
The impact of the maternal experience with a jaundiced newborn on the breastfeeding relationship.
Authors:
Willis, Sharla K.; Hannon, Patricia R.; Scrimshaw, S. C.
Source:
Journal of Family Practice; May2002, Vol. 51 Issue 5, p465-465, 1/2p

My doctor told me to get outside with my children and get some sun for both myself and the infant. Also to have the baby in a room with alot of natural sunlight with all shades, curtains open. I am sure an explanation went with this but as I had a few problems with delivery and eclampsia I can't remember. I am assuming sunlight helps your body create vitamin D and also has the same light rays as a phototherapy light. Just watch out for not too much as you don't want a sunburnt baby or Mommy.

Both my children were jaundiced. I know my daughter peaked out at 14 (not terribly high)but my son was higher (don't remember the number now). I know the hospital was insistent that I give my daughter formula and breast feed her, as my milk came in slowly. Looking back, it probably came in so slowly because she was drinking so much formula. The hospital made me feel like an awful person for not "wanting to do more for my baby" and was insistent that I supplement. Being my first born, I was concerned for her health and didn't know any better. She always remained challenging to breast feed. She never was required to undergo the phototherapy treatment but we did have to have her in sunlight, at home, stripped down to a diaper.

With my son, even though he was jaundiced, I did the sunlight treatment at home and he latched on quickly and my doctor just encouraged me to frequently breast feed because I did not want to formula-feed my son.

My teen and tween are both healthy today and do not have food allergies, as some of your previous post's have experienced.

S.,

I had the same situation with my son when he was born. His bilirubin levels also hit 25, but within 2 days of his birth. It was unknown that I was actually sick at the time, thus transferring the jaundice through my milk.
I ended up having to stop nursing all together. Once he was on formula and under the "lights" for treatment, he was fine. Of course, this was 19 years ago...things may have changed since then. I think this one is a good question for the doctor to be safe. If you pump for a couple weeks then try again, maybe it will be alright.
Best of luck to you.

S.,

Is there any link between your diet and the jaundice? Maybe there's a vitamin or mineral that's missing from what you're eating. I'm not terribly familiar with breast milk jaundice, but it would be interesting to see if any doctors have made a connection to diet.

Sorry...I realize that's not terribly helpful. Good luck!

-J.

I also was bound and determined to exclusively breastfeed my little man (now 8 mos) since my daughter (just turned 2) never latched on properly and after 4 mos of pumping exclusively with a pump in style, I dried up. Daughter has 4 food allergies including life threatening peanut...so you understand my determination. My son had jaundice but it also did not exceed the levels for release after 3 days along with me (I had an emergency unexpected c-section with him due to a short umbilical cord) though it was rising and very close. Peds at hospital sent me home with formula (which I used one bottle of and pumped -- he spit up terribly)...after that, I said to heck with it -- just watched his yellow-ness and the whites of his eyes to make sure he wasn't getting any worse. Went to his 5 day appt (we saw staff peds at hospital b/c our ped wasn't on staff there), and then his month appt. By the month, he was pretty much normal. He is a happy, healthy little guy. He spent some time under the lights at the hospital but they did not send me home with one. Good luck! Just keep an eye on it and if you are worried your little baby is getting worse, take him in to his pediatrician for a "yellow" check and a weight check! By the way -- had my son tested for food allergies at 6 mos before introducing solids -- and no allergies! Allergist said he would have been sensitized by the bmilk if he would be developing them...so not to worry! I am very excited!