Do NOT stop breastfeeding due to the jaundice if what you want is to continue your breastfeeding relationship! Not only will the 24-48 hour "break" from breastmilk hurt your nursing relationship and your supply, it will not clear up the jaundice if continuing to breastfeed would also not have cleared it up.
As long as your baby is not lethargic, has 5-6 wet (disposable) diapers per day with clear/pale yellow pee, bowel movements, and is getting both fore and hind milk at the nursing sessions, you can generally breathe a sigh of relief. For more information and concerns, contact an LLL near you. Free consultation by phone, and so helpful. You can look up local groups at: www.llli.org
My dd was in the same situation- she was under the bili lights at home for over a week b/c of the jaundice and had daily heel sticks to check her levels. They also recommended that I supplement with formula - not b/c bf'ing was bad for the jaundice, but b/c they tend to drink more formula than breastmilk (it's easier), so they pee more which gets the bili out. My dd was nursing fine though and I decided not to supplement/replace because bf'ing was important to me and I didn't want her to stop nursing. She kicked the jaundice fine. Make sure she's getting lots of sunshine too! Good luck.
My son was BF jaundiced for about 6-8 weeks (he was like George Hamilton in pictures). My doc did not recommend that I stop breastfeeding. She said it would go away on its own and it did. Look it up at www.kellymom.com for more information. A very helpful BFing website. Good luck! (oh - and the sunshine thing too also seemed to help. we would set him up in our front sunroom in just his diaper for 30 minutes - if it was nice out we'd sit outside for about 10 minutes so he could get some sun. that is supposed to help get it out too.)
Michelle, your baby's bilirubin levels has nothing to do with breast feeding. It has to do only with your baby's liver functioning. Perhaps the doctor's asked you to stop breast feeding because a formula if synthetically balanced and may have more of what your baby needs.
I would get a 2nd opinion from another specialist in a couple of days after the doctor checks the bilirubin levels if they are not stabilizing at normal levels.
Here are a couple of excellent articles that I found online. They suggest the opposite of what your doctor recommended. If I were you I would start doing more reseach.
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/common/jaundice.html
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/541770_5
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001559.htm
Madeline
Michelle:
My daughter was jaundice....just put her in the carseat and put her in indirect sunlight for a several minutes per day. I did that per my doctors orders and she was better in just a couple of days.
Karen
You've gotten a lot of responses already...just wanted to throw in what worked for us as well. My first son was 5 weeks early and had jaundice relatively high. I panicked when he was losing weight because he wasn't awake enough to eat and went straight to bottle just to see how much he was taking. I'm SOOOO thankful that I talked to my sister right then who encouraged me NOT to stop breastfeeding, though I was panicked about the kid losing weight/starving. I then pumped as much as I could and fed pumped milk to him (tiring time of constant pumping/feeding, but well worth it!). That way I could continue nursing (and did well past the jaundice stage until after a year old) and still see how many ounces he was getting. It was a scary week, but thankfully just a week to get back on track!! The main thing that brought the billirubin down was sunning him in the window. We put him in the baby bouncer in the sunlight from the window with an infant cap on his head over his eyes to protect his eyes and otherwise just the diaper on. It worked!! Came down over the week with just sunning him as much as possible and throughout the week we had to bring him in to the hospital daily for a billirubin check/heel prick. The first time was aweful with the baby screaming and I couldn't stand to go back, so my husband took him each day after that first time and said each day after was 100 times easier...the first day was just not a good day with getting the blood to flow to collect it they said. So that's what worked for us...all in all I stopped nursing for 24 hours about before talking to my sister and then nursed and pumped like crazy when I went back to it and supply was just fine and he adjusted just fine. My GUESS as to why they suggested to stop breastfeeding is not because formula could help in any way as I too am sure that it would not have anything to do with it, but rather that's the easy way to tell how much the baby is taking in, so I'd suggest pumping and feeding breastmilk as opposed to just skipping to formula. Doctors often go toward "easy" as opposed to "best" option it sure seems. Hang in there!!! Scary time in the midst of it as I remember but for a short time at least!
I have never heard of such a thing.
What hospital?
I would pump and ask for a lacatation specialist to come help you during this. Also I would ask how formula is going to HELP the levels out verus breastmilk.
I think I would ask alot of questions til it either seemed reasonable or not.
I am surprised that your doctor suggested to stop breastfeeding. All three of my children had jaundice when they were born. In the hospital they were put under the blue lights occasionally to bring down the bilirubin levels. Two of them came home with a biliblanket, which you wrap them in and plug it in for much of the day. With one of the children, the nurses had me cupfeed the baby formula to supplement the breastfeeding. This way it was not confused with a bottle nipple and still got supplemented. I was surprised how the newborn would take the formula from a small cup (which I of course had to raise to his mouth to drink.
Good luck!
My son was also jaundiced for a few days or a week after he was born, but never did the doctor tell me to quit breastfeeding. I was also told to put him in sunlight as often as possible, and I nursed him as much as possible, though breastfeeding was a struggle for the first week or so with him. Keep it up! And if your doctor insists on the formula, seek another opinion. I definitely don't think that's the best option - breast milk is ALWAYS best and has EVERYTHING your little girl needs!
I have never heard of such a thing. Breastfeeding is supposed to be the best food for your child. I think I'd maybe get a second opinion if I were you. I breastfed my daughter for almost 18 months and the thought of giving her formula made me sick.
Good luck!
The advice your doctor gave doesn't make sense to me. Are you on any medication that he is worried is getting to the baby and causing the jaundice? Or did he say that your milk supply is too low and the baby's not getting enough fluid? If there's no reason given for why he thinks the breastmilk is contributing to the problem, I would seek another opinion. Google lactation consultants in your area, or call the hospital that you delivered at, and ask for the lactation consultant. She will help you make sense of his advice, if it's good advice, or she may even be able to speak to him directly to be an advocate for you and the baby. If they work in the same hospital, they should have open lines of communication to resolve this and make some sense out of it.
Hi Michelle,
My little one had jaundice in the hospital too. (I couldn't nurse once we got home because of medication for complications). But, our ped suggested letting her nap in front of a window to get exposure to sunlight without having to get the UVA/UVB exposure. That had it cleared up in a day or two.
Good luck!
Hi, Michelle. When my son (now 19 mos.) was born, he was jaundiced and a sleep eater. Because of the sleepiness, he wasn't stimulating enough milk production and consequently remained jaundiced for a bit. Our nurses just had me supplement one ounce of formula after breastfeeding once a day for a few days, and that helped flush out the bilirubin for him.
If breastfeeding is something you want to do, do NOT stop - your daughter will benefit from it, and by continuing, you will help keep your supply up. For us, the breastmilk plus minimal formula supplement flushed everything out, and my son is fine.
You might also want to contact a lactation consultant - I can recommend one, if you like. Good luck!
Nina
Hi Michelle,
I have 4 children and 3 out of the 4 had jaundice. My third son was put back into the hospital for a week because his bili level was 24, which is seriously high. I have heard that pitocin which is used to induce labor is what is causing so much jaundice in babies. I had pitocin with all 3 of my babies that had jaundice and did not have pitocin with my one child that did not have jaundice. I have heard that babies can get jaundice from breast feeding but I don't know the reason why. When a baby has jaundice they want to get as many fluids in the baby's body as possible and that's why they often ask you to wait on breastfeeding. I would suggest bottle feeding and just pump and store your milk in the freezer, just to make sure the baby is getting lots of fluids. I know now they say not to give babies water but they had me give my son water also. My son who was in the hospital was put on an IV. All the fluids help flush the body out and get the liver working right. Don't worry about the baby having nipple confusion, she probably will if you are doing bottle for 48 hours. Don't worry you can get her back on the breast, it won't probably be easy but if that's all you offer her she will finally give in and take to the breast. She is so little you should be able to get her back on breast feeding. Breast milk is so good for the baby especially the first 6 weeks!!
Did they tell you to take her clothes off and lay her in the sun near a window in your house, not outside of course. Don't put her face in the sun just her body. And make sure that she isn't there long enough to get sun burn. Push the fluids. My doctor had me bring my babies back in to the office each day to have a bilirubin test. Once the levels start to fall they usually don't go back up again, because the liver is finally working. Also, when their jaundice is high they tend to sleep a lot, so wake her up when it is time to feed. That way she will be getting the fluids she needs. Don't worry, I am sure she will be fine, but it is scary when your baby is sick and you have no idea if they are getting better or not. Congratulations on your new little baby girl!!!!
My little one had jaundice, but we were able to keep breastfeeding through it. The important thing is to keep your milk supply up if you suplement. Get advise from www.kellymom.com They are really good with this stuff. Post this as a question there with lots of detail. They are so knowledgable, but will need the specifics (age, counts, etc.)
Good Morning Michelle,
I had a very similar experience with my 1st child-now almost 10 yrs.old!I stopped breastfeeding for 2 days. For that 1 or 2 days I just pumped and saved up the breast milk (handy for later anyways). I gave her the powdered formula-Dr. said it would be easire on her stomach. It was. Her bili level dropped after that. I went back to nursing her just fine after. It will be OK. She did breastfeed after that, but always preferred the bottle.
I am a Stay-At-Home mom to 2 beautiful girls. 8 and 9 1/2yrs. I volunteer alot. I have a great husband who works 2 jobs, coaches soccer, and heads up our Brownie Troop!
I would definitely pump as much as you can (while she is not nursing)and store it. You need to keep your milk production up if you plan to keep nursing her. One of my sons had mild jaundice, but I never was told to stop nursing for a period of time. Was told to expose him to sunlight. Jaundice went away. I am sure that they told you that too.
HTH. Good luck
Shannon
Stopping breastfeeding will not help the billirubin levels go down. It is strange that a doctor would even suggest this.
It will just put a kink in her ability to take the breast.
If you give a bottle your daughter will want to keep taking the bottle (because it is easier to suck from than the breast). It is very hard to switch back and forth between bottle and breast with a newborn, I know this from experience.
You daughter needs to eat more so she can poop more. If I were you I would increase my feedings to once every hour, or more if she wants it. (If she wont take breastmilk from your breast, then pump and feed her from an eye dropper, syringe, spoon or bottle if needed.) The more she eats, the more she will poop. The more she poops, the less meconium poop she will have in her intestines.
Do a little reaserch for yourself too. Personally I would not take the doctors advice in this situation. Breast milk is best. Here are a few links I found with a quick google search (Breastfeeding and Jaundice):
http://www.kellymom.com/newman/07jaundice.html
http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/breastfeeding/guide/breastfeeding_jaundice.html
http://www.breastfeeding-basics.com/html/jaundice.shtml
Just wanted to throw in my two cents. My baby got jaundiced within the first few days of birth and it was very scary and awful to sit through those dang pin pricks. I wanted to die. I was breastfeeding but that is not the cause as you already know. (I also had a totally natural birth so it had nothing to do with drugs). It was because he was falling to sleep before he was done feeding so he wasn't really pooping enough to get the bilirubin out. The bilirubin actually makes them sleepy too so it's like a vicious cycle. Also it they are having trouble latching on which is common in the beginning too. I had to put my little one in the hospital under the lights cause his count was so high. I supplemented with formula at the insistence of the nurses but I kept breastfeeding and stayed with him the entire time. In the end everything was okay and baby had a suntan, kept breastfeeding and in the end wouldn't take a bottle at all. Good luck to you and your baby! Sounds like all is on the road to recovery.
That is really odd that your doctor said to stop breastfeeding! When my son was jaundiced, I was told that the best thing to do is breastfeed as much as possible so their system adjusts and is able to get rid of the bilirubin as quickly as possible. Around day 10 the levels are supposed to be at their highest, so after then, you should see a decrease in your baby's levels. My son got up to 19.4 and then naturally his levels decreased and he was absolutely fine - without any lights or interference except a lot of breastfeeding and some sunlight. I wouldn't worry too much - this is totally normal and your baby will be fine! :)