breastmilk jaundice

My 6 wks old baby developed breastmilk jaundice at the 4th day after birth. The doc said the "yellowness" of the skin should disappear within a month. However, my baby's skin tone is still yellow. I'm wondering any mom out there that has the same experience and would like to share some thoughts on that with me? How long does the yellow skin tone take to disappear in your baby?

Check the whites of the eyes. If they are yellowed, you should seek medical care right away. Also, if the baby is acting lethargic and excessively sleepy, you should seek medical care right away.

I had a jaundiced baby.... he stayed yellow hued for a long time, I can't remember exactly, but it would especially show in photos when we compared his skin tone to ours.


BUT the Dr does the test with an instrument that more accurately measures the jaundiced than your eyes... that is the only reliable thing.


The hardest part is if baby is super sleepy- my baby would take a few sips, then pass out - and I had to keep waking him... it was really really hard!! It was like there was heroin in the breast milk! My mother was saying - tickle his feet... but we were even putting ice on his head and that didn't wake him, it was sooo sooo hard. But I persisted and it finally passed.


Also, when we started solids, we did a lot of pumpkin and sweet potato and baby went really organge... I kept wondering he became predisposed to the colour due to the jaundice earlier...

But now he is 2 and very pale and no sign of it anymore, but his little sister is 11 months and if she has lots of 'orange' her nose and face get a slight shade of orange, but nothing like he was (we called him alien baby for a while - he was practically day glow for 6-9 months hahaha)


Jaundice is really hard when it creates a sleepy baby... just get that baby awake and drinking and hang in there...


When in doubt, get him to your dr for a proper test, and everything Namaste says as well.


Good luck, I know how hard it is, but it does pass and you'll practically have a new baby! Don't worry about the colour, it takes time.

I dug up some old posts that I wrote at the time...


"Jaundice babies have this problem (falling asleep) more severely than other babies. Although most newborns have trouble staying awake on the breast at first.


We just had our 2 week birthday yesterday, and his Jaundice is finally going (it was gone by 4 weeks, but he still had that yellow hue for a looooong time). BUT he did not jump from 5 minute feeds to 20 minute feeds overnight, it is a slow process with each day brining less 5 minute feeds, and more 20 minute feeds. But yesterday he had mostly 20 minute feeds, and today reverted to more 5 minute feeds.


The midwife suggested I just persist, and allow him to eat when he wants and try to keep him awake. It is getting better, it just takes time. We are just using 100% breast feeding, and since he has a poo after just about every feed we know we are not starving him. The midwife says as long as he is poo-ing, wee-ing and gaining weight he is eating enough and soon he will manage to always have longer feeds."



Suggestions on how to get baby to drink more and stay awake (from Namaste!!):


"For bottle feeding, use a bottle that requires her to work the milk from the nipple. If the nipple flows to easily, she may learn that drinking from a bottle is much easier than from the breast and may also learn that if she cries after nursing that she can then be rewarded with the bottle.

When she starts to drowse off while nursing, stop and give her a good airing. If she is taking in some air while nursing, her tummy may feel full and comfy leading her to sleepy breastfed blissfullness.

As she is nursing, occasionally lightly rub her jawline to keep her actively sucking.

Toward the middle of the feeding, change her diaper and unwrap her to keep her cool and alert for the next half of the feed. This is also a great way to air her naturally as the movement may elicit a burp.

Another way to stimulate her is to sit her upright on your lap, take your pointer and middle finger and run them quickly in an upward direction (from her bum to her neck) alongside the spinal colummn. "


Hope that helps... and if baby is awake now more and eating, you are in the clear... you just have an alien baby like I did :)

Breast milk jaundice occurs in 1% to 2% of breastfed babies. Jaundice can be caused by substances produced in their mother's breast milk that can cause the bilirubin level to rise. It starts at 4 to 7 days and normally lasts from 3 to 10 weeks. As long as your baby has been seen by the doctor and is alert, feeding well, gaining weight, having frequent wet and dirty nappies, then the jaundice will resolve spontaneously.


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Thanks for sharing your thoughts. My 7 wk old baby feeds very well, until couple of days ago that she seemed not too eager to feed and was very sleepy. Her appetite came back, but it seems to vary more than before when I can expect her to wanting to feed almost every 2-3 hours. Now, she tends to sleep longer and her feed time gets shorter, usually less than 10 min. I read that she should have at least 8-10 feeds per day. But, how long should a feeding session be? She only feeds one breast at a time and falls asleep (no matter what I do), so if she is sucking less than 10 min, is it enough? How many mL of milk should she be taking in at this age (7 wks)? She is alert and her wet & dirty nappies seem normal, just not sure if she is gaining weight.

My (now 2 year old) baby was a less than 10 minute feeder...

But he was also a 10% baby who dropped below 10% at about 5 months, so we had to start solids at 5.5 months (we had planned to start at 6).


Do get your baby weighed regularly, and check they remain on the same 'curve' that she is on now. Also pay careful attention to poo/wee to be sure she is 'regular' and has poo and wee which means she is getting enough.


LOTS (almost all) babies change from the curve they are born on (otherwise all small babies would be small adults, and that isn't the case, and vice versa!). So don't base it on birth weight :)


At the end, after one year, my son shot up on the percentile charts, eats fabulously, and drinks lots of milk. The thought was two-fold about him - he was an efficient eater and he was super super active (crawling by 6 months) so as a result he was eating well, but burning off the calories just as fast. Our daughter is on the 10%, eats like a horse, is less active and has a tiny tiny belly - which to us makes her look super fat as our son was so skinny! hahaha.


Don't get freaked out, but find a sympathetic midwife/dr, go for regular weighing sessions (same scale is important!), and stay sane... if the dr/midwife tells you to start formula or anything like that, change... there is no reason to (unless you want to - but I see from above you are breast feeding), breast fed babies do gain slower than formula babies anyway, so that is something to factor in.


Honestly, reading your post it is bringing back memories of 2 years ago and me writing very very similar messages on this forum :) You'll be fine, and so will she, and you will be grateful you have a fast efficient eater when you talk to friends who are spending 45 minutes each feed! Do be sure to offer the second breast even if they aren't interested, just in case they decide they are :) Don't expect a schedule this early either...

It sounds like your baby just went through a growth spurt! My baby is 10 weeks old and I also just fed from one breast at a time. However, after a couple of growth spurt, he wanted to feed almost every hour and didn't poop for a week. That was when I knew I needed to feed him from both breast. This was around when he was 2 months old. Now he usually feeds from both breast in the day time but only feeds from on breast at night because it's so hard to wake him up at night.

For the yellow colour to go away, people in india expose babies for about 5-10 minutes to early morning (6.30-7am) sunshine.