4 week old w/jaundice

[CT Mommy]

Do we need to worry about this? We had our dd, at home, 4 weeks ago. On/around day 4, our midwives noticed some slight jaundice. It has not gone away yet.

My mws say everything is normal--she's not THAT yellow and has only very mild jaundice (we haven't done any blood tests etc.) and the yellow fades as you look down her body (iow, her legs/feet are normal). She is also an bf baby who only poops every 3 days and the mws said that the bilirubin is excreted during bms, and if the child doesn't have many bms, then it will take longer to go away. We still cannot help to worry.

We have been trying to expose her to sunlight through the windows every day, but winter in Minneapolis doesn't always allow for lots of sun.

We haven't taken her to the ped yet.

Any thoughts? PLEASE let us know.

[elmh23]

I'd take her to the ped. It could be (and probably is) nothing, but a friends child had jaundice that wouldn't go away and ended up in severe liver failure (he got better and is now a bright and active 8 year old.)

[Llyra]

I agree that I would at the very last ask for a heel stick to get a bilirubin count.

How has baby's weight gain been? For a baby younger than two months to not be pooping multiple times a day is very unusual. Older breastfed babies certainly sometimes go many days without pooping, but it's not considered "normal" in the immediate newborn period. If baby isn't gaining, I would suspect that baby isn't getting adequate milk, whether because of a milk supply issue, or because of a problem transferring milk, or something like that.

But even if baby is gaining weight, I think I would look for medical advice at this point.

[CT Mommy]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will set up the appointment (I just wanted to avoid the waiting room full of swine flu...).

SHe has been gaining well. 8 pounds at birth, lost 8 ounces, was at 9 pounds 4 ounces at the 2 week check up and 10 pounds 6 ounces at the 4 week. I tend to have an over supply of milk, so I don't think she's not getting enough, although I do have a powerful letdown and she often gags/chokes to handle (when I'm not fast enough to remedy the situation).

She is my 4th child and all have been jaundice--just not for this long.

More thoughts are DEFINITELy welcome! THANKS!!!

[nukuspot]

This is probably not what is going on...But I wanted to share that my LO was yellow at 4 weeks. We were worried, and she did not have jaundice at birth, it came on gradually. We brought her to the ped and the first thing she asked was "Have you been eating a lot of carrots?" I was not, but I had been eating 2 sweet potatoes a day! I dyed my baby orange from my milk! Once I cut back on the yams her "jaundice" went away.

Anyway, like I said, very far fetched but perhaps it could apply to you if you have been OD'ing on the orange foods like I was?

[Erinz]

My second had mild jaundice on the bridge of his nose and face a bit but not much if anything on his body. My midwife and her assistant weren't concerned about it, said to make sure he was in plenty of filtered light and to make sure he was pooping regularly (which could mean up to once every 7 days even in a newborn). I chose to not expose my well baby to germs for a heel prick. Do you have anyone who could come to you or a lab you could visit instead of a full-on ped visit?

[sugarpop]

I don't know where in CT you are, but I am as well. I had to get the heel prick for my daughter and the ped office was able to call it into the place to get it done. They called the middletown hospital, I didn't go to the hospital but instead a lab right around the corner. No waiting, straight in and out, I think we were the only ones there. They let me nurse while they did the prick and I felt like I avoided the swine flu. Just thought I would throw in my 2 cents!