[PapayaMom]

My SIL had my nephew a week ago friday and all is going relatively well except that he can't seem to shake his jaundice. The levels aren't too high, in fact not even recommending treatment from the new AAP guidelines and yet her pediatricians office has given her all sorts of misinformation.

At three days old she was told to stop nursing for 24 hours and give formula because it was better at flushing out the system, she said no.

At 4 days old she was told he was losing too much and that there were no other options but formula. She said there must be other options and after pushing for a bit they sent her home with a biliblanket and told her she had to pump and brig the pumped milk in the next day to prove to them she was producing.

On Friday a family friend of hers (who happens to be a pedi in that office) looked at his file and called her and said formula was the best option but if she was set on bf'ing to do a full feeding of bm, and give a 1/2 ounce of formula at the end.

She is scared, first baby she wants the jaundice to go away but is sad about the formula thing, he goes back Monday for a blood test hopefully all is well. I told her sometimes it just takes a bit to get the jaundice out, and becuase his levels aren't that high to not get too worked up about it.

Makes me wonder how many nursing relationships these docs have sabotaged.
She is sticking with the bf'ing and doing some formula after the feeding, but will ditch it as soon as the results come back on monday. It did taske him a little while to start pooping the wonderful bf poop but now he is a machine and I was telling her thats what he needs to be doing. I am so angry!

 

[St. Margaret]

That's terrible! I hope you follow up with those docs, send them a letter and piles of information, or expose them somehow for the bad info they might be giving other mamas.... I wish your sil the best-- sounds like she's standing up well! She must be a strong new mama and will get through it (although why she needs to deal with idiot docs on top of everything else...!)

 

[User101]

That's so frustrating. There's lots of info out there on the benefits of breastfeeding for jaundice. I believe LLL even has a pamphlet on it. Could she (or even you) call the local LLL leader and get the info? Or maybe there's a lactation consultant with info?

Here's the AAP page on jaundice, and no where does it say to supplement with formula:
http://www.aap.org/family/jaundicefaq.htm

 

[jarynsmom06]

to her...I am so thankful I have a great ped. When my ds had jaundice she told me the best way to get rid of it was to nurse him as often as he would take it, that the more bm he got the faster it would come out of his system.

 

[User101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarynsmom06 to her...I am so thankful I have a great ped. When my ds had jaundice she told me the best way to get rid of it was to nurse him as often as he would take it, that the more bm he got the faster it would come out of his system.

You do have a great pediatrician. That is absolutely the best advice.

 

[Joannarachel]

Wow. My ped was awesome...Eden was a bit (ok, a lot

) yellow at her first appointment and the pedi said, "just keep nursing, it'll go away eventually"

He also scolded me for using a bottle of EBM when she was a few days old because both my nipples were a blistered, bloody mess. He said, "She'll get nipple confusion and THEN where will you be?!"

 

[LoveChild421]

Even 1/2 ounce of formula can alter the normal gut flora of BF babes- http://breastfeed.com/resources/articles/virgingut.htm

If I were her I would cut out all formula immediately- ds had jaundice for about a week and a half- thankfully I had a wonderful laid-back ped. and my midwives to call for support so formula was never even suggested to me- just taking him out in the sun each day and nursing as often as possible.

 

[justplainbecky]

BOTH my boys were jaundiced, my oldest wasn't too bad, his levels got around 14. My baby, however, was so yellow he looked like someone painted him. His levels got up to 21, then dropped off. My ped said that newborn breastfed boys will usually be jaundiced until the 5th day, then it'll drop off. Sure enough, thats what happened. We had his bili levels checked every other day, and on the 5th day it dropped, but it took a good month for his eyes and skin to look 'normal' and not yellow.

Good for her for standing up to the doctors. Most new mothers wouldn't, they would believe the 'all knowing pediatrician' and give formula, therefore sabotoging thier breastfeeding relationship.

 

[tallulahma]

have they taken this baby into the sun at all?

 

[lunasmommy]

Put the baby in the SUN!!!!

 

[Lovinmy2babies+1]

This was how my BFing relationship was ruined with my DD. She had jaundice and I was told I needed to give her formula instead of BM because formula would "flush" her system out.

 

[frontierpsych]

I'm glad to hear your SIL stood up for herself to any degree. I'd hate for her to be another name on the list of women who couldn't bf because ped said "blah blah blah".

 

[julie128]

Ugh. DD2 was jaundiced, and her ped--the one who dropped us because I complained about the drug ads and formula samples in his office--said to put in the window in just her diaper, and the sunlight would get it out. DH said she pooped a big yellow poop after that, and her color returned to normal. At least he got something right.

 

[frontierpsych]

Yep, i took a basic childhood development class in high school, and even there they told us if a baby was jaundiced to take them in the sun. It really doesn't take much!

That class made me happy-- no mention of bottle feeding!

 

[elanorh]

Ina had mild jaundice, we were told to nurse, nurse, nurse and get her in the sun (fortunately it was warm the week after she was born).

I'm an Rh factor mom, so more likely to have jaundiced babies anyway (I saw a chart once and that was a "risk factor," as was bfing) ... We are planning to do a delayed clamping on the cord for #2 and that's another risk factor. I'm anticipating that we'll have jaundice this time 'round too, that I'll spend a lot of time outside, maybe even require a bili blanket .... But our Ped is really bf supportive/knowledgeable, so other than monitoring things, I think we'll be well-supported.

Make sure her supply isn't compromised by the supplementing.

If I were her, I'd bring in the information about how bf is great for jaundice (and also about "bf jaundice" itself). My sister is a nurse, and she told me that jaundice is a BIG deal if it goes too far - but it sounds like they're overlooking and skipping some basic strategies to deal with it and skipping straight to formula.

It's all about how informed the medical staff is, and the mom, and how well monitored baby's condition is.

 

[tallulahma]

yeah, excessive jaundice can cause sweeling of the brain and lead to permenant damamge. But the levels have to pretty high. My dd was pretty jaundiced, the sun exposure really helped.

 

[HeatherHeather]

Go with the SUN!!! It really works well, plus nurse, nurse, nurse.

A big part of the problem is that the first bilirubin test was done. Once they do one, test they have to do another (just to monitor). Then they start paying attention to the numbers and not the baby.

 

[PapayaMom]

Thank everyone for your support. It is hard to hear of such an ignorant doctor.

She has been keeping him in the sun most of the time they have a beautiful porch and its been breezy and nice here lately. He is at the pedi now after nursing and pooping like a champ all weekend. I hope his levels have decreased and they can go about a normal nursing relationship.

She supplements at the end of a few feedings after he has unlatched with 1/2 ounce formula. She hates every minute of it but wants the docs off her case and is scared of what will happen if she doesn't. I hope she considers switching docs after all is said and done. Sad, they are one of the largest practices in town and have a LC on staff, clearly she is either very bad at being a LC or is not being consulted.

 

[thefragile7393]

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