There is a condition some doctors call “breast milk jaundice” in which it implies that a mother’s breast milk can cause jaundice. If you are just joining us, you might want to review the definition of jaundice, which is the build up of bilrubin in your baby’s blood causing a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes. Today, we take a look at what breast milk jaundice is and how to treat it.

Breastfeeding and Jaundice

There are some doctors who believe that there is something they have not yet found in mother’s milk that causes higher levels of bilrubin to stay in the blood that causes jaundice and have termed that type of jaundice as “breast milk jaundice”. Breast milk jaundice is usually diagnosed after the first week of life and can last up to 2-3 months, but mostly peaks at 10-21 days.

Although some pediatricians will call your baby’s jaundice “breast milk jaundice”, there hasn’t been any proof that it really exists, but just a theory. Even the thought that something is “bad” in your breast milk can cause many moms to doubt themselves, but please remember breastfeeding is natural and it is highly unlikely you or your milk are causing any problems. Of course, I’m not a doctor, so take Dr. Sears’ advice on the subject, too.

Breast milk jaundice remedies

The important thing about jaundice is to decrease the amount of bilrubin in your baby’s blood. The best way to do that is to encourage a lot of urination and elimination. That is one reason why breastfeeding more often rather than less can be a good remedy to breast milk jaundice. When your baby is not getting enough milk, she won’t be having enough wet or dirty diapers. It may be a good idea to track the number of diapers each day, which is the best indicator of whether she is getting enough.

Work with your pediatrician on the course of action to remedy the jaundice as some higher levels of bilrubin require phototherapy lights. If your pediatrician recommends formula supplements, you probably want to work with a lactation consultant on alternative feeding methods to avoid nipple confusion. You can also pump so you have expressed breast milk to feed your baby. Keeping track of pumping sessions will help you find a pattern as to the best time to pump during the day and help you keep track of your supply, especially at different times per day. When I was pumping I’d always get most in the morning and very little around dinnertime. This is true for many mothers.

Worry can affect your milk supply, so try not to let the diagnosis of breast milk jaundice get you down. In most cases, it’s nothing to worry about. If your supply is suffering, you may be interested in ways to increase your milk supply.

Sources:
Kelly Mom
Dr. Sears

This article will review the definition of jaundice and symptoms when it comes to newborn babies. When your baby is born, it can be a scary thing when your doctor starts using words like “jaundice” to describe your baby, even if they follow it with words like “common”. I am hopefully going to explain the definition of jaundice in a non-scary way.

Definition of Jaundice

Bilrubin is a waste product that comes from your body’s red blood cells when they are old and destroyed by your body. Bilrubin is the chemical that is left in your body after iron is removed from your blood. When you have too much bilrubin in your body, your skin and whites of the eyes appear yellow in color. They call the yellow staining of your skin “jaundice”.

Why does Jaundice occur?

Your liver is responsible for filtering out waste in your blood and jaundice occurs when there is too much bilrubin in your body for your liver to filter out. The reason jaundice is so common in babies is because in the first few days of being born, a baby’s body will rapidly start replacing fetal Hemoglobin (the chemical in blood that carries oxygen) with adult Hemoglobin. At the same time, your baby’s liver is immature and can’t keep up with all of the bilrubin being put into the blood from the Hemoglobin replacement. This increases the level of bilrubin in your baby’s body and causes jaundice.

Diagnosis of Jaundice

If you notice your baby’s skin is yellow, you should call the doctor right away. Although jaundice is very common in newborns, it should be treated as high levels of bilrubin can be dangerous. Your doctor can do a blood test to test the levels of bilrubin your baby’s blood.

Treatment of Jaundice

If bilrubin levels are low enough, no treatment is necessary. Sometimes your doctor will simply tell you to feed more often to help get the bilrubin levels lower. You may want to track your baby’s diapers to make sure he has enough wet and dirty diapers. It is usually unnecessary to supplement with water or anything else if levels are low enough and it is usually unnecessary to stop breastfeeding for a day or two.

If bilrubin levels are too high, your doctor may use special phototherapy lights or special blankets to help break down the bilrubin. Work with your doctor on this as it can be dangerous for your baby to have too high of levels in her blood.

Jaundice will usually pass within a week of your baby’s life, two at the most, in the majority of cases.

Sources and more reading:
MedicineNet.com
Dr. Sears – Breastfeeding a Newborn With Jaundice