Breastfeeding jaundice is the yellowing of the skin of babies and is usually identified in breastfed babies who are at least one week old. It is usually the diagnosis after the other causes of jaundice are ruled out. You can start treating breastfeeding jaundice once you have identified what causes it in the first place.

Jaundice is generally caused by the build-up of bilirubin in the blood. Bilirubin is a yellow pigment that is made up of old red blood cells usually processed by the liver. Since most babies do not have a matured liver yet, they oftentimes become victims of this.

One of the ways to figure out if your baby has jaundice is by observing the babies bowel movements after you have breastfed him. A baby not getting enough breast milk can be jaundiced. Now, after breastfeeding the baby and observing that his bowel movements is not regular, then that means that the bilirubin is not being eliminated by the baby’s body. Instead it is probably getting re-absorbed.

How to Treat Jaundice

In order to treat breastfeeding jaundice, you have to substitute breastfeeding milk with formula milk for a timeframe of at least 24 hours. This will help in the removal of bilirubin in the body of your baby.

Another possible solution is to utilize phototherapy to the infant, because this will cause the bilirubin to get out of the baby’s body through stools and urine. The fiber-optic blankets emit the healing light directly to the skin. You can avail of this treatment for the infant through a hospital personal home therapy with rented light treatment equipment. There will also be some clinics that offer this kind of service. You may also rent the equipment and do the phototherapy session round the clock. You only stop the phototherapy when you will be feeding the baby.

Three Types of Jaundice

To understand it better, you have to know that there are three types of jaundice. Knowing what specific type your baby has is crucial because each one has different causes, effects, and treatments. Of course, the physician will help determine that.

First, we have the physiologic jaundice. To some extent, this one affects almost all newborn babies. This one usually strikes premature infants as well as those with low birth weight. For some reason, it is also common among ethnic groups such as Chinese, Hispanic, Japanese, Korean, and Native Americans. Another reason for newborn babies to have jaundice is when they do not feed enough and their bowel movement is irregular.

Few things can help prevent jaundice better than breastfeeding during the early days. Besides, colostrum is a very effective laxative. Frequent bowel movement significantly helps decrease bilirubin in the body. Most of the time, physiologic jaundice can be treated without having to resort to phototherapy.

Next, we have the pathologic jaundice. This one is often caused by medical conditions and can usually be detected within the first 24 hours of birth. The baby will need to receive treatment immediately after discovering that. Generally speaking, the physician will also suggest that breastfeeding should be commenced as soon as possible for the baby to get the needed colostrum. Do not take this lightly because some of the worst cases may even require blood transfusion. This may be necessary to reduce high levels of bilirubin faster.

The third and last type is called late-onset jaundice. This one is commonly discovered during the baby’s second week. This often runs in the family which means that the baby’s siblings probably have it, too. Bilirubin drops significantly in level almost automatically whenever the baby is fed with formula.