Does my baby need to stop breastfeeding if he has jaundice?
Does my baby need to stop breastfeeding if he has jaundice?
In general, if it is physiological jaundice, that is, normal jaundice, there is no need to suspend breast milk. Even some babies have jaundice caused by not drinking enough breast milk, and the mother does not start breastfeeding as soon as possible or feeds the baby too little often. Getting enough milk can help eliminate jaundice, and colostrum can help your baby pull out the meconium as soon as possible, reducing jaundice.
However, some jaundice babies need to stop breastfeeding because they have breast milk jaundice.
Breast milk jaundice usually develops 7 to 14 days after birth. Because of the influence of a certain component in breast milk, a large amount of bilirubin in the baby's body is not absorbed, resulting in breast milk jaundice. If breast milk jaundice is severe, it is generally necessary to stop breast milk for two or three days, and after stopping breastfeeding, serum bilirubin can be significantly reduced within 48 hours. Breastfeeding can be continued after the jaundice has subsided.
It is generally accepted that breastfed babies are more likely to develop jaundice. In fact, this is not the case, and studies have shown that breast milk is better at helping babies get rid of excess bilirubin than water and formula, because breast milk has a bowel movement-promoting effect and takes away excess bilirubin through urine.
As a result, the medical belief that breastfeeding is prone to jaundice is actually more due to incorrect breastfeeding. Feeding at regular times and separating mother and baby does cause jaundice in many breastfed babies because time-restricted feedings don't get enough calories. The appearance of this jaundice is not because of the problem with the breast milk, but because the method of feeding the breast milk is wrong.
How to control your baby's jaundice and make breastfeeding smoother
1. Start breastfeeding as soon as possible. In the first few minutes of birth, you can let your baby stick to you, let the nipple stimulate your baby's lips, and let your baby naturally learn to lick and suck the nipple.Colostrum has high nutritional value, high calories and enough water, which promotes the baby's bowel movement and helps the baby to excrete excess bilirubin from the body.
2. Consult a doctor. Find out what type of jaundice your baby has. If the baby is healthy and jaundice is normal, don't worry, just give more breastfeeding to your baby. Sometimes worrying about it can reduce breast milk production.
3. Pay attention to drowsy babies. Jaundice can sometimes make your baby drowsy, and your baby is not sucking as hard as you used to be, which can easily make jaundice worse. At this time, you should pat the baby and keep changing both breasts to keep the baby awake and suck more milk.
4. If your baby's jaundice is very severe and needs to receive blue light therapy, at this time, you can continue to breastfeed your baby, unless the doctor does not allow it, usually because the baby suffers from breast milk jaundice.If the doctor suspects that your baby has breast milk jaundice, he or she will usually ask you to stop breastfeeding within 12-24 hours, and if your baby's bilirubin drops quickly, the doctor's diagnosis is correct. As long as bilirubin is not very high, breastfeeding can usually be continued. But if your doctor tells you to stop breastfeeding for a few days, remember to express your breast milk every 3 hours until you can breastfeed your baby, otherwise your milk will be getting less and less!