Parenting Newborns & Infants (0-1) Support Group

First, note that I AM NOT a pediatrician, but here is our story:

Our d/s had severe jaundice a day after being released from the hospital. We had to have his blood tested twice a day, every day for 10 days. By day 7, the levels stopped going up and stabilized. By day 8, they decreased enough to keep him out of the hospital and by day 9, they felt the levels would then continue to decrease gradually with plenty of fluids.

We had our son on a Bili-blanket 24/7 from day 3 to day 10...on day 10, his numbers were 18 (his highest number was 23, morning of day 7). I would say that you might take into consideration what your doctor is saying. High bilirubin levels can be harmful to a baby's liver and other major organs, and as the numbers get higher the chasm of its danger grows. If nursing alone is not getting her levels down quick enough, you might want to try giving her formula for a few feedings to help flush it out. Formula binds to the toxins and helps to get them out of the body more quickly, whereas breastmilk is not as efficient in this area.

You are correct in your thinking that you should trust your instincts before following anyone, even a doctor, blinding down a road of discomfort. However, we have a decreased number of serious illnesses, deaths and injury due (at least in part) to western medicine. Jaundice can be a very serious issue, although it is usually minor. If her numbers have/are coming down then there's probably LESS cause for concern, but if it were me I would follow the doctors advice, especially if your daughter is listless and/or lethargic (e.g. seems to be sleeping all day and all night without even brief periods of waking). Phototherapy may help her to get all of that out of her system so she can start feeling better. Maybe you could ask if a bili-blanket is an option. It's a non-invasive device that you plug in at home. It's a padded device that either wraps around the body or can be concentrated on the back or the stomach. They can use it at home while they are sleeping, and it's fairly easy to hold and nurse the baby while the device is being worn. It is not scratchy or uncomfortable, it's cool to the touch and because the light is underneath the blanket, protective eyewear is not required....just a suggestion.

i had jaundice when i was born, some 26 years ago, all my mother did was strip me out of my clothes and sit me in front of a window to get some sun. i guess it worked, as far as i know i'm normal.

everyone was convinced that my little one was jaundiced,except for me. he looked a little orange, not yellow but orange, but each time they did the bilirubin test it came back very normal. to me it seemed that everyone else around us was paranoid about him being jaundiced but i didn't have any doubts that he wasn't.

Thank you both for replying.

I also am greatful for the research of our western medicine practice. The science aspect is interesting but nature has it's own way.We in our approaches contradict nature .I think combatting natures organisms and functions in a way that contradicts them is wrong. If it's a life or death situation ok I understand noone wants their loved ones to die . The flu shot chicken pox shot etc etc is all stuff that should be left alone. If you are chicken pox, a living breathing virus would you let a vaccine prevent you from existing??? No you would adapt and change according to your environment and then attack in a much different way, perhaps one that could wipe mankind off the planet???? We are to smart for our own good sometimes......

Our baby is healthy, happy and perfect,I trust that nature will take it's course and allow us to recognize what and when our daughter is in need of in terms of outside help..

Yep the sun in the window is doing wonders for our baby at the moment...Phototherapy...Didnt exist 50 years ago or before and babies seemed to pull out of this just fine.....A little sun, alittle of mama's milk and everything was A OK.....

Dancermom...his numbers were at the highest 23?!
Ellorie got taken away 12 hours after she was born and her levels at their worst were like 7.
We did try the biliblanket, but I guess since she wasn't feeding well and spitting up a lot, that's why they took her away and put her under the lights. Sheesh..I guess I was all discombobulated and paranoid for nothing...but throw insane pregnancy hormone levels in the mix in a NICU and you get my gist.
RRJ92307...definitely follow up with your pediatrician and possibly do the lights just to get the levels down where they are supposed to be, faster. Sounds like she is doing great, though.
Good luck to you and thank goodness for medical strides to make us all better :)

Our little boy had jaundice so bad he had to have home treatment, and had to have blood drawn all the time. It is the liver not filtering everything out. Does your wife breastfeed? Babies with trauma @ childbirth, and ones who are breastfed are most likely, because they are only getting the colestrum.

Our son had severe jaundice - I breast fed every 2 hours - per my doc (not from finish to start, but from start to start) Urination and poops get the bilirubin out. It was terrible because sometimes he wasn't totally hungry, sometimes I was exhausted and fell asleep while he was eating! BUT he still got too hight. They had us use a "bili blanket" - many parents take their kids out in the sun, but he was born during a blizzard, and it was just too cold. THe bili blanket was just a plastic thing with fiber optix in it that we strapped on his back and let him get warm. The light helps a lot. He just perked right up! He only had to have the blanket for about 48 hours. The bilirubin went down immediately!

RRJ92307, sorry your child is suffering with jaundice. It is a very worrisome disorder! All three of my sons have had it! The first two were back in the late 80's and things were don't so differently then. Come to find out, I have a hormone in my milk do to my blood type that interferes with our children's liver in breaking down the red blood cells (which is what billirubin is.) We were told to stop breastfeeding them for 24-48 hours to give their livers time to break down the red blood cells. It worked, but they also said to pump them full of water back then.

Now they have realized that it isn't healthy to pump newborn full of water. It throws off their body's ability to regulate many things and it didn't help the billirubin issue either. So with our last son, who is now 9 months old, we were told to keep breastfeeding him as often as possible and to give no water or formula unless he refused to bf. This time we didn't have to resort to blood tests or billi lights or any other method. We did take his clothes off an held him in indirect sunlight twice a day for 3 days and that seemed to help. With this last child, we didn't have to stop bfing or do anything except push feeding and do the sunlight therapy. I am happy to say it worked and worked quickly!

Aye yae yae, Like I said Our baby is A ok NOW. tHANKS for the concern from all... JAundice is naturally occuring and the chances of babies developing Kernicterus is oh so slim... I have found out recently that according to French Italian and Canadian Pediatrics they almost never treat jaundice in infants unless they have high levels ( 20 -25 ) after 2 weeks.....BTW France ranked #1 in the world for its healthcare system. Italy # 2 and Canada # 9. Our pothetic fear based, law suit craised medical profession here in the states ( # 36) Almost always will treat things as a preventative measure as opposed to letting nature take it's course. This protects their asses not the babies. What did we use to do 50 years ago before bili blankets????? We are fine are'nt we ????????????????Yep.....Physiologic Jaundice is absolutely normal, natural, and acceptable for up to 4 weeks with some spotty yellow remaining for up to two months. Breast feeding jaundice is another game of course.

We as parents need to be informed and not trust our pediatricians so blindly without research... Once you learn about how other countries treat their patients you will be flabbergasted at how little our doctors actually know and how much they follow blindly the American Academy of Pediatrics protocol....Uhhhh I uhhhh dint know why it's because American Pediatrics said so.....American Pediatrics makes more money from the preventative treatments than they do in the cures....MAkes you wonder huh?????

Here's a little tid bit they dont tell you at the docs office...VAccines that we give our children are made from aborted or dead fetus's....Thats right!!!!! Injecting our children with dead childrens white blood cells....And 60% of those treated with the vaccines can still contract the viral or bacterial infections that we immunize them for..???

I know, I know but we cant send our kids to school if we dont immunize them....Oh they got us right where they want us....what a bunch of bull kaka........

I couldn't disagree with you more; but to each his own, as the old adage goes. Good luck to you, and I hope that you all continue to stay healthy.

rrj92307, I don't know where people are getting this info about aborted fetal tissue being in vaccines. Jenny McCarthy has been saying this too and even promotes a website that lists is as an ingredient. Here is the kicker: the website she is promoting is *not* a valid medical site, but they would have you think it is. I did some research after reading her Oprah interview and have found her claims are not correct. If you go to the CDC (center for disease control) website and look at the list of ingredients it is completley different than the website that Jenny is pushing. In addition, I have read the package inserts for these vaccines and it is *not* listed as an ingredient. So I think it is a scare tactic by those who believe vaccines are dangerous to make us not want to give the vaccines. Our generation is too willing to skip the vaccines because they haven't seen what these diseaes do to children and it isn't pretty!