Monday, May 3, 2010

Breast Milk Jaundice?

kazim's eyes are yellowish. not too yellowish to be worried about, but it wasn't totally clear white - so it must be something.

*sad*

so this morning we took kazim to see the doc.

the doc asked a few questions :
  • blood test done on baby? yes.
  • any abnormalities detected? no.
  • been breastfeeding him exclusively? yes.
  • from day one? yes.
  • mother's blood type? A+
  • baby vomitting? just a little when i don't burp him enough.
  • did the doc check him before discharging you from hospital? you mean after birth? yes, doc checked and everything was fine.

the doc then diagnosed - breast milk jaundice!

kazim getting comfy at the clinic

what's jaundice, really?
  • jaundice refers to the yellow color of the skin and whites of the eyes caused by excess bilirubin in the blood
  • bilirubin is produced by the normal breakdown of red blood cells
  • bilirubin is a yellow pigment that is created as the body gets rid of old red blood cells
  • normally, the liver helps break down bilirubin so that it can be removed from the body in the stool.

jaundice occurs when bilirubin builds up faster than a newborn's liver can break it down and pass it from the body.

why?

  • babies make more bilirubin than adults do since they have more turnover of red blood cells
  • baby's liver is still developing so may not yet be able to remove adequate bilirubin from the blood.

when to bring your baby to the doctor?

  • jaundice is noted during the first 24 hours of life
  • the yellow color deepens, getting more intense
  • your baby develops a fever over 37.8° celsius
  • if your child starts to look or act sick

kazim DOES NOT have ANY of these symptoms, alhamdulillah. cuma mata dia ade sikit yellowish and not clear white. he doesn't have fever at all, and he is feeding well, gaining weight and mata tu tak nampak pun makin kuning atau teruk. tu sebab doc cakap might be just breast milk jaundice.

what is breast milk jaundice?

breast milk jaundice is a type of jaundice in an otherwise healthy, breast-fed baby. it develops after the first week of life and continues up to the sixth week of life.

it is probably caused by factors in the breast milk, which block certain proteins in the liver that break down bilirubin.

don't be confused with 'breastfeeding jaundice', which occurs when the baby is NOT getting enough breast milk.

* * *


this nice nurse at the clinic used this device to determine the level of jaundice in kazim's skin. she pressed the small part against kazim's skin, and a checked the reading.

it said 5.

and she said it's a normal number for a normal, healthy baby. if there's jaundice, the reading would have read something like 14!

hmm, so since kazim is just '5' - kira ok sangat la kan?!


* * *

bapak sayangggg kazim!

the doc suggested i alternate breast milk with formula for 48 hours, then come back after one week to see whether he's still showing any signs of jaundice.

i wasn't too happy with this, since i want to breastfeed him exclusively. i found a few articles from the net - some say that it is a way to cure breast milk jaundice, while there's one article that said it's totally unnecessary! click here for that article.

then how?

what do you think dear mommies?

22 comments:

arin said...

kebanyakan artikel that i read, semua mengatakan keep on bf the baby .Anyway, syigim leh view the topic regarding breast milk jaundice kat sini : http://www.susuibu.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=5356&forum=7

Take care!

ICA said...

syigim, i thought breast milk is the best source for the baby so not sure why doctor asked u to alternate with formula. But this is the 1st time I am reading about breast milk jaundice coz dulu my girls tak dpt ni...so it's new to me. Kazim's reading is only 5...so not alarming....which is very good indeed. Lega...coz kesian kalau Kazim kena go thru apa2 test ke nanti...hopefully the jaundice will go away soon.

Syigim said...

thanks kak arin! dah baca dah forum tu. mmg ade baca jgk kat artikel lain yg breastmilk jaundice ni

-agak long term nk baik (agak merisaukan)
-keturunan (abg ade, adik pun ade) tp kazim je yg first kena ni!
-selang2 dgn susu formula for 48hours

ade mak2 kat forum tu kata dia bfeedkan je anak dia n 2bulan hilang. ok ke kak arin. ke nk ikut ckp doc?

Syigim said...

betul la, ica...me too tau yg baby lahir2 je kena kasi bmilk utk elak jaundice kan? tp ni lain plak. psl doc ckp it's possible bmilk tu yg penyebab bilirubin tu naik. tu yg dia tanya blood type tu. agaknye la.

yes, alhamdulillah kazim doesn't show any other teruk symtom of jaundice. cuma mata dia je. so hopefully not that bad n cepat baik :)

arin said...

follow ur heart. sebab kadang2 apa yang kita as mum fikir is the best solutions . as for me, takut nanti dah kasik fm ( kot baby nak terus2 fm ) , kang dah dia taknak bf lak. susah nanti.susu tgh byk, tib2 terbantut dengan hal2 gini.

Syigim said...

betul kak arin. mcm2 my worries. buat masa ni still lagi bfeed him fully. blom lg decide. thanks kak arin.. :)

lina said...

syigim, my lil Darwsiy pun sama juga kuning sikit tp dia boleh minum dengan baik...pd i baik terus kan jer ..mana2 i tanya pakar kanak2 the best milk is susu ibu....pecaya. Insya Allah.

i_sofia said...

u ada makan ubat apa2 tak syigim?? or makan apa yg panas? kadang2, sbb ubat/makanan kita tu yg boleh melaratkan lagi jaundice nih.. so, u can try stop makan ubat or kurangkan panas dlm makanan u n continue bf..

oh jaundice.. pls go away fr baby kazim..

ummiluqman@azma said...

syigim.. my friend dulu pun anak dia kena breast milk jaundice tapi dia keep on bf her son, 2 bln anak dia jaundice tp bila check darah semua ok je. kalau bacaan 5 tu sangat rendah..

Syigim said...

>> lina, your darwisy pun kuning tang mata jgk ke? u tak selang2 la ye? yes, i also believe bm is da best!

>> azma, tu la doc check darah ok..reading pun ok...cuma tang mata je kuning sket. demam pun xde. harap2 hilang mcm tu je nanti.

ade jgk terbaca mmg takes time nk ilang kalo jaundice this type. tp xmerbahayakan. insyaAllah!

Syigim said...

thanks sofia! oh, ade efek ye..hmm..i mmg xde makan jamu2 or ubat2. makan panas tu xsure la plak. xdela makan black pepper byk2 ke ape ke hihi.

nways, thanks for the tips! :)

Nadiah Sidek said...

ada anak kwn kite ms kecik2 dulu mata kuning jgk. bila tanya kwn kite tu, dia kata tak tau knp (mmg confirm bkn jaundis biasa tu) & dia tak tanya Dr pun..mgkn dia rs benda tu takde apa yg perlu dirisaukan kot.

bila baca entry syigim ni, kite rasa anak dia kena breast milk jaundice la. lama2 takde dah kuning kat mata anak dia tu. dia BF mcm biasa je (exclusive). anak dia pun skrg dah 8 bln dh pun. tapi tak sure la brp lama baru hilang kuning kat mata tu

Diana said...

syiqim, base of my own experience with idlan who got jaundice 5 days after birth (not at birth) and extended up to another 14 days...he was hospitalized for nearly 10 days with pneumonia, liver and pancreas hampir rosak and a few other things, all because we neglected, thinking he was ok coz he showed the same symptoms as kazim only. but don't panic, i guess kazim is in good hands and my advice is to follow what the docs said coz they knows better since they are holding and diagnosing the baby rather than assuming. i didn't pay heeds to any of their advice to stop breastfeeding (it's only a while anyway) and it nearly cost me my baby, but alhamdulillah he's healthy now. Blood A+ and O mothers are vulnerable to this and it's nobody's fault unless we choose to ignore. i should've taken idlan's pic in NICU tapi masa tu panik tuhan saja yg tahu, terlupa terus, with him crying and lots of wire cable everywhere :( anyway, my advice, listen to the docs :)

Syigim said...

nadiah, kak jah yg urut masa pantang dulu pun kata maybe takde ape2 n cuma mata dia tak putih betul je. dia even kasi petua lama lagi..titiskan breast milk tu dlm mata kazim..! xpenah dgr petua ni! :)

ape2hal pun, masih lagi decide. in the meantime, my mom in law la rajin tiap2 pagi bwk kazim klua bwh matahari :) insyaAllah ok..

Syigim said...

diana, THANKS so much for sharing your challenging experience! alhamdulillah your idlan is fine now ye? :)

actually mmg rasa kejap je pun - doc suh selang bm-formula cuma dlm 48hrs je jadi maybe do-able.

betul ke, type A+ & O ye? patutla doc tanya.

thanks again, diana! :)

MamaSeni said...

as much as I pro BF, tapi bila mengenangkan nyawa n kesihatan anak, I would say go for the doc's advice..if tak puas hati maybe can consult 2nd or 3rd doc's opinion..then after that listen to your heart, mother's instinct works wonders most of the time..

ada jugak i terbaca, mkn halia byk sgt pon masa berpantang buleh menyebabkan jaundice..try changing your diet and see whether any changes..

Unknown said...

widad pun kena jaundice. i detect dier nya jaundice 2nd day then trus bw pg clinic tuk cek, bler cek dier nya reading dah 16 then trus admitted kat hosp.

kt sini, doc mmg suh breastfeeding byk2. bler breastfeeding byk, BB akan byk berak so mecronium akan cpt kuar and dier nyer kuning akan cpt hilang.

Syigim said...

>> mamaseni, betul jgk. esp bila fikir2kan diana's experience. whats 48 hours of selang2 ngan formula kan kalo bandingkan ngan our baby's health?

hmm...halia is of course must-have ingredient in any lauk.. see whether can cut down!

>> adui..widad 16? sian...alhamdulillah suma ok kan. breastmilk mmg the best utk elak jaundice tp in my case, bm tu yg cause of jaundice. tu yg kena selang2 ngan formula for 48hrs.

lina said...

my lil darwisy ari tu kena kat mata juga dan prof zainul kata ok tak merbahaya.Then i just continue BF till now. Alhamdulilah jaundice gone by itself

Syigim said...

lina, yg kazim ni pun doc ckp xmerbahaya. tp suh selang2 susu. hopefully hilang cepat! :)

HaniFadil said...

hopefully baby kazim is getting better now. erm, yang petua letak susuibu dalam mata tu i pernah dengar, tapi for baby yang ada mata jeleket.

Syigim said...

AA, mata jeleket tu ape ye. first time denga nih! :) alhamdulillah getting better. kuning xnmpak sgt. still kena keep on jemur dia je now :)

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