What are the symptoms of breast milk jaundice?

Generally, neonatal jaundice will subside in 2-3 weeks, but for babies who are mainly breastfed, it will last for 1-2 months. This is because after the baby drinks breast milk, the fat in the breast milk will be broken down to produce fatty acids. Fatty acids will inhibit the acid that breaks down bilirubin, causing the jaundice to persist. This phenomenon is called breast milk jaundice. About 10-15% of babies who are mainly breastfed will have breast milk jaundice. Parents can rest assured that breast milk jaundice will not have any effect on the baby's development and growth, and they can continue to breastfeed the baby as before.

Symptoms of breast milk jaundice

1. Jaundice does not subside during the period of physiological jaundice, which occurs 2 days to 2 weeks after birth, but does not disappear with the disappearance of physiological jaundice.

2. The degree of jaundice is mainly mild or moderate (≥342?mol/L), severe jaundice is rare, and elevated unconjugated bilirubin is the most common.

3. Generally good condition. The baby is completely healthy except for jaundice. He eats well, has normal bowel movements and urination, satisfactory weight gain, small liver and spleen enlargement, normal liver function, and HBsAg is negative.

4. Jaundice disappears quickly after stopping breastfeeding. Jaundice is significantly relieved 48-72 hours after stopping breastfeeding, and bilirubin drops rapidly to about 50% of the original level. After re-breastfeeding, serum bilirubin will rise to 17.1-51.3? mol/L (1-3mg/dl) within 1-2 days, and then slowly decrease after a period of time. If breastfeeding is not stopped, bilirubin will also drop to normal by itself.

5. Good nutritional development, weight gain, normal urination and defecation, and normal stool color.

6. The liver and spleen are not enlarged.

7. Normal liver function, no anemia.

8. Jaundice usually appears 4-5 days after birth and gradually worsens. Elevated bilirubin may last for about 10 days, and then the jaundice gradually subsides and returns to normal levels in 3-12 weeks.