interesting

A newborn full-term baby's bilirubin level is considered high at 15-20 mg, however if the infant is being breastfed in will generally quickly level off and will start dropping on its own.

Feed the baby often to help removal of the bilirubin from the baby's body. The bilirubin will be removed out of the baby through the feces and because babies tend to soil diapers often with frequent feeding, this will lower the bilirubin. This is especially true with breastfed infants.

Jaundice tends to be more common in breastfed babies and to last a bit longer. In most cases, it's harmless, but jaundice phobia on the part of parents and healthcare providers often creates obstacles to successful breastfeeding. Here's some background on jaundice and ways to minimize interference with breastfeeding.

While most newborn jaundice is harmless, common medical remedies for jaundice can interfere with getting breastfeeding off to a good start. Therefore, healthcare providers and parents should be cautious about treating a condition in which the cure can create more problems than the disease. Watch out for what we call the "yellow flags" that signal an overreaction to jaundice in the breastfeeding baby.

• In most cases, it is not necessary to treat jaundice when bilirubin levels are less than 20 milligrams.
• Most jaundiced infants do not need supplements of water, sugar water or formula.
• Avoiding breastfeeding for a day or two is not usually necessary to bring down bilirubin levels.
• Shake off any suggestion that something about your milk is bad for your baby. As long as your baby is otherwise healthy, jaundice is short-lived and harmless. If your baby's jaundice is related to other health problems, your milk is very valuable for him and you should continue to breastfeed.

 

Well this information makes me feel much better about what is going on with Jonathan... phew... I can breath just a little easier now