How to determine the jaundice status of newborns? How to make babies like to drink water?

Many first-time parents don’t know what to do when they encounter various problems with their newborns. So, how do you determine the jaundice condition of your newborn?

How to identify jaundice in newborns

1. If the baby's jaundice roughly conforms to the law of physiological jaundice, but the degree is more severe and disappears slowly, the most common reason is insufficient feeding in the early postnatal period, which is a type of breast milk jaundice. Many mothers insist on not adding formula milk to their babies even if their own breast milk secretion is not enough in the early stage after giving birth, which leads to insufficient food intake for the baby, causing excessive weight loss after birth, and even dehydration, which can increase bilirubin concentration and/or enterohepatic circulation absorption, making jaundice worse and disappearing slowly. For more details, please refer to the article "How to judge whether the newborn baby is full?" on this website.

2. Pay attention to the baby's stool excretion: The baby's body produces too much bilirubin in the early stage after birth, which is mainly excreted through the stool after metabolism. If the newborn's meconium excretion is delayed or unobstructed in the early stage after birth, the number of daily bowel movements is small, and meconium ileus may occur in a few cases, it will aggravate the baby's jaundice and even cause pathological jaundice.

3. Pay attention to the detection of maternal and newborn blood types, and promptly detect neonatal hemolytic disease caused by incompatibility of maternal and child blood types. The most likely blood types for hemolytic jaundice are: the mother is type O, and the baby is type AB, A, or B; or, the mother is Rh-negative, the baby is Rh-positive, and the newborn is not the first child. Therefore, if it is clear before delivery that the pregnant woman is type O or Rh-negative (not the first child), be alert to the occurrence of neonatal hemolytic disease after delivery, and it is recommended to follow the doctor's advice for relevant monitoring.

4. Determine whether there are other causes such as infection based on the baby's temperature, feeding situation and overall condition: If the baby is in a bad mood, has a fever, has difficulty feeding, etc., be careful that the baby has an infection, as any infection may aggravate the baby's jaundice. In addition, if the baby also has poor feeding, slow weight gain, hepatosplenomegaly, yellow urine, gray stool, etc., it is the obstructive jaundice mentioned above, which is pathological and should be treated in time.

Symptoms of neonatal jaundice

Symptoms and Signs

1. Fever

Neonatal jaundice often presents symptoms of acute cholangitis, and the baby may also have symptoms of chills.

2. Abdominal pain

Jaundice accompanied by severe colic or pain in the upper abdomen is often seen in patients with biliary stones, biliary ascariasis or liver abscess, primary liver cancer, etc. Viral hepatitis often presents with persistent distending pain and dull pain in the right upper abdomen; liver abscess or liver cancer may also present with dull pain or distending pain in the upper abdomen or right upper abdomen.

3. Skin itching

Jaundice with skin itching is often seen in cholestatic jaundice caused by intrahepatic or extrahepatic bile duct obstruction, such as common bile duct stones, cancer or primary biliary cirrhosis, recurrent jaundice during pregnancy, etc. Some hepatocellular jaundice may also be accompanied by skin itching, while hemolytic jaundice often does not have skin itching.

4. The color of urine and feces

In obstructive jaundice, the urine is dark like strong tea, while the stool color may become lighter. When the bile duct is completely blocked, the stool is clay-colored. In hemolytic jaundice, the urine is soy sauce-colored and the stool color is also darker. In hepatocellular jaundice, the urine color is slightly darker and the stool color is light yellow.

5. Loss of appetite, upper abdominal distension, nausea and vomiting

If the baby also has viral hepatitis, jaundice will be accompanied by symptoms of nausea and vomiting.

People who have long been averse to greasy food or experience right upper abdominal pain or colic after eating greasy food usually have chronic gallbladder disease. Elderly patients with jaundice accompanied by indigestion symptoms such as loss of appetite should consider cancer, which is often accompanied by progressive weight loss and even severe malnutrition.

6. Gastrointestinal bleeding

When jaundice is accompanied by gastrointestinal bleeding, it is often seen in cirrhosis, liver cancer, common bile duct cancer, ampullary cancer or severe hepatitis.

7. The color of sclera and skin jaundice

The cause or type of jaundice can be preliminarily determined based on the color of jaundice. If the sclera and skin are lemon-colored, it is usually hemolytic jaundice; if it is light yellow or golden yellow, it is usually hepatocellular jaundice; if it is dark yellow or yellow-green, it is usually obstructive jaundice. The longer the obstruction lasts, the more obvious the yellow-green color of the jaundice will be.

8. Other skin abnormalities

If there is pigmentation on the face and exposed parts of the skin, as well as liver palms, spider nevi, or dilated capillaries on the neck and chest skin, and varicose veins on the abdominal wall, it is often indicative of active hepatitis, cirrhosis, or primary liver cancer. If there are itchy scratches, pigmentation, and xanthomas on the eyelids, it is often indicative of obstructive jaundice. Patients with hemolytic jaundice generally have pale skin.

9. Enlarged liver

In viral hepatitis and acute biliary tract infection, the liver is mildly or moderately enlarged, soft in texture, smooth in surface, and often tender to touch. Mild enlargement of the liver, hard in texture, with uneven edges or small nodules on the surface is more common in early cirrhosis, while the liver of patients with late cirrhosis often becomes hardened and shrunken. When the liver is obviously enlarged or progressively enlarged, hard in texture, with an uneven surface and a nodular feel, it often indicates primary liver cancer.

10. Enlarged spleen

When jaundice is accompanied by splenomegaly, it is often seen in diseases such as viral hepatitis, various types of cirrhosis, liver cancer, hemolytic anemia, sepsis, and leptospirosis.

How to care for a baby with jaundice

To alleviate physiological jaundice, parents should pay attention to:

1. Let the baby's meconium be discharged as soon as possible. In the early stage, we should feed the newborn as soon as possible to discharge the meconium as soon as possible, because the meconium contains a lot of bilirubin. If the meconium is not discharged cleanly, the bilirubin will be reabsorbed into the blood through the special enterohepatic circulation of the newborn, causing jaundice to increase. How to see whether the meconium is discharged cleanly? It is mainly to see that the meconium changes from black meconium to yellow meconium, which means it is discharged cleanly.

2. Give the newborn enough water. The way to judge whether the newborn's fluid intake is sufficient is to observe the newborn's urine. Generally, a normal newborn urinates 6-8 times a day. If the frequency is less than that, it is possible that his fluid intake is not enough. Too little urine is not conducive to the excretion of bilirubin. We should ensure the newborn's fluid intake. Generally, the meconium of the newborn should be excreted in 2-3 days, which can reduce the degree of jaundice.

How to make your baby like drinking water

At what age does the baby start drinking water

Generally speaking, babies who are exclusively breastfed do not need to drink extra water. Babies who are fed with formula or supplementary food need to drink extra water. Mothers can feed some water to babies after they finish eating complementary food and let them rinse their mouths. If the baby does not want to drink, mothers should not force them.

Babies over 1 year old have more activities and need more water. It is recommended to let babies drink water in small amounts and multiple times, preferably two to three times in the morning and afternoon.

Let your baby love drinking water, the method is actually very simple

Drinking water is very helpful for your baby's health: it helps to keep electrolytes in the body balanced, regulates body temperature, prevents constipation, etc. Here are some good ways to make your baby love drinking water:

1. The water cup must be suitable for the baby

Babies are very curious, so mothers can buy water cups of various styles and colors for them to choose from. This helps to cultivate the baby's interest in drinking water.

2. Let your baby drink water anytime and anywhere

In daily life, the water cup should be placed where the baby can see and reach it, so that the baby can drink water when thirsty. When the baby is eating or eating snacks, the mother should fill the water cup with water and place it in front of the baby.

3. Let your baby fall in love with drinking water through games

Babies love to play games, and parents can use this to help them develop a good habit of drinking water. For example, parents can play the "Cheers" game with their babies, "Baby, come, let's have a toast." The mother and baby clink glasses, then drink water, and let the baby learn to do it.

4. Add some flavor to boiled water

Boiled water has no taste, and babies don't like it very much. If mothers add freshly squeezed fruit juices such as apple, lemon, and strawberry to boiled water, it can attract the baby's attention and make the baby love drinking water. Note that mothers should choose fruits according to actual conditions.

5. Parents should also develop the habit of drinking water regularly

Babies have a strong ability to imitate. If parents often drink water in front of them, they will also love drinking water. Please note that parents should not drink beverages in front of their babies.