Is it normal for the baby to still have jaundice after one month?

Most neonatal jaundice is normal. If you observe jaundice all over the skin, or if there are other symptoms, such as grayish white stools or decreased appetite and activity, you need to go to the hospital for examination and treatment. So is it normal for babies to still have jaundice after one month?

The skin color of newborns starts to turn yellow when they are 2 to 3 days old, and the skin is the yellowest on the 5th day on average, and then disappears when they are 2 weeks old. This is normal physiological jaundice and does not require any treatment. In a few cases, jaundice will exceed the normal range mentioned above, and in severe cases, it may cause permanent damage to the brain. Therefore, how to distinguish between normal and abnormal jaundice is an extremely important issue.

Causes of jaundice in full-month babies

Breastfeeding causes

The most common cause of jaundice beyond the scope of physiological jaundice in China is breastfeeding. Jaundice caused by breastfeeding can be divided into two types. The first type is jaundice caused by insufficient breast milk, which occurs within 1 to 2 weeks of newborns. The jaundice will be higher than normal physiological jaundice. The second type is called breast milk jaundice, which is characterized by jaundice that has not subsided for a long time, and even babies who are several months old still have jaundice.

Will breast milk jaundice cause any harm to the baby? Most cases of breast milk jaundice are mild, usually only on the face and trunk. Therefore, if it is simply breast milk jaundice and there is no other disease, it will not cause any impact on the baby. Therefore, no treatment is required, and there is no need to stop breastfeeding. The jaundice will disappear automatically within a few months.

Blood type incompatibility between mother and child

In addition to breastfeeding, severe jaundice is caused by favism and maternal and fetal blood type incompatibility. The prevalence of favism in China is about 4%, and it is more common in boys. All newborns will be screened for favism after birth. In addition, maternal and fetal blood type incompatibility is most common in China, with the mother being O-type and the child being A or B-type. Maternal and fetal blood type incompatibility will almost always cause jaundice within the first day after birth.

Biliary atresia

If a one-month-old baby still has jaundice, the first thing to do is to rule out biliary atresia, because this disease must be diagnosed and treated as early as possible (biliary atresia, see page 458). In addition to jaundice, biliary atresia also causes grayish white stools. Fortunately, biliary atresia is not a very common disease, while breast milk jaundice is much more common.

How to check baby jaundice

When jaundice is mild, the skin will turn yellow first on the face, then spread to the trunk. When jaundice is more severe, it will spread to the limbs, palms and soles. In addition, the more severe the jaundice, the yellower the skin will look.

However, judging by appearance alone is prone to error, and it is more accurate to use instruments to check, such as transdermal infrared measuring instruments and blood tests. The most commonly used blood test method is to prick a drop of blood from the sole of the foot, and sometimes even a tube of biochemical blood is needed for testing.

Tips

Jaundice in the vast majority of newborns is normal. If jaundice is observed all over the skin, or if there are other symptoms such as grayish white stools or decreased appetite or activity, you need to go to the hospital for examination and treatment.