What should I do if my newborn baby has a yellow face?

Many new mothers are very anxious when they see their newborn babies with yellow faces. In fact, judging from the symptoms of yellow faces, most of them are pathological jaundice. So, what should we do if a newborn baby has a yellow face? What precautions should parents take in daily care of infants with pathological jaundice? I hope that these infant knowledge shared by the editor of 5H.com will be helpful to you.

What to do if your newborn baby has a yellow face

Most newborns may have yellow skin within one week after birth, which is mainly due to the characteristics of bilirubin metabolism in newborns.

If the degree of jaundice is mild, it is physiological jaundice. Parents do not need to be overly nervous. Physiological jaundice of newborns can disappear on its own. Most newborns will have jaundice 2 to 3 days after birth, reaching a peak at 4 to 6 days. It disappears in 10 to 14 days for full-term infants and 2 to 3 weeks for premature infants. During this period, the child is generally in good condition except for jaundice, with good appetite and no other abnormal conditions. Physiological jaundice does not require treatment and has a good prognosis. How to judge the degree of neonatal jaundice.

You can observe the degree of yellowing of the newborn's skin under natural light. If only the face is yellow, it is mild yellowing. Press the skin of the trunk with your fingers and then lift it up to observe the yellowing of the skin. Yellowing of the skin on the trunk is moderate yellowing. Use the same method to observe the limbs and the palms and soles of the feet. If yellowing is also present, it is severe yellowing and the baby should go to the hospital for examination and treatment in time.

What to do if your baby's face is yellow

Characteristics of neonatal pathological jaundice If neonatal jaundice has any of the following characteristics, it should be considered as pathological jaundice:

1. Jaundice occurs too early: Full-term infants develop jaundice within 24 hours after birth, and premature infants develop jaundice within 48 hours after birth

2. Severe jaundice: serum bilirubin exceeds the average value of normal children of the same age, or rises by more than 85.5μmol/L (5mg/dl) per day; ③3. Jaundice progresses rapidly, that is, it deepens a lot within a day; 4. Jaundice lasts for a long time (more than 2 weeks for full-term infants and more than 3 weeks for premature infants) or jaundice reappears after it subsides;

5. Jaundice accompanied by other clinical symptoms, or serum conjugated bilirubin greater than 25.7 μmol/L (1.5 mg/dl).

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 early 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, which will increase jaundice.

How to check whether the meconium is completely discharged? The main thing is to see if the meconium changes from black to yellow.

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.

Differential diagnosis of yellow face in infants

Yellowing of the baby's face is generally a manifestation of disease, but physiological jaundice in newborns is caused by special physiological characteristics rather than a pathological state. Its mechanism of occurrence is mainly due to increased destruction of red blood cells (the fetus is in a low-oxygen environment in the womb, so red blood cells are produced too much and are relatively excessive after birth) and the immature liver of the newborn, which has limited ability to process bilirubin. Most newborns will develop jaundice 2 to 3 days after birth, reaching a peak at 4 to 6 days, disappearing in 10 to 14 days for full-term infants and 2 to 3 weeks for premature infants. During this period, except for jaundice, the child is generally in good condition, has a good appetite, and has no other abnormalities. Physiological jaundice does not require treatment and has a good prognosis.

Neonatal jaundice should be considered pathological jaundice if it has any of the following characteristics:

1. Jaundice occurs within 24 hours after birth;

2. Severe jaundice;

3. Jaundice progresses rapidly, i.e. it gets much darker within a day;

4. Jaundice persists for a long time or reappears after jaundice subsides; pathological jaundice is a manifestation of disease and requires timely treatment.