Jaundice in Newborns

Cam developed jaundice when we came home from hospital on day 2. Today he is still very yellow although it has improved (he is not so pumpkin like).

Just wondering, does jaundice usually make them sleepy? He is a very cruisy baby, sleeps most of the time, can be awake for up to 2 hours but its very very rare. Also, how long can I expect him to stay yellow for? He is fully breastfed which I understand can mean it takes a bit longer for it to go away. Crazy as I would have thought it would help rather than hinder the process!!

Any experience stories gratefully received.

Jaundice makes your baby very tired which can make them very difficult to feed which makes their jaudice worse. Make sure you are feed often and getting lots of wet nappies.
It can take a while to clear up but make sure your MW is keeping a close eye on it.

Also, I think it resolves from bottom to top so their face is probably the last to 'unyellow'.

And feeding as much as possible literally flushes it out. If he keeps falling asleep during a feed, give him a tickle, cool facecloth on the head etc.

bella had jaundice and was very sleepy the first week.

I don't think it even has to be sunlight, daylight should help (with a heater nearby of course).

DS had jaundice and we ended up back in hospital too.
Sounds like your little man is doing ok weight wise and sounds like he's a good feeder As everyone says, I'm sure your midwife will be keeping an eye on it.
The whites of the eyes were the last to clear. They were yellow for AGES, even when his levels were down and he was fine

LOL lizzle.

CuriousG Callum was really sleepy with his jaundice. His took a long time to clear up (he looked yellowish to me until after his due date!) but apparently that's normal with preemies.

We were told to put him in daylight every morning and afternoon for 30 mins - 1hr at a time. We just went out for walks with the sunshade down on C's pram and a sleep in the window in the morning

Both my boys had it. Andrwe had it really bad that at day 4 we were back in hopsital with him on the billy bed. Josh nearly did but he improved overnight.

Andrew was very sleepy he pretty much slept for the first 2 weeks of his life.

Any light will help as I think it is the UV light that helps clear it (Andrew was on a bed with UV lights under him).

If you aren't happy with it ask your MW to take the test to see what his levels are it is a heal prick test to get some blood to be tested.

Amelia was Jaundice she was pretty yellow for at least 3 -4 weeks and even when her colour came back you could still see it in her eyes at her 6 week check up.

Maya had really bad jaundice and should have gone on the bili bed but I didn't know any better and it wasn't till she saw a paed at 9 mths and he commented that her bili levels were still slightly elevated that I realised how bad it was and I should have pushed to get it treated. She was really sleepy and a poor feeder for the first few weeks, and looking back at pics of her she was really yellow too, but like Liz, I thought it was just her Maori colouring .

Gremlins had slight jaundice and had their levels tested every couple of days for the first 3 weeks but never needed treatment other than sunlight.

Lil miss spent 24 hours under the lights coz her levels were elevated. The paed said she had ABO jaundice which is caused by her having a different blood type to me (I'm O, she's A), which makes sense coz Maya is also A so that would explain why hers was so bad as well, whereas the gremlins probably just had a touch of it from being a bit prem.