Symptoms of jaundice in babies, yellow skin

If a baby develops jaundice, the symptoms of physiological jaundice and pathological jaundice are different. Generally speaking, the skin color changes in babies with physiological jaundice are lighter, while the skin color changes in babies with pathological jaundice are relatively heavier.

The symptom of yellowing of the skin of a newborn after birth is called neonatal jaundice. The chance of jaundice occurring in newborns is as high as 20%, especially in newborns, where the chance of jaundice symptoms is as high as 80%. Jaundice can be identified based on its symptoms. If it is physiological jaundice, it is a normal phenomenon. If it is pathological jaundice, it is a neonatal disease. Therefore, parents should pay attention to observe and distinguish between these two situations.

If a newborn's skin turns slightly yellow within one week after birth, the whites of the eyes turn slightly yellow, and the urine turns yellow but does not stain the white diaper, and the yellowing of the skin disappears after one week, it is a normal physiological phenomenon, medically called "physiological jaundice." This phenomenon occurs in most newborns. Physiological jaundice usually appears 2 to 3 days after birth, peaks on the 4th to 5th day, and disappears naturally in 7 to 10 days. About 80% of premature infants may develop physiological jaundice, which appears 3 to 5 days after birth. The degree of jaundice is more severe than that of full-term infants and may last for 2 to 4 weeks before disappearing. This is not a disease and does not require treatment.

If the newborn's skin is golden or even orange, or jaundice spreads throughout the body, there will also be obvious yellowing on the palms and soles of the feet. If you press the skin with your fingers for 2 seconds on the area where the yellowing is more serious, and then remove your fingers and the skin turns orange after that, then your baby has pathological jaundice. When pathological jaundice occurs, the newborn may have abnormal body temperature, poor appetite, vomiting, or poor spirits, drowsiness, dull eyes, weak sucking, refusal to eat, and even groaning, screaming, etc. It may also be accompanied by anemia or light or white stools, and dark yellow urine. If the jaundice does not subside within 2 weeks after birth, or reappears after subsiding, the baby with pathological jaundice should be examined and treated by a doctor in a timely manner.