Children - newborn feeding problem

Q: My wife delivered a baby girl last week. It was a normal delivery. She did not get milk initially but now she is getting some. Since she was not getting milk initially in the hospital they gave milk with a cup and spoon and now she is refusing to suck from my wife. Actually she insists on having with cup and spoon. I was told it is better if I train side by side by bottle since that nipple and mother"s nipple will be almost the same. Is it true? What should we do?

My baby girl also has jaundice. It is around 15 level. Should we expose her to the sun?

A:I understand your baby is now 7 days old and has two problems - (i) Feeding and (ii) Jaundice.

Regarding feeding, if you insist on breast feeding with proper attachment of baby to breast which means that the good part of the areola (darker portion around the breast nipple) should be in the babys mouth and the baby sucks at the areola and NOT the nipple. Please do not introduce the bottle as it causes nipple confusion and will lead to breast feeding failure. Till the time the baby starts sucking directly, express breast milk every 2-3 hours and then before offering this with spoon and cup, put the baby to the empty breast.

Regarding jaundice, a level of 15 at 7 days of age is not very high but we need to look into certain medical risk factors in case this level persists or increases. There is no medical benefit of exposing the baby to sunlight especially in this weather as it can harm the baby.