Baby care tip #9 – Treat neonatal jaundice with sunlight therapy

The only natural and effective way to treat the all so common neonatal jaundice in newborns and infants is to expose them enough to sunlight.

As you rejoice the birth of your baby and get adjusted with the nuances of neonatal care, you might notice that your newborn's skin turns yellow. This is a symptom of neonatal jaundice which is very common among newborns. But know that neonatal jaundice doesn't signify any liver failure in your baby. Instead it happens because your baby's immature liver isn't able to get rid of all that bilirubin accumulated in the blood. Bilirubin is a yellow coloured substance that is produced due to the breakdown of the hemoglobin. This is a natural physiological process that happens as the old blood cells are replaced by the new ones.

The best way to treat it is to expose your newborn to the sun. The sunlight breaks down the bilirubin which is removed from the systems through urine. Spend an hour walking with your baby in the open to help her get enough sunlight. After around 10 days when your baby's liver matures enough, expelling of bilirubin happens in a natural way. Till then ensure that you help your baby with natural sunlight therapy which also promises enough of vitamin D for calcium absorption by the body. Also read everything that you need to know about neonatal jaundice: what is normal and what's not.

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