If your little one has reached 6 months and started eating solid foods and all of a sudden you notice their skin is looking a little yellow or even orange, you may be worried that they have jaundice. While it is vital that you check with your baby's doctor for the possibility of jaundice, your baby could have caught carotenemia instead and there is nothing to worry about!
What Is Carotenemia?
Carotenemia happens when a baby's skin appears yellow or even orange, after eating a lot of baby foods that are rich in carotene. Carotene is yellow, orange, and red pigments found largely in fruits, vegetables, and dark green leafy vegetables. So, if you have fed your baby squash, carrots, sweet potato, corn, pumpkin, spinach, or egg yolks, there is a possibility your child can have carotenemia. A breastfed baby can also develop carotenemia if the mother is eating a large amount of foods that are high in carotene.
Carotenemia, however, is a harmless condition and you don't even have to restrict your baby's food intake. It will go away over time as your child gets older and eats a variety of different foods.
Symptoms of Carotenemia
If you have concerns, you can always talk to your doctor. Likely, blood tests won't be necessary, especially if your child has no other symptoms and is growing and developing normally. A usual symptom of carotenemia in kids is the discolouration of the skin. Children with jaundice, however, will show additional symptoms such as fever, nausea, vomiting, stool colour changes, or even liver enlargement.
Treatments of Carotenemia
Since carotenemia is a benign condition, there is normally nothing that you should do when your little one is diagnosed with it. But, if you are concerned about it or your doctor advises it, you might want to consider changing your baby's diet to eating less high-carotene foods.
Otherwise, carotenemia is usually temporary and does not impose any danger. Your baby's skin colour should return to normal in a few months as more and more foods are added to their diet.
Prevention of Carotenemia
Though it is a harmless condition, you can prevent it from happening altogether. The easiest way to keep your baby's skin colour from turning yellow or orange is to ensure they eat a broad variety of foods. You can also make sure they eat a variety of different coloured foods each week.
Sometimes this is not possible as your little one might probably going through a phase where they only like to eat carrots or sweet potatoes. But don't fret too much, mommy! Continue offering new foods and flavours and hopefully, your child will find a new favourite.
