Carotenemia – the orange baby
Orange vegetables contain carotene.
Infants eat a lot of orange vegetables and their skin tone becomes slightly orange.
This is not alarming.
What is carotenemia?
Carotenemia is a condition when the baby’s skin turns yellow/orange due to excess carotene intake. It is more common in infants with light coloured skin in the stage in which they eat a lot of orange vegetables such as carrot soup, sweet potato or pumpkin (you can read here more of solid food introduction in children in this link).
Is it jaundice?
No. Unlike jaundice the colouring in the infant’s eye can not be seen and unlike jaundice, carotenemia does not hide any pathological cause (usually simple jaundice doesn’t either).
Does anything need to be done?
Assuming it is a healthy baby, no special care is required. The consumption of orange vegetables can be reduced and the orange skin color will disappear within a few days.
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