Jaundice is a yellowing of the skin or organs caused by the accumulation of bilirubin in the body. It is a common symptom in newborns, and most of it is physiological and will subside naturally. However, jaundice that is too severe or lasts too long, also known as pathological jaundice, can cause permanent damage to the child’s brain, resulting in bilirubin encephalopathy (nuclear jaundice). Bilirubin encephalopathy causes involuntary motor cerebral palsy, which requires long-term and arduous rehabilitation and cannot be cured. Therefore, raising parents’ awareness of pathological jaundice and timely detection and early treatment are the keys to preventing bilirubin encephalopathy. Because almost every newborn has jaundice, and parents generally lack the knowledge to differentiate between physiological and pathological jaundice, this article focuses on helping parents to identify physiological and pathological jaundice, and to detect early some “pathological jaundice” that may cause brain damage to their children. Physiologic jaundice has the following characteristics: 1, the general condition is good, i.e., the child eats and sleeps well; 2, appears 2-3 days after birth in full-term infants, peaks in 4-5 days, and subsides in 5-7 days, no later than 2 weeks; in preterm infants, it appears 3-5 days after birth, peaks in 5-7 days, and subsides in 7-9 days, and can be delayed to 3-4 weeks at the latest. Pathological jaundice can be observed as follows: 1. Jaundice appears within 24 hours after birth; 2. Jaundice increases rapidly, leading to a rapid deepening of the yellow color of the child’s skin and abnormal reactions such as irritability and refusal to breastfeed; 3. Jaundice recedes and reappears. For children born by cesarean section, they usually stay in the hospital for 5-7 days, and the jaundice can basically be monitored and the pathological jaundice can be treated promptly. However, if the jaundice persists for a longer period of time, parents will have to keep an eye out for a return to the hospital for a timely review. For children born in the normal course, many mothers are discharged from the hospital after giving birth, and the peak of jaundice is often outside the hospital, where health care workers cannot monitor it in time, so the risk is relatively higher. To prevent harmful substances in the blood from harming the brain, there is a physiological barrier between blood and brain tissue in the human body structure called the “blood-brain barrier”. When this barrier is attacked by such things as hypoxia or infection or when it is not yet well developed, bilirubin will more easily pass through this barrier and cause damage to the brain, which is why newborns with co-infection, children with ischemic-hypoxic encephalopathy and premature babies are more likely to develop “bilirubin encephalopathy”. In the early stages of bilirubin encephalopathy, the main symptoms are hyporesponsiveness, lethargy, and weakness in sucking. If your child develops suspected pathological jaundice, it is important to seek prompt medical attention from a pediatrician. If early manifestations of bilirubin encephalopathy occur after pathological jaundice, be sure to visit the rehabilitation department for early rehabilitation intervention to reduce the sequelae and improve your child’s prognosis. For the sake of your baby and your family’s well-being, parents must pay attention to the identification of pathological jaundice, prevention and early intervention of bilirubin encephalopathy.