4 month old - Blood in stool...

[~Caitlyn~]

Hi mamas,

I have been EBF and I just recently returned to work. My family friend that watches my daughter called and told me that she found two small mucousy bloody spots in her stool... I got pretty concerned, called the pediatrician... nurse on call says that its nothing to worry about, and most likely from me? I am a little sore, since I just started pumping... but I have never noticed anything in my milk, or in my bra...

Bringing the baby in to the doctors tomorrow morning, but, thought I would check and see what some of the seasoned moms thought here...

Thanks

[Kailey's mom]

been there

Blood in the stool is the first major red flag of a dairy allergy.

[MamaPhD]

Yeah, we had the same thing happen. Baby is most likely reacting to dairy in your diet. Even if you have always been drinking milk, your baby starts to react to it now because now the baby's immune system is more mature. Go off dairy, and blood will go away pretty soon. Cheese and yogurt seems less allergenic, so if you have dairy craving, have a little of these rather than milk. Good luck!

[texaspeach]

Originally Posted by Kailey's mom

Blood in the stool is the first major red flag of a dairy allergy.

this.

We had this happen when DS was almost 3 months old. There was a smear of blood in his diaper. I took him to the ped who said that it could be from a small fissure, or from cracked or bleeding nipples (but I was fine, no soreness or cracks on my nipples) but it was also a sign of a food intolerance. He recommended I eliminate dairy from my diet. We had an occult blood stool test done and some blood work to check for anemia. He did have occult blood. We did a trial of elimination, and DS's eczema went away, he stopped spitting up so much and there was no more blood in his poop.

I wanted to know WHY DS would be reacting at 3 months when I'd been drinking/eating dairy all along. The immune system has to be exposed to the allergen first and be sensitized. So it took a while for that to happen.

It seems like a lot of doctors ignore food intolerances. Even if your ped doesn't suggest it, I would consider going off dairy (and possibly soy as many babies cross react to soy too). It is a PITA at first, but after a while it isn't so bad. You learn the things that are typically ok to eat (the less processed food you eat the better beause there is hidden dairy and soy in many processed foods)

[ps4624]

For us it was gluten - she stopped having the blood in her stool as soon as I gave up grains (based on advice from the fabulous ladies in the allergy forum!). My Dr. totally poo-pooed it as an issue - he said "It just happens sometimes and we don't know why". Trust your gut - if you think its an issue, it's an issue.

[MommytoR]

My son started to have blood in his stool around six weeks. I would ask your pediatrician to do a hemocault and see if there's any blood that kind of blends into the stool, because if it's from a little higher in the stomach it can have even an almost greenish brown tinge IME. Food allergies are usually the first and easiest thing to rule out.

[kismetbaby]

Just wanted to reply to agree with the other posters. . .food intolerance!

I had blood in the stool appear at about 6 weeks (I was told it can take awhile for there systems to develop the outward signs of an intolerance and this is why it doesn't show up right away). . .since it was bright red blood, I was told it could be a fissure, but was most likely a dairy intolerance.

I just reduced dairy for awhile and tried to just have small amounts and mostly yogurt and cheese, but that didn't work. (And I don't think it will if your LO has reached the blood in stool stage of intolerance!) So I finally had to give up every speck of dairy and read food labels like a fiend. Its hard, but on the plus side, not only are his poos better, but so is his sleep and face itching.

Keep in mind you will have to give up all dairy for 2-3 weeks minimum to know if this is the problem (it takes 2 weeks for the dairy proteins to leave your system). And for some, its something else (like gluten or soy) or something in addition to dairy. But dairy is a good place to start.

Good luck! I know how scary finding blood can be.

[noobmom]

Dairy allergy was our cause for blood in stool as well. Good luck figuring this out.

[~Caitlyn~]

Thanks!

Ok, thanks sooo much for the advice.

I was also offered the 'this happens to kids and we don't always know why' bit... not really good enough for me.

She also mentioned a fissure or cracked nips... neither of which I can see as an issue. So, I'm going dairy-free now... I guess this will have to end the love affair I have developed with ice cream (thanks to pregnancy)... and on the bright side - maybe will help me lose a few more baby lbs