Blood in diapers

[Masya]

Hi all,

My 3.5 month old son has been having blood (bright red points and sometimes red threads) in his poop since week 2. 

 - Growth, weight, appetite, sleep and mood: normal. Seems to be a healthy and happy baby.

 - Other possible symptoms: eczema (started on his cheeks and spread down to his upper body and arms in a few weeks; gone now).

 - Boy's diet: only breast milk.

My diet: I eliminated cow's milk, soy, peanuts, citrus fruits, yeast, shellfish and food additives 3 weeks ago. Wheat, tree nuts: 2 weeks ago. Eggs: 1 week ago. No hidden allergens since 3 weeks ago: I eat only foods that I prepare at home from ingredients I know.

Tried Dr. Sear's elimination diet for 3 days: rice, squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes and pears. I feel I'm not getting enough nutrients, and my boy is feeding more often. By the end of day 3, there were more tiny red points in his poop than before (maybe 15?). Not sure if this diet is not working or it takes time, but in order to avoid malnourishment of my son I added mangoes, avocados and fish (whitefish) to my diet today. There was some blood in the diaper today again.

I took him to a pediatrician's office a month ago. By that time he was having blood in poop for two months, once a day or two (out of 5-7 stools a day). The doctor advised to stop eating milk products and if it doesn't help she said I would have to switch my baby to a no-soy, no-milk formula for two weeks and keep pumping just in case. 

No-milk diet didn't help, and I didn't return to the doctor's office yet because I don't want to feed my son with formula, but rather feed him with breast milk with all the antibodies, and build his immune system, which formula won't do. I thought if it's a food allergy I would cut out other allergenic foods, which I did.

Can it be unrelated to what I eat? If so, what other symptoms should I watch for?

What happens if this goes untreated? He's been having blood in poop for three months now. Could he have complications later in life because of this?

Thanks.

[elluin]

I don't have any answers to your questions, but I wanted to ask... do you have the option of switching pediatricians? We have a very breastfeeding-friendly pediatrician and I think that might make a huge difference! Everything I've read says that babies with digestive problems do worse on formula, so I would follow your instincts and keep breastfeeding for sure. I hope you find some relief for your little one!

[WhiteHorse]

If you have been 100% pure and the elimination diet is not making any change, I would investigate by seeing a GI doc. You never know it might be something going on in the lower intestine.

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by WhiteHorse 

If you have been 100% pure and the elimination diet is not making any change, I would investigate by seeing a GI doc. You never know it might be something going on in the lower intestine.

I agree. It's possible that there's something going on that isn't related directly to allergy or intolerance. I've just finished reading an article, for example, about the increasing rates of inflammatory bowel disease in infants. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis have as one of their hallmark symptoms intestinal bleeding, and the course of the disease is not typically directly related to diet. And I'm sure there are other conditions. What i wouldn't do, though, is decide to just wait and see. Blood in the stool is a sign of injury somewhere in the GI tract. It may be fairly benign, but it may not, and I personally would be taking it very seriously. It sounds like you're doing that-- that diet you describe sounds like it must be very difficult to adhere to, and I think it's amazing you're going through so much to do the best you can for your baby. That's awesome. I would encourage you to keep pursuing possible causes and solutions. I don't think it's unreasonable, for example, to consider a brief switch to an elemental formula, to try and pinpoint whether it is in fact related to something he's getting in your milk-- pumping can maintain your supply during that time, and then you have some more information to work with-- if the formula helps, or if it doesn't help. I realize that's not the idea situation-- certainly in almost every case, breastmilk is what's best for baby. But I don't think the doc is totally wrong, either.

FWIW, I had a friend, when DD1 was an infant, who had an infant the same age who was actually allergic to rice. It's extremely uncommon, but it is possible-- could it maybe be one of those "low-allergenic" foods that is actually the culprit?

[Masya]

Thank you all for your concern.

Today the diapers were fine so far, this may be a temporary relief or a response to my dietary change. (He sometimes has a couple of "clean" (no-blood) poops, so it's too early to draw conclusions yet.) Who could have thought that baby's bowel movement could bring so much joy?

I'll probably follow your advices in the following order: I'm going to keep the baby on breast milk for a few more days, following modified Dr' Sears' diet (I kept squash, sweet potatoes and pears, removed rice and potatoes, and added fish, apples and mangoes). I this doesn't help, I'll probably go to a GI or switch to formula for a week or two.

As for the difficulty of my diet, Llyra, - I barely notice it :). I want my baby to heal so badly that I don't even feel cravings for foods that might be making my baby sick. I felt weak after two days of Dr. Sear's diet, and the baby wasn't satisfied with his milk either, so I added to the diet a couple of things to keep us both stronger.

Please keep ideas coming. Thanks again.

[ibusymomto5]

My 3rd baby had blood in her diapers too. Citrus ended up being the major offender for us, especially tomato based anything. I noticed you cut out citrus fruits but wondered if you'd tried cutting out tomato and tomato based things, sauces, ketchup, etc. Oddly enough, my 3rd was also the one who had the most sensitive skin, rash/sunburn prone. She eventually outgrew the citrus allergy though.

[Masya]

It takes so long to discover the offensive food... 

We were out of town all day on Sunday and I ate what what was available (still no milk, soy, nuts, wheat, eggs or citrus). He had some blood again. Now I'm on three foods (whitefish, squash and pears) and he seems to be fine. The resources that I found recommend add one food every 3-4 days and see the reaction. I think I might cheat: maybe I'll be adding two foods of the same group at a time and wait.

Moms who have gone through an elimination diet - did you notice any malnourishment of yourself or the baby? Fewer poops (baby's) exactly during the diet? Worsening of teeth, nails, loss of hair or anything else?

[Masya]

Here's the progress: we've been to the same pediatrician, told her about my dietary discoveries. Here's what she told us. Allergy to a food that is passed to the baby through mom's milk looks like thick long threads of blood or blood spots (NOT points, but spots, areas).

She said that what my baby had (points and thin threads .5 cm long) is an allergy to a food that comes into contact with the baby's skin. No eating while breastfeeding. No touching the baby after touching food without washing hands first. She also recommended to brush teeth after any snack or remember not to kiss the baby when we're eating out.

When we got home I realized that I didn't ask her how long it might take for the baby's body to continue react to an allergen that came into contact with the baby's skin yesterday or the day before. Has anyone received similar information from your ped? Or had a similar experience?

[texasfarmom]

I'm just going to through this out there as something to think about... could it be a non-food related allergy? Baby & you will come in contact with MANY different allergens that could be the problem. It could be carpet, plastics, clothing, chemicals, ect. I have been learning about allergens/allergies since my DD had blood in her stools. However, for us eliminating milk from my diet cleared the problem. I have continued to do a little research though and we have started seeing a woman who uses NAET (Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique) to help clear her of some allergies. My DD is 9 months and still EBF.

I'm so glad to hear you are persevering through this to keep BFing! Good for you!