[perstephone]

From PubMed: full text here Rectal bleeding in infancy: clinical, allergological, and microbiological examination.

CONCLUSIONS: Rectal bleeding in infants is generally a benign and self-limiting disorder. Bloody stools occurred irregularly for only a few days during the following months. As in a previous report, most infants were exclusively breastfed. In the majority of the patients the cause of the condition remains unknown. An association with viruses can be seen in some patients. The microbes that commonly lead to bloody diarrhea in older children and adults, Salmonella, Shigella, and Yersinia, were absent in the present material. The low bifidobacterial numbers in fecal samples may indicate a significant aberrance that may provide a target for probiotic intervention to normalize gut microbiota. The gut microbiota overall seemed stable, because the numbers of major groups of microbiota tested did not change significantly between the time of admission and after 1 month. Cow's milk allergy among these patients is more uncommon than previously believed. Cow's milk challenge is thus essential in infants who become symptom-free during a cow's milk-free diet to reduce the number of false-positive cow's milk-allergy diagnoses.

I am starting a complete elimination diet (actually, started last night) per the Dr Sears reccommendations. I've already been off dairy for about a month, and soy for about two weeks.
My son, who is 4 months old now, had a bout with what we thought/think was rotavirus two months ago. Bloody, mucusy stools, when they weren't the currant jelly stuff, they were green. The smell that accompanied it was truly foul. That took about three weeks to get 'better', although his poop still isn't really back to what it was before. Instead of being yellow-ish and seedy, it's thin and brown now.At least the smell is back to normal. Sporadically there is pink tinged mucus, though it's not awful. No fissures. He also has the red ring around his anus, and a couple of patches of eczema that come and go.
There was an incident after I had a lot of dairy with very green, very mucusy poop. I put the two together and stopped dairy completely. So far, there is less mucus, but it's still not 'better'. At our last well baby visit, I told our pedi this, and he recommended I stop all soy, too.
So, here we are. Yesterday, there was another pink-mucus incident. I've been very careful to avoid dairy and soy, but of course, it's in everything. That prompted me to the complete elimination diet. If it's not the dairy, and not the soy, then it has to be something.

Then I was reading this particular study (the one I linked to and excerpted above), and it seems that maybe all this is crazy excessive. I'm going to continue the total elimination diet for at least a week. I will reconsider then what to do next. I have some infant probiotics that I've given DS occasionally, but not regularly, and may start those up consistantly.

Any thoughts? Just wondered, as I'm kind of shooting in the dark here.
Many thanks-
Stephanie

 

[GatorNNP]

I used to think it was kinda hokey, until, my 3 month old would not stop screaming after I really went bananas at a cheese table at a wedding, the next day she would not stop screaming and would not eat. I had to take her to the late night doctor (to see a resident that I work with no less) for them to tell me she had severe gas. I was relieved but freaked out. She also had the greenish poop. So yours truly dairly lover but the butter down and gave up dairy. I feel like I need a cigarette or something instead *kidding of course* she was ten times better after the no dairy, no longer fussy in evening, no more refluxy symptoms, slept a little longer between meals at night, like 2 to 3 instead of 1.5 hours. Now I have started eating a little sprinkle of cheese here and there to see what would happen now she is 8 months and she has started with a new prickly red rash around the mouth that seems to be chronic so I am going to get more strict again.

I would go for the elimination diet, especially since you are only really strict the first week or two and then start adding back in. It stinks, but you will probably figure it out, and no formula or special mix will make the poos smell any better, especially the predigested nasty stuff, it is totally stinky and human milk is likley to be so much better. I have read about the mom taking probiotics like acidophilus and that helping with some eczema, one of the mothering mag articles a few issues back had something about it. You may consider that especially if no dairy, yogurt, soy etc.

Hang in there it is worth it.