Hello. I'm new to this board. I'm looking for some answers regarding my 5 month old daughter. She is 100% breastfed, and for the last month has had blood in her stools on and off. Her stools has turned from the normal, yellow seedy looking to runny green and mucousy. Blood and mucus have been present in both, although not with every stool. She is acting fine otherwise, no fever, fussiness, or pain. She is eating, playing and sleeping normally, however she has been acting tired. She had her 4 month vaccines and 5 days after the first bloody stool. The blood is red and there are just specs or sometimes streaks but it is pretty well mixed in with the stool. We took some samples in to the doctor, tested for bacteria, everything came back normal. Does anyone have any ideas of what could be causing this and how to fix it? I did eliminate dairy, nuts, & chocolate from my diet for a week to see if that was the problem. We went to a GI today he said she seems fine and she is growing, he thinks it’s allergy and suggested for me to eliminate dairy, soy, eggs, wheat, fish, and nuts for 2 weeks. I really don’t think that is the problem, she has been breastfed her whole life and has never shown signs of an allergy before. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.
My daughter was 3 months old before showing the same signs and it was a milk-protein allergy. Fortunately, she outgrew it and is 2 and doing well on cow's milk and all dairy. I had to take a stool sample to my pediatrician and the tested it and confirmed the allergy.
Your baby may be allergic to milk protein that is also found in soy. My son had the same issue but the blood in his stool was only found by testing his diaper. It is very difficult to remove soy from you diet as many foods have it...even crackers. Try removing the soy along with cows milk and see what happens. You'll have to be very anal reading ingredients and eating out is challenging as many places cook things in butter but it should help.
At my baby's 6 month appt we brought two diapers only one tested positive for blood. We realized I had some chocolate the night before....it contained soy, so the diet will help.
Dark blood is from stomach and small intestine (dark like coffee brown dark), bright red blood is usually from the end portion of the large intestine which can be from hemorrhoids or straining.
Are her bms soft, formed or hard?
Dairy is usually the main culprit for breastfeeding Moms. If you cannot give up dairy - switch to all organic cow or goat's milk dairy. Take some probiotics too.
After dairy, the next 2 main ones are gluten and eggs. Broccoli/brussel sprouts are generally last.
make a list of what she eats then note the effects of these foods to her through her stool... one cause of blood in the stool is amoebiasis... if you had her checked and they say there is nothing to worry you should follow their advice.
if you want to be sure have her undergo comprehensive tests like ultrasound, enema and etc..
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make a list of what she eats then note the effects of these foods to her through her stool... one cause of blood in the stool is amoebiasis... if you had her checked and they say there is nothing to worry you should follow their advice.
if you want to be sure have her undergo comprehensive tests like ultrasound, enema and etc..
Just one, kind of left field question: Are your nipples cracked or bleeding? Little ones can sometimes have blood in their stool if they're ingesting it while breastfeeding from Mama's sore breasts. I don't know that it remains red though. Anyway, I thought it worth a mention.
it could be a reaction to the shots. call and make an appointment with your daughters dr for like next week and take a stool sample in with you again and have it tested and maybe have her blood and pee tested as well
Blood in the stool is commonly caused by an allergy. Allergies can develop over time, so even if she didn't show signs before, it's possible that she is allergic now.
It's also possible for a breastfed child to have an allergy and show no symptoms. My son has several allergies (dairy, eggs, and nuts) and was exclusively breastfed till he started solids at 6 months, then I continued breastfeeding till he was a year old - he never had formula. He never had blood in his stool or any other indicators of a food allergy aside from eczema. But the very first time I fed him yogurt, he broke into full-body hives and vomited.
Anyway, my point is, allergies can vary in how and when they present themselves. I'd follow the doctor's advice for a couple of weeks and see if it makes a difference. I hope your baby is ok. If it does turn out to be an allergy, feel free to contact me for help in managing it. My son is 3.5 now and we've become pros at eliminating allergens from his diet.
You need to follow the GIs advice and eliminate those foods! Just because she's breastfed doesn't mean she can't have a serious food allergy that she's reacting to through your breastmilk. If, after eliminating all of those for the 2 week period she still has blood in her stool, you should take her somewhere for a second opinion. Have you been seeing someone at Children's Egleston or Scottish Rite? If not, I wouldn't even wait before taking her to a specialist there, but DO try the elimination diet!
