Blood in diaper

Posted: Tue, Jan 16 2007, 12:56 pm Post subject: Blood in diaper

Anyone ever find blood in the baby's diaper?

The baby has been taken to the Doctor and the Doctor says it could be caused by allergies, so the mother has been eliminating allergic foods from her diet because she is breastfeeding.
The baby is not unhappy, he is BH a happy little guy.
The Doctor says it is too early for the baby to have Crohns or Colitis.(Baby is 7 months)
They are going to see a gastrowhatever doctor in a week or two, but meanwhile every time they change his diaper they get very scared.
The bleeding did start around the same time the baby was put on solids, but the baby does not eat solids regularly. And the Doctor just said not to give the baby rice cereal but oats or barley is OK.

Anybody have a similar situation with a baby? What did it turn out to be?

Platinum Member Joined: Jan 01 2006 Posts: 48153

A newborn baby girl can have some hormonal bleeding. . . .

Posted: Tue, Jan 16 2007, 1:09 pm Post subject: re: Blood in diaper

Beginner Joined: Jan 10 2006 Posts: 18

I dont have an answer to the post, but I am going thru the same issue with my son. He is 2 1/2 and is constantly having blood in his diaper, even when its not dirty. I have an appt with a GI in a few weeks. My pediatrician thinks its only a fissure, nothing more serious. We sure hope so!

Posted: Tue, Jan 16 2007, 1:40 pm Post subject: re: Blood in diaper

good ole' chocolate moose........it never fails........

Platinum Member Joined: Jan 01 2006 Posts: 48153

Who aid it's a boy baby . . sh said guy - guy is gender nonspecigfic!

Posted: Tue, Jan 16 2007, 2:12 pm Post subject: re: Blood in diaper

It said HE is a happy guy

Platinum Member Joined: Jan 01 2006 Posts: 48153

ahhhh....gotcha.

never mind.

Active Poster Joined: Sep 15 2004 Posts: 88

one of my kids had blood in their diaper at 6 weeks- even tho I was only nursing. does this baby have a hard time when he goes to the bathroom? hopefully it is nothing more serious than constipation. perhaps some diluted prune juice would do the trick?

Posted: Tue, Jan 16 2007, 2:49 pm Post subject: re: Blood in diaper

he isn't constipated.

Silver Member Joined: Mar 30 2005 Posts: 508

I'm not a doctor, but there may be a bacterial imbalance in his digestive tract. You say it all started with solids - so this is where the root cause is. I personally think the doctor is wrong about oats and barley. These can both be allergens. I would stick with the rice, as it's the least allergenic and has the same benefits as the other grains for now. Solids aren't even so important right now - especially with what's going on.

I doubt the mother's milk is the problem. She should try to breasfeed as much as possible and REALLY make sure enough milk is being given. Hopefully she can relax throughout the day and really focus on breastfeeding.

Was the baby ever on antibiotics? The digestive flora can get imbalanced easily so you can try good quality "good" bacteria supplement.

Here's a link to the best quality one in my opinion. It has no hashgacha but is totally dairy-free and animal-free, so you may want to ask your Rav first. Just empty the capsule into a little yogurt (usually not an allergen, even when there are dairy allergies, surprisingly).

http://store.natren.com/Mercha.....ode=001-03

Posted: Tue, Jan 16 2007, 3:38 pm Post subject: re: Blood in diaper

The Doctor says that rice is a new allergic food.

And the bleeding started around the time of solids, but it wasn't exactly at the same time, that's why the Doctor thinks it's something the mother was eating. The baby barely eats solids anyways, he nurses all the time though.

He was never on antibiotics.

Senior Member Joined: Nov 19 2005 Posts: 234

If it coincided with starting solids, it does sound like a food allergy.

Rice is low on the list of IgE-mediated allergies but in the top 8 of the list of non-IgE mediated allergies. Blood in stool is a non-IgE mediated reaction and therefore rice may or may not be a culprit. In any case, what matters here is not statistics but rather what is causing this particular child to react.

If he was at baseline on breastmilk, I would pull all solids and go back to breastmilk only until he completely heals. Note that he may be reacting to food his mother is eating even if he wasn't before. Sometimes starting to give it to the baby directly can cause him to be more sensitive to that allergen and lead him to begin reacting to it in his mother's milk. If he goes back to baseline on breastmilk only, it's not that difficult to find the triggers. The idea is to start one new food at a time and give it a full 2 weeks before starting a new one. This way, if there's a problem, you know exactly what it's from. If 2 weeks go by without blood, you can assume that food is safe for the baby.

If going back to breastmilk only does not eliminate the blood, the mother might have to go on an elimination diet. It's not easy but it's doable and should give her some answers. If she prefers, she can switch to a hypoallergenic or elemental formula instead. Going on an elimination diet helped me figure out my son's allergens. If she needs elimination diet advice, I'd be glad to help her.

The very best source for information and advice regarding food allergies can be found at kidswithfoodallergies.org.

Posted: Tue, Jan 16 2007, 4:21 pm Post subject: re: Blood in diaper

I think it's def. possible for a baby this young to have crohn's/colitis, and the gi may not be able to detect that. If it coincided with the solids I'd def. suspect a gluten allergy.

Silver Member Joined: Mar 30 2005 Posts: 508

I'm really curious about what you're saying and you seem really knowledgeable. (Wish you weren't anonymous, though.) Could you please go into more detail about IgE-mediated allergies? I'm really curious about what this could mean and how rice is on the non-mediated list.

Thanks so much Thumbs Up

Posted: Wed, Jan 17 2007, 1:56 am Post subject:

Could it be hemroids?
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Posted: Wed, Jan 17 2007, 2:43 am Post subject: re: Blood in diaper

I had a newborn nursing exclusively (around three weeks) with blood in the stool. The doctor told me to stay off dairy (and maybe eggs?), supposing it was allergy related. it did clear up. If it wouldn't have, the doc would have sent us to a gastroenterologist.
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Zogt Toras Emes, Toras Chaim, Horaah BaChaim: KER A VELT HEINT!

Moderator Joined: Feb 28 2006 Posts: 4103

My oldest had that when he was about 2 or 3 months old.
I called the Dr. right away, and he said it was prob. just a fissure.
B"H it only happened that one time and didn't return.
But, let me tell you - I was really scared when I saw it!!
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Boy (15), Boy (13), Girl (12), Boy (10), Girl (8), Boy (5), Girl (3), Girl (10 m) B"H!!!

Senior Member Joined: Nov 19 2005 Posts: 234

If the blood is caused by a fissure or hemmorhoids, it will usually be bright red and fresh looking. Darker blood means it came from somewhere higher up in the digestive tract and may be food-related.

IgE-mediated allergies are allergies that are triggered by the presence of the IgE antibody to specific allergens. These allergies usually cause immediate reactions such as hives, swelling, breathing trouble, etc. These are the allergies that tend to be life threatening. Non-IgE mediated allergies are thought to be cell-mediated and cause delayed reactions, such as GI symptoms. Blood in stool can be a symptom of a non-IgE mediated allergy.

Unfortunately, there is no accurate testing for non-IgE mediated allergies so it takes some detective work to figure out what the triggers are. That's why what's recommended is to achieve baseline by removing all possible culprits and to proceed from there by adding one new food at a time and waiting sufficient time im between in order to be certain whether it's a pass or a fail. Its not impossible but can take some time and requires a lot of patience. It's even harder if the mother also has to remove the suspected foods but again, it's not impossible and is a temporary situation just until she figures things out.

Posted: Wed, Jan 17 2007, 12:37 pm Post subject: re: Blood in diaper

you really sound like you know what you are talking about.
It's just so hard to see the blood, because he looks like such a healthy and happy baby BH. He doesn't look sick or anything. BH