Blood in stool, not improving

bosco213 · October 2015

This is long, please bear with me!

I've cross posted this on a few BF boards on the interwebs!

My daughter is 3.5 months old and we have been fighting mucousy poops for about a month now.

About a month ago, 2 days after LO's first round of 2 month vaccines, she started having frequently mucous stools. On two separate occasions, I saw visible blood in the stools (just a small, small streak). The color ranged from normal mustard yellow to bright-ish green. The only other "symptom" I noticed was that she had quite a sleep regression when the diapers started and went from sleeping a 6-7 hour stretch to 3-4 hour stretches, occasionally 5. I chalked this up to a growth spurt.

I brought her to the doctor after the messy diapers continued for about 12 days. At this point I had not seen any more visible blood but there was blood in the stool when tested. The doctor had me cut out all dairy and I have religiously - I've ready every label and I'm quite sure I didn't mess up or mistakenly eat any dairy or byproducts.

So I've been dairy free for 2 weeks and the only improvement I've seen is that her stools are back to normal frequency (Ranging from once every other day to 2 per day). There is still quite a bit of mucus in most stools, occasionally green, still no visible blood. Her BMs are typically very explosive - she has frequent blowouts up the back and is always quite noisy! She had blood when they tested her diaper today. She has gained 14oz in 2 weeks so there is not an issue there.

The doctor wants me to keep out dairy for another week then go back for another diaper/weight check. We are also sending out stool samples for testing once I am able to gather enough. I asked about cutting out other sources of allergies and he didn't seem to think that was necessary at this point.

What do you all think? Could it take more than 2 weeks to clear up blood and mucus in her poop? My mama instincts are telling me that this is not a food allergy but obviously I'm not a medical doctor and blood in poop seems to = a food allergy pretty much all of the time. It's possible I'm in denial because I'm craving a DD iced coffee and a grilled cheese sandwich

My other thought was possibly a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. I have a very very thin layer of hindmilk when pumped (maybe 1/4oz? Maybe less?), but she only eats on one side per feed. I rarely experience engorement and never leak. I also have quite a slow letdown. But, she does have many of the symptoms from this website: www.lactationconsultant.info/osscolic.html

-Quick weight gain
-Burps "like an adult"
-Grunts between feedings
-Has short feedings
-Never nurses on 2nd breast
-Sucks hands/pacifier frequently
-Leaves a puddle of milk on the bed when side lying

I do not want to wean already, but if the doctor suggests cutting out more food groups, I don't know if I'm going to be able to continue. I'm already struggling to eat enough and I don't think it will be healthy for me in the long run if I need to start cutting out gluten/egg/soy, etc. She has literally NO other symptoms of an allergy - no skin issues, congestion, fussiness/colic, etc. which makes it especially difficult. I feel like I'm stressing over this for no reason, since she is happy and gaining weight well.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Justone13 · October 2015

Go see another doctor. Get a second opinion. Something doesn't sound right and I can't imagine that a food allergy would cause blood in her stool. As for the runny and explosive bm are you eating a bunch of fruit? I notice that my lo has more runny bm's when I eat a bunch. Hope your lo feels better. Trust your instincts.

bosco213 · October 2015

Justone13 said:
Go see another doctor. Get a second opinion. Something doesn't sound right and I can't imagine that a food allergy would cause blood in her stool. As for the runny and explosive bm are you eating a bunch of fruit? I notice that my lo has more runny bm's when I eat a bunch. Hope your lo feels better. Trust your instincts.

There doesn't seem to be a correlation between fruit & loose BM - it's generally all the time. It seems to be pretty widely accepted that blood = dairy allergy but I will seek additional opinions if it doesn't improve!

jessyluscious77 · October 2015

I also had to cut out allergens. My baby didn't have blood that I could see, but, she was so gassy and backed up. She wouldn't poo for like 5 days and would scream in pain for hours.

Years ago, I had blood work done for allergens. My baby's pediatrician had me cut out all my known allergens which include: dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, and shellfish. It's been hard, but, doable. She seems to be doing better.

nhunter112 · October 2015

Just a thought, have you considered asking if maybe she has ibs or anything to do with her digestive system, colon.. not food related that could be causing the blood? Also I'd get a second opinion. I hope things get better! Trust your instincts.

cambam7 · October 2015

My baby had those exact symptoms you described at 6 weeks. Doc said to cut dairy AND soy. She said Usually 50% of babies with dairy allergy also has soy. So try adding that to the list of allergies to remove. Then continue eliminating known allergens. It's called elimination diet. But my baby's symptoms stopped after a few days. By a week into the elimination of both, she was happy.

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