Bloody stools from breastmilk

I found bloody stools in my baby's diaper yesterday and promptly called the
doctor. They had me come in later in the day. Upon examining my baby's
rectum and her dirty diaper (she took a poop in the waiting room), he
concluded that she is more than likely having a reaction from the cow's milk
that I consume which ends up in my breastmilk. He said for me to eliminate
milk and see if that makes a difference.

Has this ever happened to you?

On Fri, 30 Jul 2004, ChitaShines wrote:

I found bloody stools in my baby's diaper yesterday and promptly called the
doctor. They had me come in later in the day. Upon examining my baby's
rectum and her dirty diaper (she took a poop in the waiting room), he
concluded that she is more than likely having a reaction from the cow's milk
that I consume which ends up in my breastmilk. He said for me to eliminate
milk and see if that makes a difference.

Kay never had bloody stools, but she did have horrible gas, diarrhea and
discomfort when I drank milk, so I cut way back and started using soymilk.
She's much better now, and I can have normal milk on my cereal again!

If you're cutting back on dairy, don't forget to supplement your calcium--
we used calcium antacids.

On Fri, 30 Jul 2004, ChitaShines wrote:
I found bloody stools in my baby's diaper yesterday and promptly called
the
doctor. They had me come in later in the day. Upon examining my baby's
rectum and her dirty diaper (she took a poop in the waiting room), he
concluded that she is more than likely having a reaction from the cow's
milk
that I consume which ends up in my breastmilk. He said for me to
eliminate
milk and see if that makes a difference.


"T Flynn" wrote
Kay never had bloody stools, but she did have horrible gas, diarrhea and
discomfort when I drank milk, so I cut way back and started using soymilk.
She's much better now, and I can have normal milk on my cereal again!


I had the same thing (no bloody stools but very cranky baby) and eliminated
most dairy from my diet for six months. It made a huge difference in her
demeanor (although she was still a very colicky baby) within hours after I
stopped. I ate a lot of dairy so it was hard, but it was worth it.

--
Melissa (in Los Angeles)
Mum to Elizabeth 4/13/03
and ??? due early 3/05

I haven't heard of that...maybe you'd be better posting to MKB? My daughter
is happy, healthy and gaining well and I buy milk in four litre containers,
most of which I drink myself.
She could have an allergy to cows' milk protein, but I wouldn't have thought
that would be excreted in breastmilk, I would think that your body breaks it
down. Maybe someone else can better answer that one. True primary lactose
intolerance, often confused with cows' milk protein allergy, is unusual.
Besides, breastmilk is full of lactose.
How are your nipples? My MIL had a problem early on with her son spilling up
breastmilk with blood in it, but it was because he'd chewed her nipples raw.
Then again, I wouldn't think it would make it as far as her nappy.
Anything could irritate her gut lining, causing a temporary intolerance to
the lactose naturally present in your own breastmilk, and not affected by
whether or not you drink milk - not a reason to stop BF BTW!
A lot of people have a problem with large amounts of citrus, which tends to
give some babies diarreah and nappy rash. I would go through everything you
eat and try cutting down on things that you consume in excess that could be
causing a problem.

"ChitaShines" wrote in message
.com...
I found bloody stools in my baby's diaper yesterday and promptly called
the
doctor. They had me come in later in the day. Upon examining my baby's
rectum and her dirty diaper (she took a poop in the waiting room), he
concluded that she is more than likely having a reaction from the cow's
milk
that I consume which ends up in my breastmilk. He said for me to
eliminate
milk and see if that makes a difference.

Has this ever happened to you?

ChitaShines wrote:
he concluded that she is more than likely having a
reaction from the cow's milk that I consume which ends up in my
breastmilk. He said for me to eliminate milk and see if that makes a
difference.

My DD was allergic to cow's milk in my diet. I strongly, strongly recommend
that you ruthlessly eliminate all traces of dairy products
(http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html is a great starting place) from
your diet for at least 2 weeks before you consider re-introducing dairy. It
would be a shame to cut out obvious dairy and see no improvement because
your DD reacts to the trace amounts in almost anything.

I will add to Beth's wonderful information that Junior Mints are no longer
milk-free. They're run on the same lines as some new caramel-filled
candies, and have enough cross-contamination that some kids have reacted.

The good news is that the vast majority of kids will outgrow a milk allergy,
and reacting through breastmilk doesn't mean they'll take longer to outgrow.
By the time I got up my nerve to try Caterpillar on dairy products (at a bit
past 12 months, at her pediatrician's behest), she had no reaction
whatsoever.

Phoebe
--
yahoo address is unread; substitute mailbolt

"ChitaShines" wrote in message
.com...
I found bloody stools in my baby's diaper yesterday and promptly called
the
doctor. They had me come in later in the day. Upon examining my baby's
rectum and her dirty diaper (she took a poop in the waiting room), he
concluded that she is more than likely having a reaction from the cow's
milk
that I consume which ends up in my breastmilk. He said for me to
eliminate
milk and see if that makes a difference.

Has this ever happened to you?



Yes. Baby J had blood in his stool at 4 months. I eliminated all traces of
dairy in my diet and the bleeding cleared up. Our pediatrician had us
collecting those little "poop cards" every 3 days to test over a three week
period - two weeks off milk, then adding it back in. Bleeding started back
up, so I've been off dairy since. This is a reaction to the casein
(protein) in the milk - not lactose. Come over to misc.kids.breastfeeding
for more help! This is a relatively common problem.
For future reference, I would follow a allergic sequence when introducing
solid foods to your baby. Try a schedule similar to Hall's:
http://www.hallpublications.com/title2_sample2.html
Even following an allergic schedule, my baby has had awful reactions to the
introduction of solid foods. I am so thankful to have a pediatrician who
recognized his casein allergy and made appropriate suggestions, instead of
pushing formula. Hooray for breastmilk!
Hannah
and Jasper, 7 mo

Amy spake thusly
How are your nipples? My MIL had a problem early on with her son spilling up
breastmilk with blood in it, but it was because he'd chewed her nipples raw.
Then again, I wouldn't think it would make it as far as her nappy.

It does. My son must have got a fair bit of my blood in him at one
feeding, as not only was he vomiting it up, his stools all the next day
were black.
--
Maggie

"Phoebe & Allyson" wrote in message
The good news is that the vast majority of kids will outgrow a milk allergy,
and reacting through breastmilk doesn't mean they'll take longer to outgrow.
By the time I got up my nerve to try Caterpillar on dairy products (at a bit
past 12 months, at her pediatrician's behest), she had no reaction
whatsoever.

Mine too. She never had bloody stools but had green mucosy ones until
I cut out all dairy and soy. Now at 9 months she eats yoghurt and
cheese with no problem and I can eat whatever I want (including lots
and lots of ice cream, to make up for months of going without).

Rachel (& DD, 9 months)

"ChitaShines" wrote in message r.com...
I found bloody stools in my baby's diaper yesterday and promptly called the
doctor. They had me come in later in the day. Upon examining my baby's
rectum and her dirty diaper (she took a poop in the waiting room), he
concluded that she is more than likely having a reaction from the cow's milk
that I consume which ends up in my breastmilk. He said for me to eliminate
milk and see if that makes a difference.

Has this ever happened to you?

Yes.

My daughter had little dots of red mucusy stuff in her diaper when she
was about 4 months old. I had been off most milk since she was a
couple of weeks old, but we were on vacation, and I was eating a lot
of pancakes and stuff, and other stuff with milk, MUCH more than
usual, and it happened then. As soon as I went back off milk, it went
away, and when I started having dairy again 2 months later, it didn't
reappear. I knew what to watch for, because my doctor's daughter had
had the same thing, and I have a history of milk allergy in myself and
family.

The thing to remember is that the gut achieves closure (not blockage)
- in that it stops allowing EVERYTHING through - when the child is
between 4 and 6 months of age. So the cows milk proteins quit being
absorbed via the breastmilk by that time, so it no longer mattered
what I consumed after that. I kept her off milk products, though,
until she was past one year.

So, if you have to go off milk, it's likely to be necessary for only a
few months. Also, remember that you need to wait two weeks for the
proteins to disapppear from your milk entirely, so don't be alarmed if
it keeps happening for a while after your quit drinking milk. If
you've been off milk for 3-4 weeks and it's still happening, then it's
time to look for other allergens in your diet.

Cathy Weeks
Mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01

"Amy" wrote in message ...
I haven't heard of that...maybe you'd be better posting to MKB? My daughter
is happy, healthy and gaining well and I buy milk in four litre containers,
most of which I drink myself.
She could have an allergy to cows' milk protein, but I wouldn't have thought
that would be excreted in breastmilk, I would think that your body breaks it
down. Maybe someone else can better answer that one. True primary lactose
intolerance, often confused with cows' milk protein allergy, is unusual.
Besides, breastmilk is full of lactose.

No, bloody stools is a sign of cows milk protein allergy, not lactose
intolerance, which has very different symptoms.

How are your nipples? My MIL had a problem early on with her son spilling up
breastmilk with blood in it, but it was because he'd chewed her nipples raw.

I asked about that, too. The color of the blood in the stool
indicates where the bleeding is originating from, and if it were
because the child was ingesting blood, it would likely not show up in
the poop, and if it did, it would appear very dark - almost black. If
the blood is pretty red, then it originated in the lower intestine,
and would appear relatively reddish.

Then again, I wouldn't think it would make it as far as her nappy.
Anything could irritate her gut lining, causing a temporary intolerance to
the lactose naturally present in your own breastmilk, and not affected by
whether or not you drink milk - not a reason to stop BF BTW!

Agreed - not a reason. Stopping cows milk and dairy products is the
right way to go - and usually it's only necessary for a few months.

Cathy Weeks
Mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01