Mom question re: blood in BM - milk allergy?

[Deleted]

TMI warning -

DD is 5 months.  Daycare just called and said she had some bloody mucus in her BM. It wasn't diarrhea.  She's eating (100% breastmilk) and sleeping normally, no fever.

I called the pedi to ask if there's something I should be watching for and they mentioned a potential milk allergy.  I was surprised that after 5 months, it could occur but the NP said it can happen.  They want me to bring her in for testing tomorrow.

My questions:
Has your child ever had this occur and did it result in a milk allergy?
What kind of testing is involved? (I forgot to ask the NP)
If you BF, did you have to modify your diet?  I love all kinds of dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream) so this would be killer but I'd do it if necessary.

Gracias!

[hopecounts]

Mucusy and bloody stools do typically indicate a food allergy, though it doesn't have to be milk though it is the most likely culprit.
Is there anything new or different you ate in the last week or so?
I would probably keep an eye on it and potentially cut back/out dairy and see what happens.

[lavender444]

When you see blood in stools, it's important to look at the baby as a whole. It may just be a one time thing, and you wont see it again, it may be an allergy (not necessarily dairy or soy), or it may even be a fissure. Did they save the diaper? Say how much blood there was? Is she acting normal?

My son was born at 31 weeks. He had all sorts of digestive troubles from that. He was allergic to dairy, soy and a protein in my breast milk. He never had a stool without blood in it. We saw a GI doctor who first looked at his standard labs to make sure he was not getting anemic. The added in Iron as a supplement, and they did some other tests of his stool and blood work that found his pancreas was immature so he also had a lot of trouble digesting fats.

With my son, it was important to me to keep him on BM. I did the elimination diet but because he was allergic an actual protein of my milk, in addition to the dairy and soy we continued to see blood. His GI doctor said that because his lab work was looking fine, he was okay with the blood in his stools if I was. Unfortunately for my little guy, he was completely miserable. He had extreme stomach pains and was extremely fussy. Finally at 6 months we took him off BM and he went to a prescription formula. There were 2 he could eat, Elecare and Neocate. They were very pricy, but thankfully insurance covered 80% of the cost.

He stayed on the RX formula until he was 18 months old. From there we switched (extremely slowly) to Carnation Good Start's soy formula on the orders of his GI doctor.  After he tolerated that well for a few months, we introduced cow milk just a few cc's at a time. Now he is 4 and he has no food allergies or restrictions.

[jaylea]

My experience was like Lavender's but with a full term baby.

It sounds like it's not a matter of constipation/fissures, right?

[Deleted]

No, I haven't eaten anything different recently.

DCP did not say how much blood (and I didn't think to ask while speaking with them) but just by her demeanor, it didn't sound like it was a lot or that she was worried. She is acting normal and she's not constipated.

DD was born at 37 weeks.

I do plan on asking more questions when I pick her up this evening, unless DCP calls me again.

[SKP82]

My daughter had bloody stools a few days in a row in early February. She was 3.5 months old then. That coupled with signs of reflux led her doc to the conclusion of a milk allergy (no testing done, though). Once I cut all dairy from my diet (she is breast fed), the bloody stools and signs of reflux went away.

I've been dairy free now for almost a month. There have been a few times when I've tested it and had a little creamer in my coffee. When I've done that, she's fussy in the afternoon/evening and pushes away while BFing and crying.

It is usually something they will grow out of. I was a big consumer of dairy and thought cutting it out would be a lot harder than it has been. The ladies here gave me some good suggestions.

[SKP82]

Oh and if you decide to cut dairy out to see if that's the problem, I suggest cutting it out completely, not just cutting back. Our doc said we would see improvement in a few days, but I read it can take up to two weeks to be completely gone from both mom and baby.

IMO, if you just cut back, you are prolonging it and won't know if it's the culprit if it keeps happening. It's easier to know if it's the problem if you cut it out completely and your LO's symptoms go away. Then you can add it back slowly and watch her closely for any symptoms.