There is a great discussion of this issue for health care professionals on the University of Denver Children's Hospital Website. It may be helpful for the doctors involved because it is clearly written by doctors for doctors, but it would also be reassuring to the mother. They do not advise weaning and state that most babies will outgrow this by about 9 months. They talk about how anemia is a rare complication, but they do advise iron supplements and intermiitent CBC's. It really addresses all of the concerns of the team involved.
Here is the link. If for some reason the link doesn't work, you can access the page by googling "Bloody stools thriving breastfed baby denver".
http://www.thechildrenshospital.org/conditions/digestive/professionals/stool.aspx
Kathy Lilleskov RN IBCLC
***********************************************
Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome