Everything you are describing sounds common with gluten intolerance (not just wheat!!). IMO, it never makes sense to only eliminate wheat. I agree that I would want to know what she is eating MORE of as well and how thorough any of her eliminations have been. Corn is another common and serious allergen. 

I would have this baby on a probiotic of about 50billion per day and mom on 200billion. Eliminating food without healing the gut is only the tip of the iceberg. I would want to know a lot more about mom's diet and her own gut function. 

Has this baby been evaluated for posterior TT and has he been seen by a ped chriopractor? 

BTW--there is no effective allopathic test for allergies in a baby. A good holistic practitioner can do it with muscle testing. I agree that iron is a bad idea. Slippery elm would be a great idea however. 


Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, France
Intuitive Parenting Network, LLC



Date:    Thu, 19 May 2011 03:06:21 -0700
From:    Jeanette Panchula <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Bloody stools

I have done the search in the archives, but have some questions of you experts 
while helping a mom deal with her baby's bloody stools.  This is an experienced 
breastfeeding mom whose second baby, now 3 months old, has been having 
increasingly more blood in the stools:

Have permission to post - in fact, some of this is from an e-mail she sent me.  
She called me as a La Leche League Leader and we've been talking only by phone - 
I've tried to see her, but our schedules have not 'meshed'.  

Her FIRST question was: "my baby has been having bloody stools and the doctor 
wants me to stop eating dairy, but I'm losing a lot of weight as I can't think 
of what to eat."  I provided her with some suggestions and referred her to a 
nutritionist on base (Air Force), and sent her to some websites that provide 
various options of ways to address "bloody stools".  

Calls have continued, as have the bloody stools, despite dietary changes.  Now 
the doctor has found the baby anemic (9.2 hemoglobin).  He wants her to start 
iron drops and has started her on a trial of no-breastfeeding while feeding her 
baby a special non-allergenic (his words) formula called EleCare (Abbott: 
http://www.abbottstore.com/Therapeutic-Nutrition/EleCare+reg/icat/EleCare&source=elesl?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=ella%20care&utm_content=sample&utm_campaign=2010%20EleCare-%20Brand 
) .  He asked her to stop breastfeeding x 7 days (although he did allow that 
maybe she could breastfeed once a day) to see if the bleeding stopped. If not, 
then more aggressive medical evaluations will be done.  They have found no 
fissures, and he has said that there is no effective way to test the baby for 
allergies, so she has not been sent to a pediatric allergist.  She was supposed 
to get a stool sample, but since she started the formula x 18 hours, baby has 
not stooled at all...

Below are her replies to a list I sent her before posting to you:
___________________________________________

Wow!  Such great information! (I had sent her links to everything I could find 
both on bloody stools and on how to maintain milk production if she decided to 
stop breastfeeding x 7 days) 

Here are the answers to your questions:
 - developmental stages?  She is right on target.  3 months old, great eye 
contact and cooing, happy and smiles a lot, strong- rolled from front to back at 
5 weeks, finding her hands.

 - behavior (tired, active, sleepy)  When she is awake she is always moving.  
She has seemed more tired lately, however, my oldest went through tired growth 
spurts.  

 - discomfort when stooling?  No, passes them (when breastfed) often and easily.

 - color and consistency of stool  - peanut butter, more watery, greenish  
varies... some are dark brownish orange, some are yellow, and some are yellow 
with blood specks.  It seemed to cycle through.  The dark stools would 
eventually turn yellow through a few days and then the cycle would repeat.  They 
have always seemed more watery and seem to contain more acid than normal.  Some 
stools were very dark green (the color of well fertilized grass).  I think those 
could have been sitting in her diaper for a longer period of time?  They seemed 
to get very dark green when exposed to oxygen.  

 - gassy?  She has always been gassy.  As she has gotten older she seems to pass 
the gas easier.  Her latch has never been great (the lactation consultant - in 
the base hospital when the baby was born) said she has a high roof of her mouth 
and my nipples are not long enough for her to get a good suck when my breasts 
are full.)

 - what food changes have you done?  Milk, beef and fish were eliminated 2.5 
weeks ago.  Eggs, nuts, and soy 2 weeks ago, Wheat 1.5 weeks ago.  

 - outcomes of those changes?  No real changes.  If anything the blood has been 
becoming more frequent.  What once was a few specks of blood every few days has 
turned into specks and streaks in every diaper.  She has yet to produce a diaper 
while on a week trial of ElleCare Formula.

Thank you for posting this question!  I am curious to see if anyone else has 
experienced this.
______________________________________

Suggestions?  

I've not had to deal with babies whose bloody stools did not respond to dietary 
changes and who were found to be anemic (probably because most don't get 
tested).  I was also wondering whether providing iron supplements to a gut that 
is already under stress is a good idea....

Thoughts?

Jeanette Panchula, RN, PHN, IBCLC (NOT a specialist in allergies)
California, USA


 

 



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