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:
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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.
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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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