As the mom of 2 prior fussy babies-the 2nd who also had blood in his stool-I 
thought I would add my 2 cents. My understanding of the blood in the stool, 
after a discussion with an allergist, is that the blood in the stool usually is 
more indicative of milk protein enteropathy-or in other words, milk sensitivity, 
instead of a true allergy. For both of my children, I stopped all dairy and soy 
for the first 3-4 months and then was able to eat them ad lib after that point. 
I also had to avoid garlic, onion and for my 2nd, chocolate, for the same 
period of time. If you can relay to the mom that this is often temporary, and 
at some point in her breastfeeding relationship she will most likely be able to 
eat the offending foods, it might provide some encouragement to keep going. 
(of course, discussing with her health care provider before she would re-
introduce the offending foods). I also suggest for moms to try the local health 
food store as an easy place to find things that are dairy free. I also let them 
know when they are reading labels that soy lecithin is considered a fat and 
not a soy protein. WWW.foodallergy.org is another resource for recipes and 
helpful hints about avoiding certain foods. 

I also let these moms of fussy babies know that often there is not one cause, 
but several. A lot of times I see symptoms of reflux, in addition to the food 
sensitivity, and treating the reflux helps. Also, some babies are just wired a 
little differently/need some maturing in the beginning and things improve as 
the baby ages. I let moms know that they are not harming their baby by 
trying to breastfeed and sort out what they can and cannot eat. (I have 
moms who actually feel that way and feel going to ABM would be "better"). I 
also reinforce that a very fussy baby does not grow up to be an irritable 
toddler-sensitive and maybe more "spirited"- but still very happy and loving.
I hope this was helpful-sorry if I rambled too much.

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