If the baby is spitting blood there are two immediate questions. 1. Is it baby's blood or mom's 2. if is baby's blood is there a large bleed. first question 1. baby's or mom's If this is a neonate an Apt test can be done with the spit up to determine if its mom's or baby's. It differentiates fetal from maternal hemoglobin. If not but mom has a cracked nipple and the amount is small and baby acts well its reassuring and one could possibly watch and wait while mom heals. Or maybe just use the other side to feed. 2. if baby's is it a lot? I assume this is red blood so either a high gi bleed in baby or its mom's. A large amount of blood will cause black tary stools. One caution is this can happen if baby intakes a lot of mom's blood. I don't see a reason to stop breastfeeding here. To be thorough one could feed on the non cracked side and have GI see the baby. I believe its Maryelle Vonlanthen MD whose alleged answer to everything is "Have mom keep breastfeeding and I'll scope the baby" -Rob Rob Cordes, DO, FAAP, FACOP general pediatrician Wilkes Barre PA mailto:[log in to unmask] *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html