If a mom is told to eliminate so many things from her diet and the blood
in the stool disappears, how is she to know WHICH of the foods was the
culprit?  I work with a lot of moms whose babies seem to be intolerant of
something and since dairy is so often the culprit we start there with
elimination.  My question to mom would be " Other than the blood in the
stool, how is the baby doing?"  If she cuts out dairy (both visible and
label reading) it's going to take her 3 weeks to clear her system.  Baby
may have some blood during that time, but it should decrease.  What about
other symptoms--congestion, screaming for no reason, cradle cap or eczema
that doesn't clear up, spit up that is clear liquid and curdy rather than
milky, red ring around the anus?  If baby is OK health-wise except for
the blood in the stool, how about mom talking to the pedi about working
on the dairy elimination, while continuing to breastfeed?  Of course the
intolerance/allergy could be to something besides dairy, but I find it to
be the culprit probably 95 percent of the time.  I do tell moms if they
are cutting dairy, not to substitute/increase their soy consumption
because about 1/2 the kids who are dairy intolerant are also soy
intolerant.  I also tell mom to be sure she's getting 1200-1500 mg of
calcium/day, remembering that the body can only absorb about 500 mg at a
time, so it has to be taken several times/day.  Calcium enriched orange
juice can be one of the supplements.  Prenatal vitamins are NOT enough
calcium.

Warmly,
Pat Bucknell IBCLC
private practice
Avon Lake OH

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