Blood in nappy - does it have to mean dairy allergy?

[iggi777]

Saw some blood in ds's nappy today for first time (just when I was thinking how well feeding was going )
Googling seems to suggest an allergy could be the problem, and I'd have to go dairy free as a result. I would hate this as already vegetarian and would cut out much of my food!
But obviously will if I have to. Going to see health visitor tomorrow, and just wondering if there might be any other explanations. His poo itself has been very watery for about a week (I thought it was teething related) and he does bring up milk after every other feed, not oceans though.
Oh, he's 4 months.

Could be a cutg or something in the intestines I think - my friend had something like that. Sorry to be vague it was before I had dd so I didn't listen to baby stuff so much then! Watery poo does sound a bit allergy-ish to - sadly. Might be a cut down rather than all or nothing job though?

Could be anal fissure...

Thank you both - will check for cuts with a torch at his next change!
I wonder if there is a test for allergies, would like some "proof" before giving up my cheese n choc
Does a dairy allergy mean my wee one would have it for life?

You need to ring the doctor. My 5 month old had this in July and the doctor sent us straight to hospital as it can indicate the bowel going inside itself. It is probably nothing, in our case it turned out to be milk intolerance (I'm vegetarian too and I'm doing ok with the diet - very bored though), but it is best to ring a doctor than just assuming it is an allergy.

Seriously Piggy? That sounds awful. Do you think it can wait till morning or needs to be an nhs24 job?
He has just brought up more milk and been crying a lot but is now laughing with his dad.

I think it will be ok to ring the doctor tomorrow if he isn't crying in pain and there is no more blood (but I'm not a doctor so am just speaking from my own experience and not any professional knowledge!). If there is more, I would ring OOH doctor for advice.
It does sound like an intolerance or allergy (sorry!). DD has never been a sicky baby at all and her weight gain is perfect, so I didn't suspect it at all. With hindsight, she did have very irregular bowel movements with mucous, some greeny, some dark browny and she had some bouts of discomfort. Reflux and bringing up milk are supposed to be quite common symptoms. Hope your little DS is feeling ok!

Forgot to add, the paeds did stool sample for infections, blood samples (which came back with elevated platelet levels which is consistent with an inflammation, and therefore suggesting bowel irritability), and just observed her and gave her a good prod. They said if the bowel goes in on itself, it sometimes does it again, so they kept her in for a few hours to keep an eye on her and as she was in good spirits and there was no more blood I persuaded them to let us go (they initially wanted to keep her in overnight).
Hope I haven't scared you - I just wanted to let you know that it probably isn't anything serious, but there is always a small possibility, iykwim.

Thank you, really helpful to know what all they looked for. Have examined the bottom closely and there's a tiny red bit that might be a cut. Have only seen blood once. He's brought up another chunk of milk - will def go to doc's tomorrow.
This will sound stupid, but I thought I was bf (in part) to stop allergies - how do they get like this!

hi my dd had blood in her nappy a few times up til she was 4 months. fissures were the problem but it turned out that her straining was down to the amount of milk in my diet as it was also causing terrible reflux.

Mamawharton what did you do to improve things?

my ds had blood in poop since 3 weeks was finally diagnosed with milk allergy, hes now on neocate but docs want to start re-introducing milk at 6months to see if he has grown out of it

i was having cereal for breakfast every morning so swapped it toast and cut out one cup of tea. i was advised to slowly decrease what i thought was the problem as it doesn't always need a radical cut out but a decrease in amount. i found this had a dramatic effect on dd reflux and never had blood in the nappy since. i couldn't cut out dairy completely for dietary reasons and glad i tried this approach. my dd intolerance to milk has shown itself again recently as we have started to introduce solids..... she is fine with yogurt cheese etc but if i give her the breakfast porridge that you add water to instead of her usual milk ( because it contains milk and soya) she breaks out in a rash.

It could be down to a cut/fissure then, iggi. They did check her bottom for cuts/nicks and also asked if my nipples had been bleeding.

I also don't understand why there is such an increase in intolerances and allergies - especially with breastfed babies, as you say. I have sadly passed these issues on to my daughter as I have asthma and hayfever. Really hoping she doesn't get my asthma too.

Just spoke to dietician today and she also said we will be trying to reintroduce milk in the next few months as most babies outgrow the intolerances/allergies and it is good to use me as a 'filter' before trying her with milk directly. We'll be weaning in about 4 weeks too mama

I'm glad for those of you on dairy-free diets it doesn't have to be permanent!
Well to update, saw GP today and he didn't see any cuts, didn't think it was down to allegies (though didn't say why) and has said to try him on infant gaviscon for a few days. (Did see would refer him to children's hospital if no improvement). So home now staring at the gaviscon - gp said one dose, packet says two for baby of his weight - never straightforward, is it?!

Before going dairy free you could try raw milk in addition to other dairy. The unpasteurised 'live' bacteria will help you to break down the lactose in the milk. It's the 'dead' milk that causes allergies as your body tries to protect itself against it. This has worked for me and several others I know but the raw milk is pricey. You can't just pick it up in tesco either. I have to drive to a dairy which is licensed to sell it. You can buy it in selfridges but it's even more expensive then. Worth it in my opinion. When I started drinking it I also found I no longer had asthma or psoriasis after less than one month.

iggi my DD had this between about 3 months and 6. She had bloody mucus in her nappies and it was a real worry. We saw a GP, a paediatrician and the GP also had a chat with her friend who was a consultant paed. The blood was found to be old blood (dark red, not bright) and they looked at her bottom and couldn't see any cuts. It was decided that it was unlikely to be an allergy (though I also can't remember why) and that as she was her usual happy self and gaining weight normally it was unlikely to be anything really worrying. She also had an ultrasound that couldn't spot anything.

The next step of diagnosis was a tube up her bottom or down her throat (I can't remember which) and it was felt that as this was so intrusive it wasn't worth doing.

As my GP predicted it stopped as soon as we started solids at 6 months!

Really glad you saw the doctor and it doesn't seem serious, iggi.
I hope the gaviscon helps and your ds is in less discomfort. No idea about the doses etc though!

I got confused by the Gaviscon instructions too but for 4.5 kgs or more one dose is 2 sachets.

If you're dissolving it in water I suggest doing a James Bond - shake, don't stir!

Thank you
Should I get my cocktail shaker out? He does seem a bit happier already but will wait and see. Most of the gaviscon seems to be going down his chin!