Blood in nappy

[tex111]

DD, 3 months, has had blood in her nappy off and on since Thursday. It's usually mucousy and stringy but sometimes just a pink stain in her nappy. DD is bottle-fed and is taking Gaviscon for reflux. She's had some diarrhea, but we all seem to have had a tummy bug over the past week. She hasn't been constipated.

We went to the GP on Thursday and I left a sample to be tested on Friday morning. Unfortunately, it was the doctor that I trust the least so I don't feel very reassured. The blood is worrying me. Has anyone else experienced this?

tex111- I've only just seen your update and so sorry you're still going through this worry. Gld you went to A&E but agree with ruty that the dr you saw doesn't sound experienced enough. The milk intolerance was at the bottom of the list when we had probs too. They did tests for infections and for reducing sugars (lactose intolerance basically). All were negative so consultant said all that they could now do was trial DS on Nutramigen formula. I was extremely negative too but this totally did the trick.

As for symptoms, DS basically had the same as ruty's DS. I was in denial for a few days but it then became sore frequent til there was blood in every nappy. No cradle cap, no rash, fed OK and was gaining weight well! If you're still getting yucky nappies, I would ask the GP to refer you to the children's ward (get them to phone the ward during your apt) and politely refuse to leave before seeing a consultant as you have persevered for long enough. Hope it's all sorted soon- keep us posted.

Going back to GP today. Soy formula hasn't made a difference but I read that it could take up to two weeks. Was this your experience? Still having upset tummy, still blood in nappy and the blood is increasing to virtually every dirty nappy now. I'm going to push for a referral to a gastro pediatrician today, either on NHS or privately, whichever is fastest. Hopefully we'll have some answers soon. DD is still a happy bunny most of the time and is still eating well. Her sleep has been increasingly disturbed with discomfort and dirty nappies though. Fingers crossed it all gets sorted soon. I'll keep you posted. Thanks so much for checking in and for all the info.

tes111, if your bub is allergic to milk, or there is a querie about it, usually soy milk isnt alway a help, soy is actually quite a high allirgen.
I thought the chap was alergic to milk and was advised to try omneo comfrot milk, although it is milk based it is made from hydrolysed whey protein and so is not as allergenic as milk as the protein is not the same strructure IYSWIM. It is avaliable to but from supermarkets and can make their poo quite runny. Would be worth a chat with HV or GP about it.

The modern school of though is that soy is not a great alternative for young babies with milk allergies.

tex111 hello just skimmed your thread and I would definitely push hard for a gastroappointment - go to A & E if necessary and cry - as it may be that the soya is making it worse and that she does need neocate/progestamil. You could give her some acidophilous meanwhile to try and soothe the gut. Good luck and hope she feels better soon.

Also tex it the blood is red It could be from a small tear rather than a milk allergy as normally the bleeding would tend to occur higher up in the GI tract befor the duodenal sphincter causing the pooh to bee dark green rather than have fresh blood in it, red blood to me would suggest something in the lower gi tract either a fistula or a disease of the lower bowel...
I stress I am not a dr though. I hope your gp can shed some more light on this.

chapsmu, may be right but just wanted to stress our experience was of differing colours of the blood - it started with specks of bright red blood in yellow runny poo [TMI!] and then changed to green mucousy poo with darker lines of blood in it. All terrifying. I think soy isn't the best thing to test for milk intolerance. And if it was a tear, your gp should have checked your babe's bottom straight away to rule that out. Hope they did. I would think it unlikely to be a tear when its been going on so long.

do you know ruty was just about to post again saying just that!

Think what I'm trying to say is that the lower down the colon the bleeding is the brighter the blood will be the higher up, the darker and if it occurs aove the duodenum which a milk allergy woul theoreticallly eventually cause, It would be dark green. Thanks ruty!

I know it probably isn't this but thought I would post it -- just incase

When I was a nanny the baby girl had blood in her nappies and it turned out to be like a period -- a sort of hormone imbalance

She is now 18 years old and a lovely young lady

yes that's true chapsmum.

We got the referral today. Hooray! And should see the specialist next week.

I think they've recommended the soy as an interim measure just to see if it made a difference. I don't like treating DD like a guinea pig but must admit that all the sudden this afternoon she seems much happier and more settled. Could just be coincidence.

So interested to hear about your experiences. DD has had very green poos, sometimes quite dark green. Will add that to my list of symptoms for the specialist.

They did check her bottom for fissures and couldn't find any. I've looked myself too since then and can't see any. I almost hoped to find one. It would be such an easy answer.

great - glad you have the referral!

Kanga, I thought of that too but it's usually in breastfed babies and DD is on formula. Also had a rather explosive demonstration at about 3am one morning (all over me, the changing table, floors, etc, etc) and know for certain that it's coming from her bottom!

let us know what they say

oh good tex - i'm sure they'll sort it out one way or another. Green mucousy poo is a definite sign the gut is having problems with something. let us know how it goes.