Blood in Stools? (TMI)

[babysbreath]

My daughter opened her bowels in the morning and the whole of poo was a reddish colour. She had strawberry jelly for tea the night before. Do you think it could be blood or something very simple like the jelly turning all of the poo a reddish colour? Also, it was a paste consistency - sorry if tmi!!

How old is she?
Does it look like jam? and has she done it again since?

I hasten to add that I'm no expert in such matters...

She is a year old. She seems fine in herself, although she does have quite a few spots on her thighs, upper arms and torso. I don't think it is chickenpox as they are not blisters.

I can't believe that jelly would turn poo red!

How old is she? Has it happened again? Was she straining/constipated?
Very unlikely to be due to jelly, was she eating lots of beetroot? Beetroot can make you pee pink urine and mak ebowel movements purle/red.
Probably best to have her checked out by your GP or Nurse Practioner at the surgery. If it happens again before Monday you should seek advice from your out of hours doctor service.

what kind of spots does she have ? small spots like a rash, bigger ones like nettle sting or something else?

I don't think it's the jelly and if it happens again tomorrow, i think i'd phone the out of hours doctor. Even if just to talk it through on the phone. Sounds odd to me, though probably nothing major.

The spots are red and some have little white heads to them.

I think it will be the jelly. Red blood in poo is fresh (older, or "higher-up" blood would be black) and red blood is poo is likely to be a haemorroid/vessal rupture and therefore it would extraneous to the poo (iyswim). To be mixed in with the whole poo the blood would be having to be coming from higher up and then would not be red, it would be darker/black.

So don't worry, or at least not too much, I'm sure you'll find the next poo is completely normal.

Spots with heads on are going to be just that - spots - and not a rash.

Thank you for all your advice, I'm going to keep an eye on things and if symptoms get no better or worse, then it will be the GP.

IMO you should take her to doctors today. does not sound normal!

I think you should take her to the doctors....I don't wish to alarm you, but when a friends daughter had blood in her poo, she had e-coli She was fine, but was 9, and things are nearly always worse in babies. better to get her checked out, and be better safe than sorry xx

i would take to gp although with small children poos come out in all sorts of colours and i was told by gp when ds had green poo only worry if the poo is black or clear

but i still took just to be on safe side but you will find certain foods will change the colours often

but the spots i would check out anyway sounds like chicken pox but pre warn doctors first that it could be incase pregant people there or small babies

beetroot has this effect - and I'm fairly sure it's used as a colour in things like jelly. if she's only one I wouldn't be suprised if just a small bit could do this.

from wikipedia - check the ingredients on your jelly:

Red/purple colouring
The colour of red/purple beetroot is due to a variety of betalain pigments, unlike most other red plants, such as red cabbage, which contain anthocyanin pigments. The composition of different betalain pigments can vary, giving breeds of beetroot which are yellow or other colors in addition to the familiar deep red.[12] Some of the betalains in beets are betanin, isobetanin, probetanin, and neobetanin (the red to violet ones are known collectively as betacyanin). Other pigments contained in beet are indicaxanthin and vulgaxanthins (yellow to orange pigments known as betaxanthins). Indicaxanthin has been shown as a powerful protective antioxidant for thalassemia, as well as prevents the breakdown of alpha-tocopherol (Vitamin E).

Betacyanin in beetroot may cause red urine in some people who are unable to break it down. This is called beeturia. [13]