Another question for Dr. Hive... re 13 month old.

[staceyobu]

My youngest had blood in her poop starting at about 2 months old. Tiny, tiny specks of blood. She also had viral meningitis that occurred at the same time. Initially it was thought the blood was related to a GI virus that caused the meningitis. The blood lingered, though.

 

At 3 months old, I went off all dairy. All dairy. I was uber careful about not eating any. Small spots of blood continue. At around 6 months old the blood seemed to not be occurring as frequently. I reintroduced dairy and saw no more blood. I drank a milkshake followed by a cheese enchilada and a bowl of ice cream with absolutely no noticeable reaction. At 8 months, she started solids and then it became much harder to tell if their was blood or not.

 

They just tested her hemoglobin and it was low (10 point something). They want us to start her on iron drops. I immediately wonder if she could still have bleeding. Today I checked her poop more intently and I *think* I saw some tiny red spots.

 

What could this be? If I call the doctors office, are they just going to tell me to stop nursing? To stop dairy? I don't think dairy was ever the cause (although ped is convinced that it was). I've heard allergy testing is iffy at best. Do I just give her the iron drops and not worry about it?

 

Sigh. I'm just having a hard time pulling the trigger on this one.

[Dana]

When my son was first diagnosed with a dairy allergy (at 3 months), they tested his stool for blood. I brought him in with a dirty diaper & they were able to check it. I'd definitely mention your dietary concerns and questions about blood in the stool. They can check quickly!

 

Good luck!

[staceyobu]

When my son was first diagnosed with a dairy allergy (at 3 months), they tested his stool for blood. I brought him in with a dirty diaper & they were able to check it. I'd definitely mention your dietary concerns and questions about blood in the stool. They can check quickly!

 

Good luck!

 

Yeah, they've previously tested her stool for blood at about four months old. It tested positive. I guess I'm just wondering what will happen if it tests positive again now. I'd like to know what I'm getting into before I make a phone call.

[*Amber*]

Red blood in a diaper means that the bleeding spot is close to her anus. If it were bleeding from higher up in her intestines it would be black, it would look like tar or coffee grounds. Allergies are the main thing suspected when there is blood present. Could her allergy be something else like corn or soy?

[staceyobu]

Red blood in a diaper means that the bleeding spot is close to her anus. If it were bleeding from higher up in her intestines it would be black, it would look like tar or coffee grounds. Allergies are the main thing suspected when there is blood present. Could her allergy be something else like corn or soy?

 

I'm sure it could be something else. I know when I was nursing they said if it got any worse I would probably need to go on a total elimination diet or put her on elemental formula. So, what do they do with a thirteen month old? Can I really just feed her chicken and rice and her still grow in order do determine an allergy? And, how important is it to figure it out? Would she just outgrow it?

[Dana]

It is important to figure out.

My son's reactions continued to get worse. I thought I'd gotten dairy out of my diet while nursing, but I apparently wasn't reading labels correctly. We ended up seeing an allergist. It took us a while, but thanks to figuring out the dairy allergy better, we had an Epi-pen which saved his life when he had an anaphylactic reaction to cashews at age 5.

 

Some food allergies aren't as serious as others. Each child is different.

Some allergies are tougher to figure out. A food diary can help with that and skin testing or blood testing can help too. We're finally getting skin testing done due to other allergic reactions this spring. Before now, all food reactions were really clear so we were discouraged from further testing. At this point, we've got some environmental allergens that we're trying to figure out.

 

Some kids outgrow allergies, others don't.

It is important to figure out because allergies can progress. Our allergist refers to "the allergic march". Definitely give the doctor a call, get the stool checked, and then get a referral to an allergist if needed.

[Matryoshka]

I had a friend whose dd had lots of food allergies. One was dairy, but the worst was gluten. If she had one bite of something with gluten in it at a party, she would have bloody stools for days.

[fairfarmhand]

My dd had this. At 6 months she had a flex-sigmoidoscopy. (camera up the rectum) Turns out the allergies were causing tiny blisters to form in her colon. As the stool passed through, it broke open the blisters and hence the blood. (I have pics of my baby's colon in her baby book!!!)

 

I had to be super vigilant about dairy. Read labels (anything with whey or whey protein had to go). With 2 other of my children this cured the problem, but with this dd nothing worked. At 6 months she went onto the Nutramigen/Alimentum formula, which cleared the problem right up. (however even up to her 6 yr visit this child was anemic and had to have iron supplements) If you are determined to keep nursing, then you will need to do the elimination diet to clear this up. My baby was able to go to cows milk at age 1 with no problems, however, in the past few years we have switched her to soymilk as the cows milk was causing eczema.

 

She may be passing blood or she may just be still anemic from the other dietary problems. If you could see a pediatric gastroenterologist he may be able to help you more. That was the doctor that was the most helpful to us.

[staceyobu]

My dd had this. At 6 months she had a flex-sigmoidoscopy. (camera up the rectum) Turns out the allergies were causing tiny blisters to form in her colon. As the stool passed through, it broke open the blisters and hence the blood. (I have pics of my baby's colon in her baby book!!!)

 

I had to be super vigilant about dairy. Read labels (anything with whey or whey protein had to go). With 2 other of my children this cured the problem, but with this dd nothing worked. At 6 months she went onto the Nutramigen/Alimentum formula, which cleared the problem right up. (however even up to her 6 yr visit this child was anemic and had to have iron supplements) If you are determined to keep nursing, then you will need to do the elimination diet to clear this up. My baby was able to go to cows milk at age 1 with no problems, however, in the past few years we have switched her to soymilk as the cows milk was causing eczema.

 

She may be passing blood or she may just be still anemic from the other dietary problems. If you could see a pediatric gastroenterologist he may be able to help you more. That was the doctor that was the most helpful to us.

 

What good will it do me to go on an elimination diet now that she is eating solid foods as well? Can I put her on an elimination diet?

[Jean in Newcastle]

When my ds was 12 months, I took him off all solids and breastfed him totally while I was on an elimination diet. He had reacted to every single grain, vegetable, fruit we had tried. . . He still had reactions while breastfeeding but they got manageable. Then we tried again, very slowly to add in solids - at first only oats. In his case he couldn't have dairy or spinach or any fruit until he was 3 years old. Now at almost 13, he can eat everything.

 

The question I have though is that my doctors were able to do a blood test on me for food allergies. Getting blood wouldn't be fun, but can they do that for a 13 month old? That seems a lot quicker and painless in the long run.

[Dana]

What good will it do me to go on an elimination diet now that she is eating solid foods as well? Can I put her on an elimination diet?

 

If she has allergies, you need to not be feeding her those allergens. Reactions can get more severe.

If you're nursing, you'd need the allergens out of your diet.

 

My son's dairy allergy was very severe (eating a roll that had a milk wash on it gave him hives over his entire body; we got the Epi-pen right after that).

 

My recommendation is to check with a doctor. These are questions you can ask an allergist (get one who is well-versed with allergies with children).

You may also find some information on the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis website (FAAN).

[staceyobu]

If she has allergies, you need to not be feeding her those allergens. Reactions can get more severe.

If you're nursing, you'd need the allergens out of your diet.

 

My son's dairy allergy was very severe (eating a roll that had a milk wash on it gave him hives over his entire body; we got the Epi-pen right after that).

 

My recommendation is to check with a doctor. These are questions you can ask an allergist (get one who is well-versed with allergies with children).

You may also find some information on the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis website (FAAN).

 

This makes sense... but how do I figure out what she is allergic too??? I've heard allergy testing is iffy at best?

[Dana]

This makes sense... but how do I figure out what she is allergic too??? I've heard allergy testing is iffy at best?

 

There are risks of false positives and false negatives. There is frustration.

 

My son was 3 months old when we were told he was probably allergic to dairy (through a test of blood in his stool). The pediatrician told me to cut out all dairy products from my diet (only nursing) and then to return in a week or two. They checked his stool then, found no blood, and said to continue to avoid dairy for a couple months, then add it back in (wish we'd seen an allergist then).

 

We were careful with what he ate when he was on solids, learned the signs of allergic reactions (he'd have hives anytime he ate dairy) and got better at reading labels. It was very clear that his dairy allergy was the problem because I didn't think once and eating out had potatoes with gravy and he immediately had a bloody diaper after nursing (very small amounts... like a hair... but definitely blood).

 

Elimination diets are probably the best way to catch which food allergens are a problem. It's a pain. It's also a pain because you can so easily make mistakes (we got regular margarine instead of light - same brand - and it had milk). Lots of bread products contain milk.

 

It's not going to be easy.

FAAN has information.

Food Allergies for Dummies has great advice for living with food allergies.

Have the stool test done because that will tell you if there is blood or if it just looks like there's blood. Go from there. Ask to be referred to an allergist and get information. They may want to do skin testing (or blood testing) or they may want your child's diet cut back severely, then add in foods one at a time.

 

The oral challenges (add in foods one at a time) are how you'd be sure what the allergen is. Meet with an allergist, get their opinion on how severe an allergy it is and whether you'll need an Epi-pen (if you need it, get it).

 

Maybe someone else who's had allergy testing for their child will post... explain how the testing worked for them.

 

:grouphug:

[Murmer]

My dd was allergy tested at 2 yrs old. They did the scratch test for milk and when it reacted positively they did the rast which is the blood test. Honestly the allergist didn't believe my dd was allergic to milk until he had 2 positive responses. Then we got an epipen but it was a process. I would get an a ppt with an allergist and keep at them until you have an answer. The person who led us to the allergist (not our dr but a church friend who is a dr) said for many babies this young it is milk or where so you may try removing wheat to see if it helps.

[Parrothead]

Blood in a stool should always be checked by a doctor. It could be something as simple as an anal tear that will heal on it's own. It could be something very serious.

 

*As gently as possible* I wouldn't let this be something for Dr. Mom and friends. It really needs to be checked out by a doctor to determine the exact cause.