Rectal Bleeding and Bloody Poop in Diapers

Dairy products are the number one leading cause of digestive problems in newborns - followed a close second by gluten - its hard to eat anything in this country without running into one or both of those. I am amazed that her intolerance to dairy proteins wasnt more pronounced...I have heard of days old babies having this happen to them. Within three days all the dairy proteins will be out of your system. Word of caution...dont replace all your dairy with soy based products, too much can effect (dwindle) your milk supply. Just remember its temporary...and its a good thing that you were nursing - (take a look at the prices at Nutramagen sometime!)

I know how you feel. When my son was about 3 months he also has that problem. I noticed a very light streak of blood initially and was told by a relative that sometimes babies pass a mucus like streak of blood when they have a cold in their system they are getting rid of. By the next bowel movement i did'nt notice anything. Then i saw it again later on that night and the next morning. I called the pediatrician and i too brought the diaper with me. I was told that it can be caused by straining eventhough his stool is soft. My little one has always grunted when going to the bathroom anyway. She also said that he could have been born with a tear and it went unnoticed. She did notice a little something when she was doing the same rectal exam. She said it looked as if he had a small tear that had already begun to heal. She took a culture because it could be serious and she did not discuss how serious because she did not want to alarm me unecessarily. I was told to keep an eye on it and wait for the results. Fortunately the results were negative and i just used bacetracian and A&D ointment on the red of his bottom. He had a tiny bit of blood in his stool later on that night after the doctors visit, but never again. By the way i was breast feeding as well. I had thought that maybe my breasts were cracked or cut somehow and maybe he was getting blood from my breasts. Girl i had all kinds of thoughts going through my head. I wish you all the best god bless..

Kristen
Wow I am so sorry to hear your night was a true nightmare. I hope things go well for you and baby as well as your hubby. I was not happy to hear how they had to exam the baby so tiny like that. But I really hope you get good results back. I have 3 teens now I went through constipation, fever, flu. bumps and bruises etc. I will put a prayer in for your Family. Let us know that baby is doing well. Good luck

K.

Constipation can happen to any baby, regardless of breastfed or bottle fed, but like you said their would be hard poop. If its just the squishy stuff, then she's not constipated. A tear would cause bleeding, though. If you are concerned about constipation, talk to your ped about giving her a sippy or a bottle with some water or very diluted apple juice. Just make sure you give it sparingly, and at off times from nrusing. You don't want her filling her belly on that and reducing her breast milk intake.

I don't know what some of those other conditions are, but they sound unpleasant. Has she been crying a lot? If she had a bacterial infection, I would expect there to be a fever somewhere.

Jess