Pedi wants me to stop nursing

So, I took Silas to the pedi. She wants me to stop nursing for the next week and she put him on Alimentum(sp?). She is thinking he has become allergic to my breastmilk. I am not pleased with this, but I am gonna do it just to eliminate that factor. I hope the littlte guy is not allergic to me. Any suggestions? I have to take him back in on Tuesday.

ETA: Silas now weighs 17lbs and 14 oz. How in the world is that possible? He has gained 3 pounds in a month?

 

Wow, that must have been really hard to hear! :hug99: I hope you can get it all worked out and Silas gets better soon.

 

It is EXTREMELY rare that a baby is allergic to breastmilk. He might be allergic to something you are eating, perhaps dairy. :hug99: What are his symptoms?

eta: LINK

 

No symptoms other than the stringy blood in diaper. He still had some this morning but it was alot less. I thought maybe it was all the garlic I had eaten the night before.?

ETA: If he is allergic....why now? 5 months later? It does not make sense to me eithor.

 

QUOTE(annelily2000 @ Mar 24 2008, 02:00 PM) [snapback]684680[/snapback]
No symptoms other than the stringy blood in diaper. He still had some this morning but it was alot less. I thought maybe it was all the garlic I had eaten the night before.?

I added a link to my last response. I don't think garlic would be the culprit because I had heard before my twins were born that garlic helped get babies to nurse. I would be more apt to guess diary/protein. :hug99:

 

Thanks for the link. Why would this just be coming up if he is allergic to the dairy or protein?

 

:hug99: That sounds like a really frustrating appointment!

OK, maybe I'm just a TINY bit biased in favor of BFing, but that does not sound like good advice to me. When DD had bloody diapers, everyone was saying that the go-to explanation is a milk protein allergy. All the doctors were saying that that is THE most common cause of blood in the stool. Soy is another common allergy that could cause it. I cut dairy out of my diet for about a month, and the blood went away; later, I was able to gradually start eating dairy again with no problems.

As to why an allergy would only start showing up now - my babies were born in Feb, and Ivy first had a bloody diaper in mid-May. I asked everyone about this, and IIRC the GI specialist said that it can take time for an allergic reaction to show up, or to get bad enough that you'd see blood in the stools, since apparently the body reacts more and more strongly to an allergen with each exposure.

In chatting with the GI specialist, he mentioned in passing that a few babies out there are allergic to human milk, but that it's very rare, and NOT a reason not to BF, because they manage ok even with the allergy.

Is there any way you could get a referral to a GI specialist? Hopefully they'd have more sensible advice. They can do a blood test to check for food allergies too.

It's up to you, you should go with your gut on this one, but in your shoes I think I'd continue to nurse but cut out all dairy right away. If you decide to go that route, be sure to check for all the "hidden" dairy out there (ingredients like casein etc).

Also, I'd think it would take more than a week of Alimentum to get a real "answer" about this. When I eliminated dairy, the doctors were saying it would take at least 2-4 weeks to stop seeing blood in Ivy's poop if that were the problem.

:hug99: Sorry I've written a book here! I hope things get sorted out soon. (And btw, that is a really STELLAR weight gain!!!)

 

The exact same thing happened to both of my babies, only it was a bit earlier (around 2-2.5 months). Our pedi also recommended that I stop breastfeeding and put them on formula, and I am SO GLAD that I completely ignored her advice and continued to breastfeed!! I spoke with my lactation consultant and started an elimination diet under her guidance. I cut out most of the major allergens (dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, wheat, etc.) My LC said that even if we couldn't figure out what was causing the problem that the benefits of BFing far outweighed the harm caused by losing small amounts of blood in the stool.

I gradually added foods back in (1 every week or so) and am now eating everything but dairy and beef. My babies' stools have returned to normal, which is a relief. Mu MIL is a neonatologist and she checked them out when all of this started and she believes that it may not even be a dairy allergy (the thing our pedi suggested before she concluded that they must be allergic to my milk) but was probably a virus or something that has passed. She said that the late onset of the condition supported this theory- a true allergy would likely have shown up earlier. She thought it was totally irresponsible of the pedi to recommend formula and thought that the idea that a baby could be allergic to BM was ridiculous. I found an article that backs up her theory about viral and bacterial causes of bloody stool- here is the link to it: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/...l/117/4/e760#T3

It basically seems to say that in their study they found multiple causes of bloody stool and it could only be attributed to dairy protein allergy in some cases (they say nothing about an allergy to human milk!!!).

I am so glad now that I chose to continue BFing- if you want to continue to BF, please don't let your doctor deter you!!! I would suggest that you contact a local LC or LLL leader to get more info about food sensitivities in babies.

 

I agree with pps that it sounds like a milk and/or soy protein intolerance. Candace started having blood & mucous in her stools around 6 weeks. After eliminating first dairy and then also soy she has been fine. It does take a few weeks to get the milk protein out of your system, so 1 week on formula may not be enough. If you are adamant about BF (as I was/am), I would go back to the doc. and provide some of the research about MSPI (milk/soy protein intolerance) and tell her you would prefer to try eliminating these foods for at least 2 weeks BEFORE switching to formula. Good luck and i hope you find a solution that works and you feel good about!

 

QUOTE
if you want to continue to BF


I did not go through 2 months of **** to just give up bf now that we are on easy street!!!

Thanks for all your post. I'll cut out the dairy in my diet and see if that helps. So, I should give it 2 weeks to see if it makes a difference? Like I said todays poo was much better, greenish yellow with just a little fraction of an inch blood vein. Thanks for coming to my rescue gals!!!!!

 

Ditto PPs.

One of my girls had some issues w/ blood in her stool. And pedis were the first ones to suggest it may be the dairy in my diet that she had an issue with. I then made the connection that I'd increased my dairy intake a lot over the previous couple of weeks. I'd been having a bowl or two of cereal in the morning and then ice cream, which I hadn't been previously.

Once I cut out the actual milk and ice cream, no more bloody stools! I was lucky I was able to continue cheese/yogurt.

GL!

 

Just chimming in with my vote to cut dairy NOT BREASTFEEDING. It's very likely the culprit. Dairy takes about 10 days to get out of your system and is in many foods...hidden so be careful to cut all of it. I totally disagree with advice to cut breast milk. I'm not a doc, but it seems like a cop-out answer. I had the same thing - cut dairy and everything was fine. Feel free to PM me if you want more info. I'm sorry that this is happening. Sometimes BF requires a lot of detective work, but it's worth it if you want to continue.

 

QUOTE
So, I should give it 2 weeks to see if it makes a difference?


That's what the doctors were telling me. It takes a while to get out of your system, and theirs. I noticed steady improvement over the course of several weeks. Finally we were just seeing teeny tiny specks of blood, then none at all. (Who'd have thought I'd spend so much time poring over baby poop? :lol: )

QUOTE
I did not go through 2 months of **** to just give up bf now that we are on easy street!!!


That's the spirit!

 

Oh I am so glad for you that you can keep up with the BFing. I wondered, but I am not as well educated about it as alot of the other women on here. Thank goodness for Twinstuff!!! I really hope you get it figured out and that Silas gets better.

 

I completely agree with PPs - I get so mad when I hear about ignorant pediatricians saying things like that!! It is EXTREMELY rare that a baby would be allergic to BM; on the other hand, it is MUCH more likely a baby will be allergic to formula!!

One of my twins had some blood in her stools a few weeks ago. My doc wasn't concerned and didn't even suggest cutting out dairy; said most of the time it's from tiny anal fissures resulting from straining during bowel movements. I did some internet research and found lots of articles in support of this explanation. I'm thinking if it continued, she probably would recommend cutting out dairy, but it stopped on its own after 2 days.

Good luck and keep up the good work!!

 

I am certainly not a GI doc or ped, but the same thing happened to me. Around 4 months we found blood in a few of dd diapers, I was very concerned also. I went to the ped and he told me I could try cutting out dairy or I could give it some time, watch her diapers and see if it was just a freak occurence.
I read some online too and found blood in stool can be ALOT of things, and most commonly its from a viral infection. If it goes away and does not reoccur I would not change anything.
For me cutting out diary would have been a last resort, I had bad ppd and in my craziness thought I would rather quit bfing than give up dairy, so I am glad it only showed in a few of dd diapers!!!! I also started block feeding at that time (feed on one boob all day, and switch the next day) and that also seemed to help.

So if it were me I would not change anything and if the blood goes away in a few days then no worries. No matter what caused the damage (virus, dairy, etc) it has now done some damage so the blood may be there for another day or two, don't worry until it lasts longer than that.

 

I dont know anything about bloody poops but I do know how frustrating it is to have a dr/np tell you to give your breastfed baby formula! I understand your frustration.
I also wanted to say AMAZING weight gain!! :bow2:

I hope everything returns to normal soon!!

 

I've just gone through this with a really good friend of mine. Her baby had blood in his poop and her pedi recommended that he go on that alimentum or whatever it's called, for two weeks, while my friend eliminated dairy from her diet. The blood stopped within 1 day of going on the formula, and she faithfully pumped and dumped for the two weeks. After the two weeks of no dairy she went back to BFing, and he immediately got blood in his poop again. So this time the pedi had her cut out a whole bunch of other stuff. Pump and dump 2 more weeks, in the meantime she can eat hardly anything because she had to cut out dairy/soy/wheat/nuts/etc. Back to BFing again, bloody poop again. She is about to give up. Finally I convince her to try approaching it from the other direction and doing a total elimination diet. (Instead of cutting out foods, a total elimination diet is when you can only eat maybe 6 things -- I think it was free-range turkey or lamb, millet and rice, and green and yellow squash. And salt and pepper.) This time it worked and the blood has totally stopped. She now can add foods back in, one food a week.

Anyway. No advice, just wanted to share how it went with her, and wish you no more bloody poops!

 

I dont have any advice, but I wanted to wish you luck in getting to the root of the problem and that Silas will be better soon. Nice to see the detemination to continue BFing...I would not want to give up that easily either...way to go momma!!!!

 

QUOTE(annelily2000 @ Mar 24 2008, 03:10 PM) [snapback]684823[/snapback]
I did not go through 2 months of **** to just give up bf now that we are on easy street!!!

Thanks for all your post. I'll cut out the dairy in my diet and see if that helps. So, I should give it 2 weeks to see if it makes a difference? Like I said todays poo was much better, greenish yellow with just a little fraction of an inch blood vein. Thanks for coming to my rescue gals!!!!!



That's exactly how I felt- when the dr. said the word "formula," I think I just gave her this total :angry: look- I did not work my butt off and struggle through those insane first months to give this up right when it's getting awesome!! I'm sure you will get to the bottom of this, whether it be a food allergy, virus, etc. The ask Dr. Sears website has instructions on doing a total elimination diet if you want/need to go that route. I think it can be tough at first but it's amazing what all you can do with rice, and before you know it you start adding things back in.

 

Another mom here with kiddos who had trouble with cow milk proteins and soy. I eliminated dairy/soy and the bloody stools stopped. Dairy and soy are everywhere- crackers, breads, soups,etc. You have to read carefully to truly eliminate it. With one of my kids I found that just a drastic reduction in dairy helped. My older kids were eating yogurts and cheese by two years and now drink cow's milk just fine. I've come to learn that everyone has a certain threshold for tolerating cow's milk (since it is meant for calvess, not people!) and that smaller bodies tend to have a lower threshold.

One thing to remember. If you do eliminate dairy you'll need to reintroduce it to yourself very slowly since your body will be deplete of the enzymes necessary to digest it properly. It took me longer to get back to dairy than it did my kids. I was so jealous of watching my 5 year old eat ice cream when I could only eat a small bite or two.

While it seems like a big deal, a bit of blood in a diaper is not always a serious problem. Also, this time of their lives passes so quickly. I hardly remember the dairy free 4 years , but at the time it seemed insurmountable. Be tough!