Lactose Intolerance? Who knows...

[Fleur]

Great advice
Just thought I'd add my experience.

DS2 was about 8 weeks old when I started noticing blood in his poo. Took him to the ED & they told me it was cracked nipples (which it most definitely was NOT, I had BTDT & knew what that felt like!)
Got a referral to a peadiatrician who said it was most likely like Kelly suggested a reaction to the protein in cow's milk. I cut all dairy out of my diet for a couple of months and it stopped. After about 8 - 10 weeks I started to ease back into a little bit of dairy & it was fine.

It might be something to try if it continues?

Good luck

[entreat]

I want to stop cows milk to test it out - but I love it so much!! Ok - I will do it... but it will be hard.

I know it's not cracked nipples, or anything. It's fresh red blood in mucus (would you get as much mucus if it were an anal fissure?).

We have an ABA branch in town, I think. I'll join next week. It's been on the list of things I've been meaning to do. I'm sure you all understand.

[onthefly]

I understand Entreat, I think DS was 10 weeks old before I finally got round to joining! It's definitely worth it though.

If you do decide to try cutting out dairy, be aware that it'll take a couple of weeks to get out of your system completely. I think also speaking to a pead or someone like that to guide you through the process is probably a good idea. Personally I'd wait and see if his system settles down post-ABs first.

[MantaRay]

Hun, if you do decide to cut out dairy, you also need to cut out all foods that contain milk solids and you'd be surprised how many there are (even some potato chip flavours!). The best way to do it is an elimination diet under the supervision of a dietician who specialises in food allergies and sensitivities. This way you can avoid all the foods you need to, and still maintain a balanced diet. The elimination diet also consists of adding things back in too, once everything is out of your system so that you can identify exactly what the problem is and not restrict your diet any more than necessary - eg there are two proteins in cows' milk and many people are only allergic to one, so foods like cheese or A2 milk can be ok for some people with cows' milk issues. This is a lengthy process so you might like to follow Marcellus' suggestion and give it another couple of weeks first just in case it just from the abs.

[BellyBelly]

Ricemilk is actually nice, I like it more than soy, which I avoid anyways. But my son has problem with dairy and A2 milk is fine for his tummy - he can drink milk now with no reactions whatsoever, no tummyache, probs with his bowel movements etc., whereas when he was younger and tried whatever, he'd get a really bad tummyache and green poo everytime Poor thing would be so upset.

[entreat]

Jack was diagnosed by our pediatrician as having reflux. In fact, when we went for our 6 week checkup, Jack was sleeping against my chest, and the Dr could hear him wheezing from across the room. He initiated the check up with, "so let me guess - he hiccups, coughs, and sneezes a lot, and when he feeds, he cries, pulls back & squirms". Then he gave him the once over & the conclusion was reflux. I feel much better about this than the GPs assessment.

The poo-test results came back too. Very mild reducing substances, which indicates a minor milk protein sensitivity, but is probably related to the damage being done by the reflux.

Thanks for all your help ladies. I was told to express off some fore-milk every feed to reduce the sugar Jack is getting, and he's been started on Losec.

[MantaRay]

entreat, that's great news that you have some answers. Although you didn't want to him to have reflux, at least it is helpful to have an idea of what is going on.

I recommend you get your hands on the ABA booklet on reflux - it's $5 from Mothers Direct and has lots of information and tips for managing reflux. Unfortunately this is another area where there is often misinformation. It's good that you have not been told to stop breastfeeding, as breastfeeding is one of the best things you can do. However, in all my reading I've never come across any research to show that expressing of the foremilk is helpful. That sounds like a lot of work and I'm really not sure that it will give you any benefit. All babies with reflux are different, but often they do better with smaller feeds more often so perhaps that might be something more useful to try.

All the best with it hun. It sounds like you are having a really hard time and I hope it settles down soon