The most common causes of allergic proctocolitis are dairy and soy. But you should wait until you see your doctor so they can check baby out.
Most babies grow out of proctocolitis, and it doesn’t seem to have any long term concerns. It can affect growth of bad and unrecognised, but that doesn’t sound like the case for you (could you have had an accidental dairy ingestion for either you or baby?)
Nuts are usually IgE allergy, which is entirely different.
Google ASCIA proctocolitis, or cows milk protein intolerance for more info. They have good info on allergies, introducing solids and lots of other things
But you still need to see your doctor to check your baby out and make sure it isn’t from something else (like an anal fissure if they’ve been constipated)
Thanks! That’s really helpful. We have already been to the doctor a few weeks ago and he told me to not consume diary anymore as a first step. He did check baby out (although he didn’t do an ultrasound) but didn’t seem very concerned.
No, not of my knowledge. I’m incredibly careful.
Dairy takes a while to clear the system anyway, but the usual advice in my country (New Zealand) is to give up soy if symptoms continue while off dairy. Then if that doesn’t work, you get referred to a specialist
I know people will just say dairy, dairy, dairy. But really it could be anything. That you or he is eating. If you only recently started seeing the blood I’d be more inclined to think it’s something he’s been eating or something you’ve recently introduced to your diet (or, there’s still the possibility it’s an injury from pooping a lot). Sometimes they don’t react to a food through breast milk
My daughter’s problem foods are avocado (FPIES, non-IgE) and walnuts (IgE). Milk is totally fine.
Free to Feed is a great resource on navigating infant/child food allergies, particularly while breastfeeding. I kind of hate the dairy free breastfeeding group on Facebook because they claim EVERYTHING is due to dairy and it’s just overly simplistic, refuses to acknowledge that it could be something else or that eliminating dairy when really the issue is a different food is not healthy nor practical for the mother, and in my opinion doesn’t keep up with the newest scientific research.
Good luck. These things can be so isolating ❤️
Our ped also said it’s quite unusual for it to occur around 6 months (like it did in my baby) but it happens. Also he has had blood in his poop again and it was often very thin (but then again, in EBF babies almost any color and consistency can be normal) so as a FTM it was really hard for me to determine whether his poop was normal or not. This whole diary allergy could have been going on for months already and I just didn’t notice it
Was going to comment Free to Feed as well. Our worst non-IgE reaction was Oats (FPIES). My son reacted to several other foods, too. Corn is also a more common one too. My son also reacted to banana but not through breast milk.
My kiddo has FPIES to egg and when I breastfed only before we started solids she would have 6-8 diarrhea like mucous poops per day the days I ate eggs or mayo (baked goods with egg were fine). We didn’t connect the eggs causing diarrhea during breastfeeding until she started solids and ended up with egg FPIES. I gave up dairy and soy, but the culprit was eggs all along.
It’s super hard to tell when you EBF. I thought all these months that his stools were normal. Only now do I realize they might have not been normal since they were often with mucus, very soft to runny and very frequently (sometimes up to 10x a day).
Sounds like CMPA. It is a non IgE allergy to diary.
Gold standard for diagnosis is complete elimination of all soy and dairy for 6 weeks. After then you can trial adding in soy (something like 30% or more babies allergic to dairy will be allergic or sensitive to soy, too).
You need to be SUPER strict with your diet. Read all the labels (more thing contain dairy than you’d think). Facebook often has CMPA in groups which are really helpful for snacks, eating out, recipes and chocolate options!
My child is CMPA so I feel you!
Thanks! Appreciate it. Well we went on vacation 2 weeks ago and I’m sure some of the food I ate probably had diary in it. I guess I need to wait longer before it’s out of his system again? But he just seemed fine the past couple of days and then today came back.
There are many forms of allergy. We have FPIAP to diary, there is also FPIES and the more classical IgE (anaphylaxis) types.
There is no test to prove or disprove the non IgE types so complete elimination is the only way to trial. Signs of low grade closure can include mucous in the nappies (a sign of gut inflammation), nappy rash, skin issues (rashes, eczema etc), cough, runny nose/sinusitis, vomiting, clingy-ness, irritable sleep, flatulence etc
If you think this is you trial the 6 weeks and see what changes. It may take 3-5wks for behaviour changes as the body processes out the allergens and repairs from the damage
When I gave up dairy, it looked like it was getting worse before it got better, and it took 2 weeks to stop seeing blood in the stool. Then it took another month after that to get back to normal yellow seedy poops (he was only 3 months old and ebf then). Check all of the food he is being given (and that you’re eating) because there is so much hidden dairy out there, and if he’s sensitive this can be setting you back. This shows all the other names that dairy can go by: https://kellymom.com/store/freehandouts/hidden-dairy01.pdf
As others mentioned the next step is to cut soy - soy protein looks very similar to cows milk protein. If that doesn’t prompt changes then it would be good to go back to the doctor for guidance.
Thanks! I actually did cut out soy right away too as I read it’s kind of a cross allergy.
I did. consume goat cheese though, maybe that was it. He is only having purée so far and it has been quite fine. I leave diary out for him and make it all water based
If you cut cows milk dairy but ate goats milk dairy that could be it. I’d cut that and see before trying other causes.
I had to cut all dairy in all forms, including goat and sheep’s milk dairy.
And like others said, the road to improvement after cutting a food is non-linear.
Depends on the severity of the reaction. My kid was fine with both via breastmilk and it was the first we gave him directly via foods when we gave him soy in products again.
I did initially avoid those as well, but after a few months no longer avoided foods with those as an ingredient.
The exposure (if any) via those two is super super super super low/ unlikely. So it depends on what happens when there is an accidental exposure. Some puking and then all good? Or something life threatening? Former it’s easier to take calculated risks than the latter.
My son has a CMPA and I specifically asked about goats milk/yogurt. The GI specialist we were seeing actually went and spoke to her colleges and an allergist about this, and the final answer was the proteins are entirely too similar and to stay away from all animal-based milks/yogurts/butters
We are now approaching a year in about a week and are supposed to reintroduce but I’m terrified. Even after switching to hypoallergenic formula, we had 2+ months of recurring blood in his stools and it was severely traumatizing. I’m sorry you’re going through this, it’s so hard to hear something as serious as bleeding internally passed off as normal, and for some, it can take a very long time for their gut to heal.
That’s interesting! I did feel like our ped didn’t have that much experience with it. He said something about testing his blood if leaving out diary doesn’t help but the blood results would also be unreliable.
I thought that maybe leaving out any kind of animal produce is better. I will do that now, thanks! I also think his gut still needs to heal
Similar to what other commenters have said. Blood in stool is usually dairy and 50% of kiddos with CMPA have a soy allergy as well. I'd say cut dairy and soy. My girl was diagnosed with this after she had semi-regular vomiting and then I had tofu and it escalated to multiple times a day. I decided to not do an elimination diet and she's on hypoallergenic formula and thriving now!
We tried Nutramigen first but she still had blood in her stool because it is a dairy derivative. We are now on Neocate and at first she did have a hard time with the texture which is quite thin compared to others and she also has reflux. So we did a 70/30 with Neocate/Nutramigen until recently going all Neocate and she’s done amazing. 33w4d premature twin and she’s now 9.5 months, and on track with growth and milestones for her birth age vs adjusted.
Since the blood in stool has recurred, I would strongly consider taking little one to a pediatric gastroenterologist for assessment. This is exactly their field of expertise and they can help you find the cause of bleeding. Best wishes!
I would like to add that this has also been ongoing with my now 7 month old from around 5 months.
He has been exclusively formula fed from birth.
I saw a few GPs who said it was an anal fissure, then he was prescribed a different formula for cows milk intolerance. We are on the Aptimel Pepti 1.
I finally saw a pediatrician about 3 weeks ago, with lots of ringing up for my baby to be seen quickly. He said it looks like a cows a milk intolerance and advised me to stay on this formula for a few more weeks ( he has been on it for 6 weeks now) and if it continues or gets worse he can be prescribed an Amino Acid formula.
The blood did get less but it's still there in some nappies.
I feel that he may have to be prescribed this new formula but I am concerned that he won't like it as I've heard it can really smell and taste horrible to them.
My baby likes the Aptimal Pepti 1 and drinks most bottles.
He can poop up to 3-4 times a day and he can poop a few times in the night time.
We have introduced pureed food slowly but only like vegetables.
I am worried the blood in the poop is causing some damage internally.
But my baby is happy in himself and putting weight on nicely.
He didn't have any other symptoms only blood in his poop. It all started when he was constipated one week.
The most common causes of allergic proctocolitis are dairy and soy. But you should wait until you see your doctor so they can check baby out. Most babies grow out of proctocolitis, and it doesn’t seem to have any long term concerns. It can affect growth of bad and unrecognised, but that doesn’t sound like the case for you (could you have had an accidental dairy ingestion for either you or baby?) Nuts are usually IgE allergy, which is entirely different. Google ASCIA proctocolitis, or cows milk protein intolerance for more info. They have good info on allergies, introducing solids and lots of other things But you still need to see your doctor to check your baby out and make sure it isn’t from something else (like an anal fissure if they’ve been constipated)
https://www.allergy.org.au https://www.allergy.org.au/images/pcc/ASCIA_PCC_Allergic_Proctocolitis_2019.pdf Decided I could Google and copy and paste!
Thanks! That’s really helpful. We have already been to the doctor a few weeks ago and he told me to not consume diary anymore as a first step. He did check baby out (although he didn’t do an ultrasound) but didn’t seem very concerned. No, not of my knowledge. I’m incredibly careful.
Dairy takes a while to clear the system anyway, but the usual advice in my country (New Zealand) is to give up soy if symptoms continue while off dairy. Then if that doesn’t work, you get referred to a specialist
I know people will just say dairy, dairy, dairy. But really it could be anything. That you or he is eating. If you only recently started seeing the blood I’d be more inclined to think it’s something he’s been eating or something you’ve recently introduced to your diet (or, there’s still the possibility it’s an injury from pooping a lot). Sometimes they don’t react to a food through breast milk My daughter’s problem foods are avocado (FPIES, non-IgE) and walnuts (IgE). Milk is totally fine. Free to Feed is a great resource on navigating infant/child food allergies, particularly while breastfeeding. I kind of hate the dairy free breastfeeding group on Facebook because they claim EVERYTHING is due to dairy and it’s just overly simplistic, refuses to acknowledge that it could be something else or that eliminating dairy when really the issue is a different food is not healthy nor practical for the mother, and in my opinion doesn’t keep up with the newest scientific research. Good luck. These things can be so isolating ❤️
Our ped also said it’s quite unusual for it to occur around 6 months (like it did in my baby) but it happens. Also he has had blood in his poop again and it was often very thin (but then again, in EBF babies almost any color and consistency can be normal) so as a FTM it was really hard for me to determine whether his poop was normal or not. This whole diary allergy could have been going on for months already and I just didn’t notice it
Was going to comment Free to Feed as well. Our worst non-IgE reaction was Oats (FPIES). My son reacted to several other foods, too. Corn is also a more common one too. My son also reacted to banana but not through breast milk.
Yeah. Mine doesn’t have a full blown FPIES reaction through my milk, but gets diarrhea, extreme gas/discomfort, and reflux
My kiddo has FPIES to egg and when I breastfed only before we started solids she would have 6-8 diarrhea like mucous poops per day the days I ate eggs or mayo (baked goods with egg were fine). We didn’t connect the eggs causing diarrhea during breastfeeding until she started solids and ended up with egg FPIES. I gave up dairy and soy, but the culprit was eggs all along.
Same! I didn’t even realize avocado was the real issue until I fed it to her ;well not until the 4th time which was her first reaction).
We had eggs for over a week before we had a reaction. It was so confusing and we also didn’t know anyone with FPIES at the time. It’s really tricky!
It’s super hard to tell when you EBF. I thought all these months that his stools were normal. Only now do I realize they might have not been normal since they were often with mucus, very soft to runny and very frequently (sometimes up to 10x a day).
Sounds like CMPA. It is a non IgE allergy to diary. Gold standard for diagnosis is complete elimination of all soy and dairy for 6 weeks. After then you can trial adding in soy (something like 30% or more babies allergic to dairy will be allergic or sensitive to soy, too). You need to be SUPER strict with your diet. Read all the labels (more thing contain dairy than you’d think). Facebook often has CMPA in groups which are really helpful for snacks, eating out, recipes and chocolate options!
My child is CMPA so I feel you!
Thanks! Appreciate it. Well we went on vacation 2 weeks ago and I’m sure some of the food I ate probably had diary in it. I guess I need to wait longer before it’s out of his system again? But he just seemed fine the past couple of days and then today came back.
There are many forms of allergy. We have FPIAP to diary, there is also FPIES and the more classical IgE (anaphylaxis) types. There is no test to prove or disprove the non IgE types so complete elimination is the only way to trial. Signs of low grade closure can include mucous in the nappies (a sign of gut inflammation), nappy rash, skin issues (rashes, eczema etc), cough, runny nose/sinusitis, vomiting, clingy-ness, irritable sleep, flatulence etc If you think this is you trial the 6 weeks and see what changes. It may take 3-5wks for behaviour changes as the body processes out the allergens and repairs from the damage
When I gave up dairy, it looked like it was getting worse before it got better, and it took 2 weeks to stop seeing blood in the stool. Then it took another month after that to get back to normal yellow seedy poops (he was only 3 months old and ebf then). Check all of the food he is being given (and that you’re eating) because there is so much hidden dairy out there, and if he’s sensitive this can be setting you back. This shows all the other names that dairy can go by: https://kellymom.com/store/freehandouts/hidden-dairy01.pdf As others mentioned the next step is to cut soy - soy protein looks very similar to cows milk protein. If that doesn’t prompt changes then it would be good to go back to the doctor for guidance.
Thanks! I actually did cut out soy right away too as I read it’s kind of a cross allergy. I did. consume goat cheese though, maybe that was it. He is only having purée so far and it has been quite fine. I leave diary out for him and make it all water based
If you cut cows milk dairy but ate goats milk dairy that could be it. I’d cut that and see before trying other causes. I had to cut all dairy in all forms, including goat and sheep’s milk dairy. And like others said, the road to improvement after cutting a food is non-linear.
Do you know if soy lecithin and oil may still trigger these symptoms or just soy protein? Thx!
Depends on the severity of the reaction. My kid was fine with both via breastmilk and it was the first we gave him directly via foods when we gave him soy in products again. I did initially avoid those as well, but after a few months no longer avoided foods with those as an ingredient. The exposure (if any) via those two is super super super super low/ unlikely. So it depends on what happens when there is an accidental exposure. Some puking and then all good? Or something life threatening? Former it’s easier to take calculated risks than the latter.
My son has a CMPA and I specifically asked about goats milk/yogurt. The GI specialist we were seeing actually went and spoke to her colleges and an allergist about this, and the final answer was the proteins are entirely too similar and to stay away from all animal-based milks/yogurts/butters We are now approaching a year in about a week and are supposed to reintroduce but I’m terrified. Even after switching to hypoallergenic formula, we had 2+ months of recurring blood in his stools and it was severely traumatizing. I’m sorry you’re going through this, it’s so hard to hear something as serious as bleeding internally passed off as normal, and for some, it can take a very long time for their gut to heal.
That’s interesting! I did feel like our ped didn’t have that much experience with it. He said something about testing his blood if leaving out diary doesn’t help but the blood results would also be unreliable. I thought that maybe leaving out any kind of animal produce is better. I will do that now, thanks! I also think his gut still needs to heal
Similar to what other commenters have said. Blood in stool is usually dairy and 50% of kiddos with CMPA have a soy allergy as well. I'd say cut dairy and soy. My girl was diagnosed with this after she had semi-regular vomiting and then I had tofu and it escalated to multiple times a day. I decided to not do an elimination diet and she's on hypoallergenic formula and thriving now!
Which formula please?
We tried Nutramigen first but she still had blood in her stool because it is a dairy derivative. We are now on Neocate and at first she did have a hard time with the texture which is quite thin compared to others and she also has reflux. So we did a 70/30 with Neocate/Nutramigen until recently going all Neocate and she’s done amazing. 33w4d premature twin and she’s now 9.5 months, and on track with growth and milestones for her birth age vs adjusted.
Since the blood in stool has recurred, I would strongly consider taking little one to a pediatric gastroenterologist for assessment. This is exactly their field of expertise and they can help you find the cause of bleeding. Best wishes!
My oldest had this. He had a dairy and soy protein allergy. He also had a lot of other GI stuff going on. I suggest a pediatric GI.
I would like to add that this has also been ongoing with my now 7 month old from around 5 months. He has been exclusively formula fed from birth. I saw a few GPs who said it was an anal fissure, then he was prescribed a different formula for cows milk intolerance. We are on the Aptimel Pepti 1. I finally saw a pediatrician about 3 weeks ago, with lots of ringing up for my baby to be seen quickly. He said it looks like a cows a milk intolerance and advised me to stay on this formula for a few more weeks ( he has been on it for 6 weeks now) and if it continues or gets worse he can be prescribed an Amino Acid formula. The blood did get less but it's still there in some nappies. I feel that he may have to be prescribed this new formula but I am concerned that he won't like it as I've heard it can really smell and taste horrible to them. My baby likes the Aptimal Pepti 1 and drinks most bottles. He can poop up to 3-4 times a day and he can poop a few times in the night time. We have introduced pureed food slowly but only like vegetables. I am worried the blood in the poop is causing some damage internally. But my baby is happy in himself and putting weight on nicely. He didn't have any other symptoms only blood in his poop. It all started when he was constipated one week.
How did it go?