Introduction
Anyone who finds blood in or on their baby’s stool is understandably concerned about their child’s health. Even if the cause is often harmless, you should contact your paediatrician; especially if large amounts of blood are lost, if there is repeated blood in the stool or if the child shows other symptoms of a serious underlying disease such as fever, diarrhoea and/or vomiting. This doctor can not only help you to find the cause of the bleeding, but can also initiate further examinations or treatment if there is a suspicion of a serious illness.
What can be the reasons for this?
There are numerous reasons for blood in a baby’s stool. A common cause is small tears in the intestinal or anal mucosa, so-called fissures. Because of their still sensitive mucous membrane, babies are particularly susceptible to such injuries, which can be caused, for example, by a very firm bowel movement, but can also occur with diarrhoea.
Food intolerances, such as cow’s milk, are another possible trigger for bloody stools in babies. Up to 3% of infants suffer from an allergy to cow’s milk, which can lead to inflammation of the intestinal mucosa and thus to bloody stools. Even breastfed babies can develop bloody stools as a result of an allergy to cow’s milk, as breast-feeding mothers who consume milk products can pass on the allergenic proteins to the infant via their breast milk.
Another important cause of bloody stools in babies and infants is a telescope-like invagination from one section of the intestine along the longitudinal axis into another, which is called intussusception by doctors. The child suffers from sudden, colicky pain. In the further course of the disease, “raspberry-jelly”, bloody stools may occur. At this point at the latest, a doctor should be contacted urgently in order to quickly remedy the problem before permanent damage to the trapped intestinal sections occurs.
Vaccination
As useful and life-saving as vaccinations are, it is unfortunately inevitable that a few children will show side effects, which may include blood in the stool. In addition, there have been some reports of cases of intussusception when rotavirus vaccination was introduced. These occurred mainly in children who were older at the time of the vaccination than was actually recommended for the vaccination. Therefore, experts recommend that rotavirus vaccination be administered as early as possible, ideally from the 6th week of life, in order to keep the risk of this complication as low as possible.
Teeth
Even a baby that is just teething can develop bloody stools. The cause can be swallowed blood that comes out when the teeth erupt. In addition, many babies suffer from a sore bottom during this time, which can bleed and colour the stool red if it is severe.
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