Blood in a 2-week-old baby's stool upsets parents, usually more than it upsets the baby. Virtually every baby passes blood in the stool at least once during their infancy, pediatrician and author William Sears, M.D. explains. While some causes of blood in or on the stool have no serious significance, others can indicate severe illness or disease within the bowel. Any blood in the stool of a young infant deserves prompt evaluation.
Types
The type of blood visible and its location in a 2-week-old baby play a large part in determining the seriousness of the symptom. Blood from the lower intestine and anus can streak the outside of the stool, particularly if the stool is firmer than usual. Blood from high up in the intestine mixes with the stool and turns it tarry or black. Blood and mucus can mix together in a "currant jelly" stool or can appear in a loose stool or diarrhea.
Dietary Causes
Some causes of blood in a 2-week-old's stool require no more than a change in maternal diet or formula. Milk or soy intolerance or allergy can cause blood on the outside of stools in bottle-fed infants and breastfed infants whose mothers consume dairy products. Changing the formula to one that doesn't contain cow's milk or soy can resolve the problem, pediatric gastroenterologist George Ferry, M.D. of Baylor College of Medicine reports on UpToDate. In breastfed infants, eliminating dairy products from mom's diet alleviates the problem. Streaks of blood outside a firm stool indicate small tears in the mucosa lining the large intestine and the rectum or anus called anal fissures. In a 2-week-old, cow's milk or soy intolerance can cause firm stools.
Disease Causes
Bloody diarrhea in an infant can indicate Hirschsprung's disease, often diagnosed at birth when an infant doesn't pass any stool, but some are diagnosed later. Babies with Hirschsprung's disease lack certain nerves in the intestine that tell the bowel to contract. Because the bowel can't contract, it dilates as stool builds up. Gas, abdominal distention and bloody diarrhea may occur. Hirschsprung's disease is sometimes but not always inherited, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders reports. Intussusception, a telescoping on one section of intestine into another, can cause intestinal blockage and pain that causes an infant to scream and draw his legs up in pain. Mucus from inflammation mixes with stool and is passed rather than normal stool.
Diagnosis
Most medical personnel are adept at diagnosing disease processes from a parent's description of the stool or from a first-hand look at the stool.
Treatment
Treatment depends on the cause, which can be as simple as a change in diet or as complex as immediate surgery for intussusception or partial removal of the bowel for Hirschsprung's disease.
