Have you ever found red spots like blood in your little one’s stool?
If so, there’s no need to panic. This condition occurs due to various things. It can happen because of a dangerous infection, as well as a disease that can go away on its own. Besides that, it turns out that there are more, you know, other causes.
Let’s find out Mom!
Thevolume.net has summarized the causes of bloody bowel movements in 1-year-old children, as well as how to deal with and appropriate treatment. Read on for more, Mom!
Food allergies and sensitivities
The digestive system in the body of a 1-year-old child is still not perfect. Some of the food he eats sometimes cannot be digested properly. This can last for days, even months.
This may be also caused by an allergy or sensitivity to certain types of food.
You can recognize it when blood stains appear in your baby’s stool after he makes changes to his diet.
Infection
In some cases, the appearance of blood in the child’s bowel movements can be caused by infection due to viruses or bacteria. Some common bacteria that can trigger disturbances in the body are Salmonella and E.coli.
Another dangerous infection is necrotizing enterocolitis. Infectious necrotizing enterocolitis can be fatal. But usually, this occurs in premature children or children with other health conditions.
Infections that occur usually not only cause blood-stained bowel movements, but there are also other symptoms of infection such as fever, foamy bowel movements, high fever, and abdominal pain.
Anal abscess and fistula
If your little one often experiences constipation or diarrhea, you need to be careful because he is at a higher risk of developing anal abscesses and fistulas.
An abscess occurs when an infection occurs in the cavity around the anus. Generally, this is caused by bacteria and pus. An anal fistula is the development of an abscess when left alone and then ruptures on the surface of the skin.
If your toddler has an anal abscess or fistula, you can identify it by a lump or swelling around the anus and anal fluid.
Hemorrhoids
Hemorrhoids are swollen veins or veins located inside the anus. When your baby has a bowel movement, hemorrhoids can bleed and cause red streaks in the stool.
Generally, anal fissures are more common in babies than hemorrhoids.
But when that happens, Mama needs to immediately take her to the doctor to be examined. Hemorrhoids can be characterized by constipation or a feeling of wanting to have a bowel movement.
Anal fissure
An anal fissure is a small tear in the anus. You need to know, that children who experience constipation will have a higher risk of experiencing anal fissures. This can cause blood-stained stools.
Most anal fissures heal on their own. However, because it causes open wounds, this makes them vulnerable to exposure and infection by many bacteria.
Usually, your doctor will recommend antibiotics or creams to relieve pain from anal fissures.
Polyps
Juvenile polyps, also known as intestinal polyps, can cause blood stains to appear in your baby’s bowel movements. Need to be careful, because this type of polyp is the most common in children.
Intestinal polyps usually affect children aged 2 to 6 years. This disease not only causes the discharge of red blood and tissue in the stool but also abdominal pain.
How to overcome and treatment
After knowing some of the causes of bloody stools in children, it’s a good idea for Mama to also know how to deal with and treatment that can be done when it happens to your little one.
Before addressing the cause, you should do some of these things when you find blood or reddish stains in your child’s stool, including:
- Make sure blood stains or redness in your baby’s stool are not part of the food he eats.
- Increase fiber intake and provide complementary foods according to the needs of 1-year-old children in their age range.
- Give your little one enough fluids and immediately consult a doctor, if he has bloody stools accompanied by mucus and diarrhea, especially if he has a fever. This is a sign of infection or inflammation in the body.
Regarding treatment, as reported by medicalnewstoday.com, treatment needs to be done to prevent the entry of various other bacteria into the body of the little one who is still vulnerable. The doctor will provide appropriate treatment according to the cause of the appearance of blood spots.
Some of the treatment options that can be done are pain treatment for hemorrhoids and anal fissures, antibiotics for certain infections, as well as dietary changes that can help overcome constipation in children.
Those are the 6 causes of bloody bowel movements in children and how to deal with them. If this bloody stool does not go away and gets worse, Mama needs to immediately see a doctor. May be useful.
