Gut-Friendly Alternatives For a newborn, breastfeeding is the easiest way to support good gut health because breast milk has many "probiotic" factors, says Dr. Segura. And because many formulas are also adding probiotic factors, your infant won't miss out if they're not breastfed.
Many doctors now routinely recommend the use of probiotic supplements with any course of antibiotic therapy. The best way for babies to receive probiotics is via breast milk.
When should I use probiotics? It's suggested that mommies use probiotics for infants under one year. But, as probiotic foods and supplements are made to be mild, they can be used after your baby is older than one year.
You can also put probiotic drops directly into your baby's mouth. If you're breastfeeding, you can even put the drops on your breast right before you nurse him. Or you can add them to a bottle of formula or breast milk. Just don't heat the bottle over 100 degrees F or you'll risk destroying the microorganisms.
The helpful bacteria in probiotics support healthy gut flora to digest food. As the probiotics break down the food, your baby's digestive system can move the food without creating gas. Probiotics can also help with colic caused by acid reflux.
Probiotics are good for healthy infants since they help boost their immunity. Examples of probiotic organisms include Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, and Sacharomyces boulardii.
The addition of probiotics to powdered infant formula has not been proven harmful to healthy term infants. However, there is no evidence of clinical effectiveness, and the routine use of these formulas is not recommended. No studies have compared the health benefits of using these formulas versus breastfeeding.
Probiotics may relieve symptoms and help infants cry less. Some recent research on the benefits of probiotics for infants include: A 2014 study found that there was a health and financial benefit of treating healthy babies in their first three months with one specific type of probiotic.
Breastmilk not only provides nutrients to the infant, but is also a source of probiotics (milk microbiota) and prebiotics (HMOs) contributing to the establishment of the infant gut microbiota (11).
Probiotics can improve the development of gut microbiota, intestinal barrier and immune system in infants, and may also be used to prevent and treat c-section related gut diseases. These findings contribute to understand the influences of the delivery mode on diseases via gut microbiota.
Some studies suggest that probiotics may be good for children. One study found that children who were given probiotics every day for 3 months were less likely to have respiratory problems and diarrhea than children who were given a placebo.
Babies taking probiotics, however, had significantly more bowel movements than babies on the placebo after two, four, and eight weeks, suggesting an improvement in their constipation.
PRACTICE CHANGER. Suggest that parents of colicky breastfed infants try probiotics (Lactobacillus reuteri), which can significantly reduce daily crying time with no adverse effects.
The researchers also looked at family well-being and adjustment, as well as maternal mental health. In both groups, the amount of crying dropped over time, but the babies given the probiotic supplement fussed for an average of 49 minutes more per day, compared with those taking the placebo.
When would my child need a probiotic supplement? If your child has been sick for an extended period of time, has digestive issues, or is taking antibiotics, this may be an especially good time to introduce a probiotic supplement into your child's routine.
Experts believe that this first year of development may be critical for long-term gut health; probiotics play a key role in forming a healthy digestive system. This allows your child to absorb essential nutrients and promotes a healthy immune system. This may help to prevent certain diseases in later life.
Wellements Probiotic Gripe Water can be administered to newborns as early as 2 weeks old. It is organic and is free of preservatives, alcohol, parabens, gluten, dairy, soy, and artificial ingredients.
Research indicates that probiotics are safe and well- tolerated in normal, healthy infants and children. Good tolerance has also been observed in premature infants, very low birth weight babies and in HIV-infected children and adults.
Still, the American Academy of Pediatrics has never recommended probiotics for babies, so it may be best to avoid them during the first few months.
“Probiotics can serve a role in managing a child's health,” says Dr. Kamala Ghaey, pediatrician at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago. “For example, probiotics can be very helpful in soothing children with diarrhea or children on antibiotics that have diarrhea as a side-effect.”
Although probiotics make little or no difference to the occurrence of infantile colic, they may reduce crying time and there were no safety concerns.
Avoid heating the milk with the probiotic already added, as this may damage the bacteria.
An altered microbiota in C-section births
Newborns delivered by C-section tend to harbor in their guts disease-causing microbes commonly found in hospitals (e.g. Enterococcus and Klebsiella), and lack strains of gut bacteria found in healthy children (e.g. Bacteroides species).
Conclusion: Caesarean section is associated with the development of an imbalance of the infant gut microbiome. Long-term consequences of this imbalance are debated. Besides breastfeeding, other strategies to restore this dysbiosis need further studies before they can be recommended.