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Few things can make a parent feel more helpless than a sick child who won't get well. But just hours after her son Riley was born, that is exactly the situation Anne Anderson found herself in. Within 12 hours of his birth, doctors noticed the little boy was suffering from some sort of bloating syndrome. His skin was stretched tight across his abdomen and his distended belly dwarfed his tiny newborn head. Riley was whisked away to a special children's hospital where he was fitted with a feeding tube while doctors tried to work out what was causing the bloating. Unable to come up with a cause, they sent Riley home.He did not improve. "He was bloating up and being sick and if he did need to go to the toilet he was constantly screaming," said Anderson. Desperate to give her son some relief, Anderson began experimenting with his diet. When changing his milk didn't help, she decided to do some research. She discovered that doctors had given Riley an antibiotic that kills natural bacteria in the body. This led to her wonder if he wasn't suffering from some sort of bacterial imbalance that was preventing him from digesting his food. To test her theory, she fed him Yakult, a milk-like drink that contains probiotics. "I gave him Yakult and he was fine within the first couple of days of him having it," she said.
She became even more convinced that she was on to something when a round of antiobiotics given a few weeks later caused his stomach to bloat once a gain. She dosed him with Yakult and again, his stomach returned to normal.
Dr Henry Mulenga, a member of the Royal College of Paediatricians, says Riley's digestive problems -- and his cure -- isn't all that rare. "We are beginning to hear more and more of these type of stories. In my view it is very possible. There is no doubt that some conditions can be improved by introducing healthy bacteria. Many parents may feel that is the case. The difficulty we have with very small babies is whether it is entirely safe to do so."
Dr. Mulenga doesn't explain just why probiotics might be unsafe for a very small child but Riley was already 10 months old before his mother fed him the live microorganism mixture. The Yakult website claims that probiotics are safe for adults and children alike and that there are no harmful side effects. Still, if your child is having similar digestive problems, you should consult your doctor before trying this yourself.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
1-26-2009 @ 4:53PM
Pierrette said...We gave probiotics to our little one for his first year of life; this was a recommendation from our homeopath. I would do it all over again. When he is sick (flue, cold, diarrhea ...) we just up the amount we give him and it always seems to help him get through the problem.
Pierrette from Wiseman Conspiracy
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1-26-2009 @ 5:31PM
Karen said...I'm convinced it helped with our daugther's ongoing sinus issues as well.
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1-26-2009 @ 8:22PM
CLM said...When my twin boys were under a year old they caught a nasty rotovirus. One of the boys ended up on an IV drip because he couldn't take in enough fluid to keep up with what was coming out. On the advice of a friend, we have started using probiotics whenever our boys are sick with anything that upsets their digestive system. It has made a real difference.
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1-26-2009 @ 9:25PM
JenniferW said...Good for her for finding and trying a natural cure for her child. My pediatrician suggested probiotics when my son's digestive system got out of whack. She practically prescribed them along with the antibiotics for his ear infections when he was only 8 mos old. I keep a box of Florastor Kids and it's probably safer than the Pepto that adults use!
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1-27-2009 @ 3:32AM
ninainindia said...Why was the child given antibiotics in the first place, and already several times in such a short time.
Probiotics are taken from human faeces and than multiplied. So it makes sense that it isn't harmful as these bacteria already live inside people normally.
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