Probiotics
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Category: Have A Baby?
Forum Name: First baby? Second or more?
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URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=25060
Printed Date: 10 September 2025 at 8:49am
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Topic: Probiotics
Posted By: KiwiL
Subject: Probiotics
Date Posted: 07 March 2009 at 10:42pm
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This question is tied up with my other one about Jackson having a sore gut.
Has anyone used probiotics for their bubbas? I would be looking at getting a powder because I can't change his formula. They say it can help with gut motility but I am wary of adding yet another thing to his bottles! |
Replies:
Posted By: Shezamumof3
Date Posted: 07 March 2009 at 10:49pm
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Caden was terrible on that stuff, it gave him very very bad tummy aches, he would arch his back and pull his knees up in agony, took me a while to realise what was wrong, as soon as I took him off that horrible stuff he was so much better.
If jackson is having tummy pains now, I would say probiotics would make it worse. ------------- |
Posted By: hannibal
Date Posted: 07 March 2009 at 11:01pm
| I brought some when we were told bubs had reflux but with the medication and that I decided it was too much going on so I haven't used it. |
Posted By: KiwiL
Date Posted: 07 March 2009 at 11:26pm
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Sheena, I guess the difference between Caden and Jackson, is that J has proven (via pH probe) severe reflux, and is on a very high dose of acid blocking medication.
I got the information originally from the paed, but also the cryingoverspiltmilk website: Medications that alter the acidity of the gut may allow the overgrowth of bad bacteria. These include Ranitidine and Omeprazole. If this results in an upset stomach (wind, diarrhoea, constipation, nausea etc) then replenishing good bacteria may help. Gut motility issues are common in those with gastric reflux and may even be the cause of reflux. The stomach may not empty fast enough and so is full for longer allowing reflux to continue. This problem may be present throughout the gut and also present as constipation. Probiotics promote good motility. But I appreciate people's opinions because, like you hannibal, I am just loathe to give Jackson more, more, more stuff! Currently he is on formula, omeprazole, infacol and duocal.... so adding something else is more confusion in the mix. But on the flip side, I have always thought the motility and gastric emptying is an issue, and this may be better than motility medications (such as domperidone) which is what the paed is suggesting if we can't find a natural solution. 
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Posted By: Shezamumof3
Date Posted: 07 March 2009 at 11:53pm
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I dont know much about reflux, but just from my experience with probiotics, it made caden very unwell.
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Posted By: yummymummy
Date Posted: 08 March 2009 at 5:49am
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Emma had reflux diagnosed when she was about 3 months old and has been on Losec ever since. Thankfully, her reflux is not severe and she's on a formula I chose. She's been on Nestle Nan which contains probiotics and that has agreed with her - she has not (generally) suffered from things like wind, diarrhoea or constipation. She gets wind (of course) but nothing above what Gina used to get.
Emma used to be on 1 tablet of Losec a day for quite a while, but we've managed to cut this to 1/2 daily since she's been eating more solids and spending most of her time upright during the day. I’ve tried a couple of times to eliminate Losec but we have not succeeded so far. Big hugs Laurie, hope things improve soon for Jackson & you. Have you had any more success with solids? ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: KiwiL
Date Posted: 08 March 2009 at 8:30am
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Hi Pauline,
Not much more success unfortunately. But the dietitian wants us offering solids every day now, even though he doesn't seem keen. I am also thinking about trialling a slightly lower dose of the Losec, just to see what happens. But of course, I have to be so careful when I do things so if there is a disaster I know what the cause is. So plan is to give Duocal a few more days to make sure there is no reaction, then will offer the probiotics (I think) and then will reduce the Losec. Thanks for your post! |
Posted By: Redbedrock
Date Posted: 08 March 2009 at 8:34am
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I used them after fay had diarrhoea following a prolonged bout on antibiotics to replace her gut flora (nothing to do with reflux) and they worked wonders. i use them now everytime she has to have antibiotics (which touchwood has not been that often recently)
It was a powder called Matagenics flora care for kids and we added it to solids or put it in the bottle. It was easier on solids but I know you're not on that stage anything is worth a try really and I know the research is there for reflux ------------- http://www.babysfirstsite.com"> 
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Posted By: newme
Date Posted: 08 March 2009 at 9:07am
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My son had severe reflux until 11.5 months. I found the probiotics really helped his stomach. They didn't help the reflux but reduced the side-effects of the reflux medication (he was on both ranitidine and losec).
When he was on the probiotics (we used Inner Health Kids) he had much less wind pain, and was just happier. He also had a little bit of excema and that cleared up with probiotics too. |
Posted By: busyissy
Date Posted: 08 March 2009 at 11:59am
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We have used Inner Health for Kids Probiotic powder for both Dominic and Isobelle and found it really helpful. For me it wasn't the same as giving the medications, I think of it more as a supplement, it is good for them.
I think it is interesting that you said Jackson is 'on formula'. You don't need to feel bad about feeding Jackson formula, it is not a bad thing, it's his food. I know the message out there is breast is best and of course we all want to do the best for our children but there are circumstances where breastfeeding just doesn't work. If beastfeeding didn't work for you then by feeding Jackson formula you have done the best thing for him. I think you are doing an amazing job 
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Posted By: Blankney94
Date Posted: 08 March 2009 at 6:52pm
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Brooke had/has mild reflux symptoms - but these have greatly reduced if not disappeared with me eating a dairy free diet. We have also just started using Inner Health for Kids Probiotic powder - a 1/4 teaspoon in evening expressed bottle. Brooke has suddenly started waking at 1.30 am - not sure if that is the change in my diet or the probiotics making her digestion work a bit faster, or maybe she is starting her 6 wk growth spurt. Hard to deduct these things! I haven't noticed anything wrong or bad though. Brooke was a CS delivery and apparently CS babies don't necessarily get the internal gut flora that natural deliveries get - not sure why, but apparently the probiotics are meant to make it better. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: scribe
Date Posted: 09 March 2009 at 9:24am
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Yes I would recommend probiotics if you are on anti-reflux medication.
My daughter is on ranitidine. We originally started using probiotics because of the study that found that a strain of probiotics helps prevent eczema (as eczema runs on both sides of the family), but when I got a bit slack on adding the probiotic powder to feeds I noticed that Clara would get really grumpy, and possibly a bit of diarrhoea could be traced to that (but hard to know sometimes!) ... so I'd start being more vigilant with giving her probiotics and I noticed her behaviour definitely improved. If you are interested in preventing eczema as well as helping with the sore tummy, the scientists have only identified one strain that works (rhamnosus) - the name of the powder is "Reuteri" - it does not come in a 'children's version' but it doesn't matter, it is fine to give to babies. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10531245 - Link to article |
Posted By: KiwiL
Date Posted: 09 March 2009 at 10:14am
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Thanks everyone for your replies and experiences. We are going to start giving them, just to see if it improves anything. Hopefully it does!
Saffron, you're right about the comment about being "on formula"! When I wrote it I thought it sounded wrong, but I was too tired to get it right! Although I miss breast feeding dearly, I know that formula was the way to go with Jackson as the BFing just wasn't working. I don't feel bad about it anymore. Besides, with his growth so slow, we need the formula to be able to add extra calories! |
Posted By: busyissy
Date Posted: 09 March 2009 at 12:36pm
| I'm glad you don't feel bad about it. I know what you mean about missing breastfeeding but it made me feel a wee bit sad that you might be feeling guilty about formula feeding when you are doing such an amazing job in a really difficult situation. |
Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 09 March 2009 at 3:21pm
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Spencer is on probiotics, never had an issue with them causing any problems. He didn't go on to them till a year old so would have known for sure if it had caused a problem. I give them to Kyle as well, as he is so young I just dip my finger in the powder and then pop it in his mouth before a feed. (was how Spencer's paed suggested giving it until he's on solids)
Sarah we were told the same as Spencer is a c/s baby and the reason is because they don't swallow any of their mums poo  Is gross but they need those bugs and the good ones in the colostrum to set the gut up properly. There is a higher instance of allergies with c/s babies for this reason, is actually quite annoying that they don't give out info on this at the time of the birth rather than letting us all struggle on. ------------- 
 
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Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 09 March 2009 at 3:48pm
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E got put on probiotics..he's the same as cuppatea's one and said the same thing... he was on it from the paed's place (was cheaper there apparently) until the bottle ran out(so about 3 months) and it really helped him.. (not sure of brand...cuppatea?)
i agree with cuppatea if we hadn't of gone to Dr Ford we wouldn't have known.. in our case it seems to have helped..E has outgrown his allergy now and we had less spilling etc after he was on it.. he never had an issue with them either..they are designed to settle gut issues..?worked for us...he didn't have reflux though.. ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: KiwiL
Date Posted: 09 March 2009 at 7:07pm
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Well, seems like more people see some benefit? Unless there are those who had trouble not replying?!? (Thanks Sheena!). I think I will give them a go.
The dietitian put us on Karicare, to my reluctance. And all of a sudden Jackson's fussing has increased HEAPS. Seems to have a sore tummy. Am I correct in saying others have experienced this on Karicare? I hope she'll let me go back to S26. |
Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 10 March 2009 at 3:40pm
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is there some reason they won't put him on pepti or neocate? ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: busyissy
Date Posted: 10 March 2009 at 7:26pm
| Is it just regular Karicare or the HA (for babies with allergies)? |
Posted By: KiwiL
Date Posted: 10 March 2009 at 9:32pm
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He's on regular formula now. There was no improvement on Neocate, so they seem sure it is not any allergy related thing.
NO closer to finding out what it IS though. Very frustrating. We're going through another bad patch at the moment. 
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Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 11 March 2009 at 9:41am
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ah ok ... gosh how frustrating for you:( ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: busyissy
Date Posted: 11 March 2009 at 12:14pm
| What about trying the HA formula just in case he does have a bit of an allergy? It is partial hydrolised so still has some of the milk protein but is a bit easier on their tums than the regular formula. Have they tested for lactose intolerance? Karicare also has a lactose free formula available at supermarket now...might be a thought? |
Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 11 March 2009 at 12:39pm
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Yeah the lactose could be something to look into as that is an entirely different problem to being allergic to the protein, so being on Neocate wouldn't fix it.
Really hope you get some answers soon, but I think you are coping incredible well considering all you have been through  -------------
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Posted By: KiwiL
Date Posted: 11 March 2009 at 1:38pm
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Saffron, have already tried the HA formula as well. Didn't seem to make much difference. Perhaps a lactose free one is another I could give a go? But I am wary of changing formula again as we have already done so quite a few times.
Does Neocate have lactose in it? I didn't know that. How do you test for Lactose Intolerance? Jackson has had RAST testing, but all came back negative. Would that have covered Lactose Intolerance? I guess I should do some more reading. From what I understand, LI is pretty rare, which is why I haven't given it a heap of thought. Sometimes I don't feel like I am coping well. I had a MASSIVE cry yesterday after a big feeding fuss and sometimes I just want to give up. But there is no giving up in this situation. I am just PRAYING that he comes right on solids, as I can't imagine having to go through all this drama ongoing. |
Posted By: busyissy
Date Posted: 12 March 2009 at 1:49pm
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Aww Laurie you are doing so well, it is so hard to battle constantly to nourish them only for it to end up hurting them. You can cry as much as you need to, its better to let it out than to hold all that tension inside and get overwhelmed by it. I know it is no consolation but was talking to my doctor yesterday about Isobelle's reflux and he said that most babies seem to turn a corner around 7 months and start to come right.
To be honest I don't know a lot about LI was going to look on cryingoverspiltmilk tonight. I can understand not wanting to change formulas again, such a drama especially if you don't get any results. If you think you might give it a go though try ringing Karicare and see if they might send you a sample so that you don't have to buy a whole tin. They did that for me when I weaned Dominic to formula. |
Posted By: busyissy
Date Posted: 12 March 2009 at 6:26pm
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Hi Laurie,
Been looking into Lactose intolerance or rather Lactase deficiency there is one type that causes rapid gastric emptying. Anyway here's the http://www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz/Food/LactoseIntolerancevsMilkProteinAllergy.htm - link Worth a looky. |
Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 13 March 2009 at 8:17am
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I'm not 100% sure about the neocate but I would be surprised if it was lactose free as lactose is a sugar and has nothing to do with the protein.
Lactose intolerance is a deficiency in the enzyme needed to break down lactose, whereas milk protein allergy is where the bodies immune system actually attacks the protein. That's why allergies can be skin prick tested for but intolerances can't. When I read up on some stuff as well I found that there is more lactose in breastmilk than cows milk (just some useless info for you). That's interesting Saffron as Spencer's spilling pretty much stopped at 7 months, and it was quick as well, we went from having to take changes of clothes and blankets to put down at other's people houses cos he was spewing pretty much all day long to him rarely puking at all in a matter of a week or two. -------------
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