Good probiotic for a 3 year old?

[lillymonster]

My daughter has poo issues that are helped with probiotics (normally they are very mushy borderline diarrhea and she poos 2-3 times a day), but I need a soy free one because she has a soy sensitivity.

We tried Culturelle many times, but I have finally realized that it affects her personality and she goes from argumentative to inconsolable to hyperactive within minutes on the days she takes it. Otherwise it works and does help fix her poo issues, but I can't stand her personality while on them - she is normally a very calm, relaxed child.

I was mixing the culturelle in juice, so anything that can be mixed easily would be great, it's okay if it's in pill form and I need to open the pill. Any recommendations?

[Jaimee]

I recommend Pharmax probiotics. They are dairy and soy free human strain. Plus you can get them in a variety of forms including powder and sticks (which are like pixie sticks of probiotics for kids!). Likely you will need to order them online, but you can find them reasonably priced and with free shipping.

[mellowjello]

It sounds like the Culturelle is working for her but it is just producing too much of an effect for her body to handle at once. (Killing bad bacteria in her gut releases toxins that the body has to process, often causes the behaviors you describe.) I would reduce the amount of Culturelle by half and then see if anything changes. Once you find an amount that she handles OK, then slowly start to increase until she reaches that limit, etc... or you can push through with your current dose and support her in handling the "die off" by giving epsom salt baths, baking soda baths, activated charcoal (away from meals). Exercise (particularly jumping) is also great to help the body flush toxins, and encourage lots of fluids.

[lillymonster]

Originally Posted by mellowjello

It sounds like the Culturelle is working for her but it is just producing too much of an effect for her body to handle at once. (Killing bad bacteria in her gut releases toxins that the body has to process, often causes the behaviors you describe.) I would reduce the amount of Culturelle by half and then see if anything changes.

I was wondering if it was die-off too. I'll try 1/2 dosage for a little bit. I tried getting through it for a little over a week, and while she was on it was the only time she actually hit DH or myself when upset, she never did that before, so I think I'll try to go very slow rather than muddle through it for a few weeks.

[duckmom]

I hope you're seeing improvement.

Another thing you might want to try are adding strong protease digestive enzymes in addition to the probiotics. And yes, "low and slow" dosing when starting out tends to make life easier, especially for LOs.

http://www.enzymestuff.com/conditionbacteria.htm