[Joyful Mama]

has anyone else heard of this? my cousin said her friend had a preemie, born at 29 weeks, i think, and that she tried all the meds but eventually went natural...and that the acidophillus really worked.<br><br>
my questions are...<br>
have any of you heard of this or tried this?<br>
what kind (form) of acidophillus do give to an infant?<br>
are there non-dairy versions of a form suitable for infants?<br><br>
thanks!<br><br>
p.s. asher is off his meds now (as per his ped.), but he still has some really bad days, and i'm thinking of trying acidophillus if i hear good reports about it. thanks again!

 

[munkeesmama]

Acidophilius works to keep good bacteria in the gut, with that said i've never heard of it being used in reflux babies and i don't think it ever helped mine. I know a teaspoon of maalox or mylant helped as needed though.

 

[aris99]

Hi,<br><br>
I agree w/ Elaina! My dd came home from the NICU w/a nasty C. diff infection (intestinal infection). She was put on antibiotics for it and her ped. GI recommended she be on a high dose of probiotics (acidophillus is a type of probiotic) to help stop diarrhea and to reestablish gut flora. It REALLY helped in that dept. but it NEVER did anything for reflux! The only thing that helped reflux in my daughter's case was walking <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile">! The moment she could walk the reflux ceased! Something to do w/stomach muscles maturing I think!

 

[Hindyg]

We were just "prescribed" acidopholus, not for her reflux, but to get the nasty bacteria out of her gut - as a probiotic. She does have reflux though.

 

[Tendaironi]

It aids digestion so that food does not sit as long in the stomach where the food can pop up into the esophogus. It is one of the things I do for my son's reflux in addition to zantac and chiropractic treatments and sitting upright all the time. What has worked the best for us is seeing a chiropractor. We know it's time to see the chiro when his silent reflux turns into reflux and he spits up a lot, refluxes where it is just pouring out. My son used to choke a lot too but that has subsided to once a week. Good luck!

 

[alliteration]

There are types of acidophilus made for babies. Jarrows has a brand called Baby's Jarro-Dophilus. It helps avoid thrush too. NDs I work with carry it in their pharmacy. Look for the refrigerated brands. It doesn't have any dairy in it. I am looking at the bottle right now.<br><br>
I haven't heard of it being used for reflux, but it shouldn't hurt any and might help digestion in general.

 

[Rachel J.]

If an infant's gut is colonized properly during birth (vaginal delivery, no antibiotics for mom or baby before or after delivery, AND nothing but breastmilk- how often do all those factors happen for a preemie?) then the dominant strain of bacteria in the gut will be bifido, specifically b. infantis. The gut flora slowly changes and between 7-9 yo (I think, there's a discussion about supplementing probiotics going on right now in a thread on tradional foods board, I'll try to find it) and that's when acidophilus becomes appropriate. Solaray has a dairy-free b.infantis and Natren has a good one, but not dairy free. Ds gets Solaray although I'm not consistent and too scared to stop his Zantac to see if there's improvement. A study done found L. reuteri reduced colic in infants. That might be heartburn/reflux related?.<br><br><a href="http://www.mercola.com/2007/jan/25/tame-a-colicky-baby-with-a-high-quality-probiotic.htm" target="_blank">Summary of research article on L. reuteri</a>

 

[boscopup]

Hey guys, I've been gone for a while, but decided to check in today and saw this...<br><br>
With Joshua (29 weeker), he was on Zantac, then Prevacid. One day when he as about 4 months old, I was doing some reading online and came across something saying that women with abx during labor had a higher incidence of reflux babies. I have no clue where I read this, so don't ask me for a source. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/duck.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Duck">: They recommend probiotics, especially B. Infantis. Well, since I'd had abx for 4 days prior to the birth (PPROM), I figured it couldn't hurt to try! I opened an adult capsule into a container that I kept in the fridge, then I just dipped my finger in the container to get some powder on my finger and give that to baby directly. There are dairy free versions of probiotics out there, so that shouldn't be hard to find at a hfs. I was able to take Joshua off the Prevacid when I started this. He still spit up, but wasn't in pain anymore, and the spitup was less than it was.<br><br>
Aaron was full term (well, 1 day shy of 37 weeks, but NOT a preemie), and I had no abx with him, but he also had reflux. He was on Zantac, and I'd tried taking him off at Christmas time, but he started screaming again and got better when I put him back on. Well, my chiro suggested that *I* take probiotics, as it goes through breastmilk. I finally bought some again at 4 months (seems to be the common age of enlightenment for me <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"> ), and I took him off the Zantac and started me on the probiotics at the same time. He's been fine ever since! He still spits up, but not nearly as much.<br><br>
Obviously, probiotics aren't a cure-all for all reflux babies! But I think it can help *some* babies, and it doesn't hurt to try it. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"><br><br>
Maybe with #3, I'll remember to take probiotics during pregnancy and continue immediately after birth and see if I can prevent the whole reflux thing in the first place, since they seem to have a good effect on my kids.