Could Colic Be Helped By Probiotics and Diet Changes?
Are you exhausted after walking the floors for hours with a crying baby? Have you tried everything you can think of and followed everyone else’s sage advice but still not found any answers? The digestive health of your baby can have a dramatic impact on how they feel and how often they cry. If your baby has green poop, it isn’t normal!! No matter what anyone tells you, babies (and people of all ages, for that matter) are not meant to have green poop. If your baby is crying incessantly and you are frantic to find some solutions, have a look at your baby’s diet. If they are gassy and fussy and you are breast-feeding, it is likely something that you are consuming in your diet on a regular basis. The offending food will be one that you love and may be a food that gave you trouble in your childhood but you believe you have outgrown it. If you are bottle-feeding, it may be the dairy or soya products or something else in the formula that is creating the problem. By completing the Evans Food Sensitivity Assessment Tool, you will be able to accurately determine what food in your diet or in the diet of your child is the likely cause of their symptoms.
Food intolerances can be the result of an unhealthy balance in the bacteria in the bowel. Particularly in breast fed infants, the balance of bacteria is altered as the ones pick up by the baby during a vaginal birth are missing. Antibiotics taken by the mother during delivery or during breast-feeding can also impact this bacterial balance. Below is the link to an article that appeared in the US News on topic of bowel bacteria and colic. While the doctor who was interviewed remains cautious in his recommendations, I am so encouraged to see more information on this topic appearing in mainstream media. The link to the article is here
The missing piece in this story is the impact of diet on the health and behaviour of an infant. If the offending food that is increasing the bowel inflammation and further upsetting the bacterial balance is removed, the child usually feels better almost instantly. With a healthy diet and perhaps some additional probiotics to response the balance, the child does not go on to develop other symptoms such as chronic ear infections and diarrhea. I was the mom with a crying, colicky baby who felt lost and inadequate so I empathize with anyone in this position. The removal of dairy products from my diet immediately quieted our son and allowed us all to rest after a difficult 3 months – a life changing experience!
