Can Children Take Probiotics?

Can Children Take Probiotics?

The world today is filled with supplements to help us stay on top of our health, and probiotics are an essential part of that mix. But, what about our children? We know that their needs can be different to ours, so how does that apply to probiotics? Can you just give them some of yours? Or do they need special ones? Is it even a good idea to give them probiotics at all? Let’s take a look.

Simply put, yes, children can take probiotics, and in fact in some circumstances it’s recommended that they do. But, as ever, it’s always important to make sure you choose the right ones. The ESPGHAN (European society for paediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition), a very highly regarded international paediatric body, themselves recommend taking strains of bacteria that have clinical evidence behind them and avoiding ones that don’t.

Why is the microbiome so important during childhood?

When we’re born, we technically have no microbiome at all. Imagine our little guts when we’re babies like an empty city, fully built and ready to welcome inhabitants in. The first 1000 days of our lives are the most important for our microbiome as we start to take on bacteria from the world around us. These are the bacteria that are most likely to stay in our guts permanently, so making sure we get good ones at this age is very important.

We get a lot of our microbes from our mothers in their breast milk, and in fact this is the best way for babies to get them, as well as through environmental exposure. We’ve all seen babies putting all sorts of things in their mouths, they’re adding to their growing microbiome when they do this.

As our little microbiomes develop, they start to impact how our bodies function. Everything from our immune system, our digestion, our brain function and our nervous system can be impacted. It’s for this reason that many paediatric bodies will now use probiotics for issues like colic or gas in babies. Adding the right bacteria can have a real impact.

Are probiotics more likely to influence a child’s microbiome than an adult’s?

Because a child’s microbiome is still developing, when we send in probiotics they have less competition from the get go, and there are far more ecological niches available to them. This allows them to flourish more easily, and to even take hold and stay present in the gut for longer. Some studies have shown that babies supplemented with LGG continued to enjoy the benefits 4 years later! So, a good probiotic can actually have a much greater impact on the microbiome of a child than it can on an adult. This goes both ways though. Bad bacteria can also have more of an impact, and it’s for this reason that keeping a baby’s microbiome healthy is very important.  

What affects a child’s microbiome?

Many things can affect the microbiome of children, and in large part, what affects them is not that different to adults. Children get their bacteria from the world around them, as well as from their food and from their mother’s breast milk. In fact, taking probiotics for the mother is often a good way of getting them to her baby, as she enjoys the benefit as well.

As children start to eat, their food plays a major role in introducing beneficial bacteria to their digestive system, as well as feeding those bacteria. They also pick a lot up from their environment as they inspect things, touch them, and even put them in their mouths. The world around them, pets, their family, all play a role in sharing microbes with them and building up their microbiota.

Often children are put on antibiotics, especially early in life, and this can be even more damaging to their little guts than they are to adults. Antibiotics save lives and sometimes they’re needed, but when we use them, we should be sure to couple them with a very good probiotic to ensure that we keep their little guts populated with good bacteria, and not the bad.

To learn more about how antibiotics impact the gut, see our article on it HERE

What have probiotics actually been studied for in children?

Probiotics used in paediatrics have a solid history of evidence, and some very compelling evidence it is. But, it’s very important to remember this, most probiotics have never been studied in children, so it’s important to check before using them. Both LGG and BB12, the microbes we use at Better Guts, have a long history of paediatric research, so they would be good options.

Two of the most interesting areas of evidence areas studied in children are Acute Gastroenteritis (tummy bug) and Antibiotic Associated Diarrhoea. Both of these areas have been well researched, with LGG used as the microbe of choice to help fight them, and in both instances studies showed reduced durations of symptoms and reduced severity. So here we can see that LGG could be a good option, and in fact, it’s directly recommended by the ESPGHAN.  

Infant colic is another one of the most common issues babies suffer, and can cause babies a great deal of discomfort, leading to crying and fussing. BB12 was shown in one study to reduce colic by over 50%, greatly helping to mitigate the discomfort the babies were feeling.

So probiotics have been shown to be very beneficial in children, but, crucially, it all comes down to the strain used. Not any old probiotic will do! So if you want to use probiotics for your children, it’s important to choose the ones that have been really proven.

Can probiotics help with Eczema?

One major area of study in paediatrics was how well probiotics can help to reduce eczema in young children. This is a very common issue in children today, and can cause anything from mild discomfort and irritation through to a great deal of pain.

LGG has been studied here with very positive results. One major study found that mothers who took LGG before birth, and then gave it to their babies after birth, had children who were 50% less likely to have eczema!

One caveat to this though, this came not from giving the probiotic to children who already had eczema, but by giving it to their pregnant mothers, and then to them after they were born. So the results here are very positive when a good population of LGG has been built up. This reinforces the point that looking after the microbiome in general is the key.

Are probiotics safe for children?

Generally speaking, yes, they are, but with a major caveat. Most safety testing around probiotics is in adults, and once approved, they can be sold for everyone. Now, it’s extremely rare that any issue can arise from probiotics for children, but it’s worth being on the safe side before you commit to giving anything to your little ones.

That’s why making sure you’re using a probiotic that has been studied in children directly is the most important step. This way you know that you’re using something that has been proven safe in children specifically, and not just in general.

As a general rule, if you’re ever unsure, ask the manufacturer if it’s safe for children. They’ll be able to tell you if their product is a good option or not.  

Should my children take probiotics?

Not necessarily. The truth is that if your baby is perfectly healthy and has nothing wrong with them at all, they may be getting all they need already. But, if they get bloated, or gassy, or cry a lot, then perhaps it’s time to think about supporting their guts.

We know that first of all you have to pick a good strain. If you do that then there’s a lot of evidence that yes, they can be very beneficial for your children, especially as their little guts start to develop their own microbiome.

This goes double for any children that are experiencing digestive issues like infant colic, as these have directly been studied in the past with probiotics.

And if your children have needed antibiotics, then giving them a good probiotic, not only during the antibiotic course but for a few weeks afterwards, can be a very important way of helping to reduce side effects and rebuild their little microbiomes.

When looking for a good option, make sure you choose a strain that’s been proven to be beneficial in children. LGG and BB12 both have decades of high-quality research in children, so they’re both very solid options. Try to pass the probiotics on to the baby through the mother, as this way she benefits too. If this isn’t an option though, then sprinkling them on food or in warm milk is always a good backup.

Follow these steps, and your child’s microbiome will be off to the best start you can give them.

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