Mommy of 9 month Laura w/ GERD

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15293&PN=1

hellbennt2013-04-01 22:28:57

Indeed… “Happy Mom” will chime in 🙂 Sorry it took so long. We were gone over the weekend and now the laundry piles are huge and so is the dishes pile etc…

Will post a long reply asap!

Well, I really like to write this out personally to people but since it is so late I will copy and paste some info that I have written on my blog about prbobiotics and enzymes. First I will say this… Have they “cured” my children? Well, it all depends on how you define “cure”. As long as my children take the probiotics and enzymes every day with every meal, then they can eat pretty much anything. Do they ever complain of a stomach ache? Yes, but normally it’s because they haven’t taken their pill. But as I said earlier, I think my children will always have sensitive digestive systems. But I am so happy to have children that sleep all night long pain free! And it was absolutely a wonderful thing to have a happy baby (3rd one) that hardly ever spit up. Like nothing more than something I couldn’t dab up with a kleenex. Burp rags?? I bought 3 for her and they still look nice. To learn more about how things went with her read here. http://help4acidreflux.wordpress.com/our-healthy-3rd-child/ I also tell there how taking the probiotics and enzymes while nursing made such a difference. Also make SURE to read this…. http://help4acidreflux.wordpress.com/should-i-quit-nursing-and-go-to-formula/

OK… here’s what is copied from my blog….

My first 2 children suffered badly from digestive problems. My oldest had blood in his stools before he was a week old and soon spent most of his time screaming in pain. He always acted hungry but very quickly threw up whatever he ate and he slept for only very short periods at a time. At a couple months of age his pediatrician labeled him “Failure to Thrive”. Eventually we figured out that dairy and soy were a big part of the problem. Until he was age one he drank Nutramigen, then we tried different milks with no success. He was on Prevacid until age 3. He was able to quit the meds when we started giving him alkaline water to drink. Although it did not cure him, he was quite a bit better with the water than the meds.

My second child was pretty much a rerun of my first except that I knew just a little bit more about reflux etc. He started taking Prevacid at 5 days old. At 9 months old I started making his bottles with alkaline water and by a year old he was off the meds.

Alkaline water helped with the reflux and pain, but did not make it so they could tolerate foods.

A year after starting them with the alkaline water, a friend suggested that I contact a well known nutritionist named Shan Stratton that specializes in digestion. I was surprised and impressed at how much he knew and how well he explained what was going on with my children. I will try my best to explain what I have learned from him along with some of what I have learned on my own through research. What I write is correct to the best of my knowledge, but it is possible that there is some incorrect statements and if so, I ask your pardon.

Before a baby is born, their digestive tract is sterile- meaning it is free from bacteria. The baby will pick up it’s first “dose” of good live bacteria (also known as probiotics or gut flora) from the birth canal. Whatever kind of probiotics mom has in there is what the baby will get. The next “dose” which is the highest strongest dose a baby will ever get, is from colostrum. Probiotics play a huge role in the health of the baby. They make up over 70% of the immune system and they are what line, coat, and protect the entire digestive tract.

Antibiotics kill not only bad bacteria but the good also. If a mother has been on many different antibiotics throughout her life it can alter her probiotics. This in turn will alter what kind the baby gets. If the mother has been on antibiotics while pregnant, for sure close to or at the time of giving birth this can severely alter the probiotics that baby gets. In fact, if on antibiotics at the time of birth, the mother may have no probiotics to pass on to her baby. And of course if baby has antibiotics at any given time it will kill off the probiotics. If the mother takes them while nursing, she will pass them on to her baby and it also will kill his/her probiotics.

If a baby is born by c-section, this can make him/her be behind in building up the probiotics. But if he/she gets plenty of colostrum it will certainly help.

Some babies who are born by c-section, are on antibiotics, get no colostrum, or all of the above, are not necessarily doomed for digestive problems. Some babies are really strong and healthy and their body has no problems making and building up its own probiotics. But for some, this can be the start to the digestive system not working well.

For some babies, they will greatly benefit from a probiotic supplement. When someone is low on probiotics, they are low on many, so the best supplement would be one that has at least 10 different strains in it. But the bottom line is that your child gets relief.

Another problem for some children can be a lack of sufficient digestive enzymes. Digestive enzymes are what are in all foods (before they are cooked or processed) to aid in breaking them down. They are especially needed for breaking down proteins. If a nursing mom eats a diet of mostly raw foods this can help some but unless the foods are organically grown, they are not very enzyme rich. The pancreas is what makes digestive enzymes and it will try to compensate for the lack of them in foods, but for some babies it can be difficult for their pancreas to keep up making enough to break down the food (proteins in particular) that they take in whether it be through breast milk, formula, or solids as they get older.

For some babies, they can inherit the problems of their body not making enough digestive enzymes, and for these children, they may carry this problem all of their life. Just like the diabetic doesn’t make enough insulin.

When “food” is placed in the stomach, the stomach will excrete a small amount of acid to activate the enzymes so they will start breaking down the food. If there are no or little enzymes, then the stomach will excrete a little more acid. Eventually the food is forced into the intestines even if it isn’t fully properly broken down. If the food isn’t broken down then it will very difficult for the body to be able to absorb and use it. For some children, this undigested food will sit in the intestines too long and the longer “food” stays in the intestines, the more moisture that is drawn out of it, and it can cause constipation.

This excess acid that the stomach makes, can play a major part in some babies digestive problems. Too much acid will kill probiotics. And beings that probiotics are the protective coating for the entire digestive tract, then without it, the food, reflux, or stool will rub right up next to the esophagus and intestines themselves and can cause them to become raw, inflamed, and even bleed sometimes.

There are many different brands and companies out there that sell probiotic and enzyme supplements. We use a product called “Digestive Health” sold by Core Health Products. It contains 13 different strains of pH stabilized probiotics, prebiotics (which are food for the probiotics), over 20 types of broad spectrum plant based digestive enzymes, and several different types of soothing herbs. http://www.corehealthproducts.com/products/digestive?

Wellllll I hope it all makes sense to you!! But if not feel free to ask questions! 🙂

there’s no brand of blacksrap molasses – I think I bought whatever whole foods had- if there’s a choice look to see whichone has more calcium (I forgot it has calcium?) & iron