
Main Page
Site Index
Getting Pregnant
Pregnancy
Parenting
Journals
Baby Shower Planning
Baby Shower Games
Baby Shower Ideas


Prenatal Vitamins
Pre-Seed
Ovulation Tests
Pregnancy Tests
Low Sperm Count Test
Fertility Supplements
Preggie Pops
SeaBands
Swaddling Blanket
Miracle Blanket

Fertility
Nutrition
Diet Pills - Weight Loss
Pregnant Moms
Morning Sickness
Women's Health
Child Health
|
Baby and Toddler Articles
Colic is something of a complicated problem. The most complicated thing about colic is that researchers aren’t entirely sure what it is that can cause colic. This makes it especially difficult to find medications that can help with colic. In addition, the medications that are available for colic tend to have a limited success rate. Even common medications for colic such as simethicone, which is commonly used in Europe for colic, isn’t terribly effective for many children.
Because there are few reliable medications available for colic, health care providers and parents have had to turn to other ways to try to help out the family with the colicky baby. Many of these remedies for colic operate on the assumption that colic is, at its core, caused by a disturbance of some form or another in the digestive tract. While experts are not agreed that it is digestive tract issues that are always responsible for colic, there does seem to be some consensus that there is sometimes, if not always, a connection between the two. Many of the alternative treatments and medications available for colic, then, attempt to help out the digestive system in hopes that it will reduce colic.
In this regard, probiotics are one product that may help with colic. Probiotics are actually live bacteria that are introduced into a person’s system. These bacteria are not harmful, or the sort that will cause infection; rather, these bacteria help the body to do its job. For example, the probiotic L. reuteri Protectis works with the natural environment inside the gastrointestinal tract. This probiotic helps to restore the balance inside your baby’s digestive system. These bacteria help the process of digestion. They help the absorption of nutrients. They help to synthesize vitamins. They help with the absorption of minerals. They help to break down carcinogens in the diet. They help the development and the functioning of the immune system. They even help to form a barrier that acts against harmful bacteria, as well as toxins and antigens. Finally, these bacteria in the gut help to protect the body against infections of a variety of types. By restoring the balance in your baby’s digestive system, probiotics can help with colic. In fact, in scientific studies, colicky babies stopped crying as much. One study actually showed that colicky babies given the probiotic L. reuteri Protectis actually cried for as much as an hour and a half less a day than babies that were not given the probiotic.
There are other alternatives to medications for colic as well. Gripe water, for example, generally contains a variety of herbs that are thought to help settle a baby’s tummy, and to help him relax. Ultimately, treating your baby’s colic is likely to be a process of trial and error.
Posted in Baby and Toddler |
At the first glance, it might seem as though there really would be no connection between probiotics and eczema. In fact, the two things seem almost entirely unconnected to one another. Yet, understanding some things about both probiotics and eczema can help to understand that, not only is there a connection between probiotics and eczema, but that probiotics can actually be used to delay the onset of, if not prevent altogether, eczema.
In many cases, eczema is actually caused by food allergies, especially in infants. Food allergies for infants can be rather difficult to diagnose and to deal with. When it comes to infants especially, it is difficult to know what all of the symptoms are. In some cases, an infant may be allergic to a food and show no other signs than fussiness. In other cases, however, a food allergy will lead to eczema. In fact, eczema is, for many infants, the first sign that the infant has a food allergy.
The good news for parents, and for their babies, is that in some cases probiotics may actually help with eczema. To understand exactly how probiotics can help with eczema, it is important to understand a little bit about probiotics and what it is that they do. Probiotics are, in the most basic sense, beneficial bacteria. Probiotics are supplements that a person can take that will help to balance out the bacteria in their digestive system. These bacteria serve a variety of purposes. While they don’t do anything by themselves, per se, they do aid the digestive system with several functions. From the processing of vitamins and minerals to helping to boost the immune system itself, probiotics can provide a number of positive and measurable benefits to a person.
In clinical and scientific studies, infants that were given probiotics during the first months of life were actually less likely to develop eczema due to their food allergies in the first two years of life. Using probiotics actually delayed the onset of eczema, on average, by about two years. While this area certainly needs more research, the connection between probiotics and eczema seems to be very promising.
Posted in Baby and Toddler |
Treating colic can be something of a process of trial and error. The fact of the matter is that experts are not agreed as to what exactly it is that can cause colic to begin with. There are some experts that believe that colic is caused by problems in the gastrointestinal tract. There are other experts that believe that colic is caused by other things, such as the maturing nervous system of the infant. In all actuality, it is likely that colic may be caused by a variety of causes, or that the causes of colic may vary greatly from one child to another. For this reason, it has been hard for parents and for health care providers to find effective methods of helping with colic.
One of the most proven effective ways at helping with colic has been probiotics. Specifically, the probiotic L. reuteri Protectis has shown to be especially effective. In studies, this particular probiotic has been shown to reduce crying in colicky babies as much as an hour and a half each day, when compared to colicky babies that are given the medication simethicone, a common treatment for colic in Europe. Understanding how effective probiotics are at helping with colic requires a little bit of understanding about exactly what it is that probiotics are and what they do.
Probiotics are live, beneficial bacteria. These bacteria are not harmful; rather, they help the gastrointestinal tract to do its job. These bacteria help aid in the process of digestion. They help with the absorption of nutrients. They also help to synthesize vitamins. They are known to help with the absorption of minerals. They help to break down carcinogens in the diet. They help the development and the functioning of the immune system. They even help to form a barrier that acts against harmful bacteria, as well as toxins and antigens. Finally, these bacteria help to protect the body against infections of a variety of types. If colic is in any way related to the gastrointestinal system, it is no wonder that probiotics are one of the most effective ways of helping with colic.
Posted in Baby and Toddler |
One of the most frustrating things about colic is that, for the most part, there are not too many reliable treatments. The fact of the matter is that researchers aren’t even agreed about what it is that causes colic, much less what can be done to help with colic. some parents have had success with anti-gas medications, such as simethicone. Simethicone is one of the most common treatments for colic in Europe, for example. Other parents have had some success treating colic with alternative medications and treatments, including anything from gripe water to aromatherapy. The good news for parents with a baby that has colic is that probiotics are showing great promise as a way to reduce colic. In fact, in scientific studies, colicky babies stopped crying as much. One study actually showed that colicky babies given the probiotic L. reuteri Protectis actually cried for as much as an hour and a half less than babies that were not given the probiotic.
Again, experts don’t know for certain what causes colic. This is at least part of what makes colic hard to treat. There are those that believe that colic is caused by some form of gastrointestinal difficulty or another, for example. There are those that believe that colic is the response of the infant’s immature nervous system to the stimuli around him or her. It is likely that colic may have different causes, or that colic may be caused by several things. In general, however, there does seem to be a connection between colic and the digestive system in one way or another.
Here is where probiotics can help with colic. To understand how probiotics help with colic, it is important to understand a few things about what probiotics are and what they do. Probiotics are live beneficial bacteria that are introduced into a person’s system. These bacteria help contribute to what is called the “gut flora” - the balance of bacteria in the digestive system. The gut flora perform a variety of functions, from helping the formation of the digestive system to helping with absorption of minerals and other nutrients. The gut flora even are believed to assist with the functioning of a person’s immune system. By helping the gut flora, then, probiotics can help a person’s digestive system. In some babies with colic, then, this is how probiotics can help with colic.
Posted in Baby and Toddler |
When it comes right down to it, probiotics are really just a way to help the digestive tract do what it is supposed to do. This is no less true with infants than it is with older children or with adults. In fact, probiotic use in infants may not only help your infant’s digestive tract, it may provide a variety of other health related benefits.
Probiotics are actually live bacteria. The bacteria in probiotics are the same types of bacteria that normally live in the digestive tract. These bacteria make up what is known as the “gut flora,” which is just a phrase that describes the environment of bacteria and other organisms that exist in the digestive tract. The bacteria in probiotics are not the sort that cause infections and are harmful to us. Rather, these are beneficial bacteria. These bacteria aid the gut flora in doing its job. They help with digestion. They help to absorb minerals and other sorts of nutrients. They help to synthesize vitamins. They even help to provide something of a barrier against harmful substances. Probiotics can even help to boost the immune system. In all of these ways, probiotics can help your infant’s digestive tract.
In turn, by helping your infant’s digestive tract, probiotics can help your infant in other ways. For example, colic in many babies seems to be related to problems in the digestive tract. By helping your infant’s digestive tract, probiotics may be able to reduce your baby’s crying. In addition to helping with colic, probiotics also can help protect your baby from eczema. In some cases, eczema is caused by a reaction to a food allergy. In scientific studies, probiotics helped to prevent eczema outbreaks for as much as two years. And, while the studies are still ongoing and it isn’t definite yet, there is some evidence that is suggesting that probiotics may actually be able to prevent or delay asthma, as well.
Posted in Baby and Toddler |
|
Search
Site Map
Articles Main Page
Categories
No categories
|