Which Probiotics should I buy for 6m dd?

[moosemama]

My dd (exclusively bf) had healthy normal poo until her second lot of immunisations. Two days afer them she stopped pooing twice a day as she had before and went to pooing once a week, preceeded by lots of smelly wind.

Since then the length of time between her poos has got longer and longer, with it now being 10 days.

When she does go it is slightly darker than her old poo and thicker in consistency but not hard and she doesn't seem in any distress when she passes it.

She does however smell awful for about a week beforehand, constantly breaking wind which can clear a room faster than the dog can (and that's saying something ).

I have been reading up on probiotics and read several similar cases where digestion has been improved and nasty wind reduced or eliminated in babies by adding them to their milk.

My DH gives her her last feed of the day as a bottle of ebm, so we could easily add them to that feed.

My question is, which are the best ones to buy? There seem to be several brands out there and I'm at a loss to know which one to try. I have seen Solgar, Lepicol, Udo's Choice, Higher Nature and Biocare.

Does anyone have any experience of any of these or could recommend a different one?

By the way, we are starting BLW later this week if that makes any difference.

10 days between poos is normal for a bf baby. You don't need to give her probiotics.

PS I wish I had a baby who pooed every 10 dys

I really would not give probiotis to such a young baby. BLW should loosen her up, with all the fruit and veg which are the usual first foods! If she is not in any distress, really don't worry.

Thanks for your quick reply. I know the 10 day interval is normal, its not the frequency so much as the smell I'm concerned about. Its truly nasty, I have never smelt anything quite like it (and I have 3 stinky dogs).

Have to admit to liking the 10 day gap, both my two boys pooed after every feed.

Well Moose - you know my take on this.

With the colic and digestion issues dd2 has had, I've read a fair bit around, although a lot of it I found challenging, as the papers are very very scientific.
There is good evidence in some trials to suggest babies who suffer digestion issues are deficient in certain gut flora, there is emerging evidence concerning one flora in particular - whoose name escapes me So not helpful then!

The infant preperations contain the same species and balance that the bf infant has anyway, they are designed to mimic the natural state of affairs, that is so easily knocked off by illness or antibiotics. I am not sure how much difference there is between brands, but I know Bifidobacterium infantis is considered significant in the healthy infant gut.

The mn poster Maygirl is a demon on this stuff if you spot her about the place. SHe saved me on several teary nights!

Poor dd, I hope she does improve soon.
I worry weaning will contribute to slow gut motility in my dd, so maybe blw is the way to go here too.

I have some research papers I'll dig out for you if you want to look into the whys and wherefores.

Thanks Tree. I'm thinking the BLW won't have much effect for a while, as she'll just be handling the food without ingesting much to start with.

I've read up a fair bit and seen quite a few successes with babies that had similar problems. I know some GPs now recommend probiotics to people taking antibiotics so if the docs think there's something in it its definitely worth considering.

Thanks lockets, was starting to think I was a lone voice on this one (other than the lovely Tree that is).

Lockets - would quite like to chain your sister down chat to your sister about everything Lucky you having her in the family!

Thankfuly my mate who got me the research articles can also translate when my brain fails.

biocare bifida bacterium infantis powder from good health food shops. if you are still bfing you can take it yourself and it will pass through the breastmilk, I did this and then from six months gave it to baby on a little spoon

have you looked on kellymom about this? I'm not sure which section it's on but it says on there that the longer the gap between poos, the smellier they will be, something to do with oxidisation of the poo, as the longer it's hanging around in there thne obviously the less fresh it is, so sounds like this is totally normal. have had a quick look, but can't find the link sorry. I came across it when reading up about gas in the bf baby.

Can you describe the smell Moose? Is it foamy poo, or gloopy and stringy, or does it have mucous in it?

Our 'bad' nappy colic smells are of yeast and acid, almost like fish and chips with vinegar on - only not mouth watering. Or not in a good way anyway! DD1 has been know to ask if it's fish and chips for tea when dd2 was exposed to dairy! The poo is also snotty in texture - though orange/green/mustard in colour. I think we had a hint of purple once........

And the poo burns dd's skin in super quick time.

Will look out that info on Kellymom, thats really intetesting.

Haaven't used the Biocare, but had good results with patients taking the Solgar and Higher Nature.

I'm using the Nutri Ultra Probioplex on DS at the moment, I quite like that.

Udos is a good brand too...

There's not much in them, the key flora to look for are the Bifido Infantis bacterium. If you think it may be allergy related then Lactobacillus acidophilus rhamnosus is great. Also look at the strength per teaspoon and the recommended storage methods- one that has been shipped refrigerated and recommended to keep refridgerated is a good sign.

HTH

tree- interesting- that is exactly how ds' were...

moose-I'm dairy-free now, so his are much better... but he goes v infrequently too, and yes his parps a pretty reeky, though they always have been, due to dairy issue.

Am back, sorry for disappearing last night - grumpy baby and 10th day pooing episode to deal with.

Tree, last night's poo was sort of dark khaki green and thick/gloopy in consistency. That's pretty much the norm for her these days. She has no trouble passing it and if you didn't know her, you'd be forgiven for thinking she'd just passed wind (until you discover it escaping from just about every part of her nappy that is).

The smell isn't vinegary but very often has a yeasty smell to it.

She has only ever had nappy rash once and that was when we both had thrush when she was tiny. She doesn't even suffer from redness in the nappy area, its all good in that department.

I don't think its dairy intolerance as I went dairy free for the reflux early on if you remember and it made no difference to her.

I read somewhere that if the balance of gut flora is wrong, it's harder for the body to break down the food, hence the stinky wind. Also, having had thrush once and taken the relevant treatment for that and the fact that the change in elimination habits started just after her immunisations, it seems to suggest an imbalance.

I miss her sweet breastmilk smelling nappies. It doesn't seem right for a baby to smell so nasty.