Probiotics are, in the most basic sense, beneficial bacteria. These are the same sorts of bacteria that can be naturally found in a person’s digestive system. These bacteria serve a number of purposes. They help with digestion, and with the development if the digestive system. In addition, probiotics help to create a barrier of sorts in the digestive system against a variety of harmful substances, including things like allergens, toxins, and harmful bacteria. In this way, probiotics can even help your baby’s immune system.

It is this barrier function, in particular, that enables probiotics to help your baby’s immune system. Certain pathogens that enter your baby’s body through his or her mouth and travel into the stomach may be stopped by the beneficial bacteria in your baby’s digestive system. Probiotics help that bacterial environment in the digestive system, thereby helping to ward off some types of illnesses.

There is also some evidence to suggest that probiotics can help your baby’s immune system in other ways. For example, it is thought that probiotics can help to control parasites in the body. Probiotics may be able to help against free radicals. Some advocates of probiotics even suggest that probiotics may be able to actually heal certain kinds of internal damage, although there is little so far in the way of studies to back up this particular claim.

Probiotics can do more than help your baby’s immune system, however. Probiotics can, for example, help your baby to avoid or delay the onset of eczema. Probiotics can help with the symptoms of some allergies, by blocking allergens in the digestive system. Probiotics have been shown to be more effective than medications like simethicone at helping your baby with colic. Probiotics can help with digestive issues like diarrhea, especially when that diarrhea is caused by taking an antibiotic medication.

This entry was posted in About Your Baby, Family Health.