Looking for a Good Probiotic for Kids

I have an 8-yr old daughter w/ ADHD, who also has an autism spectrum disorder. As you can imagine, she has numerous intestinal and behavioral issues that I need to manage on a daily basis. I have found the BEST and most bioavailable probiotic, and easiest to administer, is one available through the Shaklee Corp. Although I have been a Shaklee Distributor for 16 yrs., I have tried other products available through Sun Harvest or Walgreens and continue to find Shaklee's prods. to be unmatched. My child has been able to swallow the tiny capsule once a day since she was 1-yr old. Now, when there is a "bug" going around, extra stress, or too much gluten in her diet, she gets two a day. Very simple and very effective! It's made a huge difference in her loose, foul stools and her behavior.

If you are in the Austin area, I would advise that you talk to the pharmacists at People's Drugstore. They are very knowledgeable and there are many good products at their store. I believe there are 3 austin locations but I prefer the pharmacists at the Westbank location. They have assisted me in solving many problems for my 3 children - ages 10, 6 & 2. The pro-biotic that we use is Quantum Probiotic Complex from Premier Research Labs - we get it from People's.

Hi,
I am a wellness consultant here is San Antonio specializing in detoxification. I also work 3 to 4 days at Cost Plus Nutrition. By far the best probiotics by any standards and in my opinion and that of many alternative medicine practioners is Natren located in California. You can buy these products at health food stores, but you are able to get a better price by ordering direct at 1-800-992-3323. Ask for Dave Ausdale, and if his line is busy, leave word for him to return your call. I have been working with him for about 8 years and he is very knowledgeable about all of the products. Tell him I referred you to him. If the price is too steep, let me know and I can get a better price for you by ordering it on my account. Contact me at ____@____.com if you have any further questions. Natren has the largest scientific research regarding probiotics at the Library of Congress. ( I believe that is where all the references are located.) As far as side effects, probiotics don't make you ill. If one has an overgrowth of Candida yeast in the body, one will usually have what's known as the Herxheimer reaction. By that I mean that as the yeast die off and release their toxins to be eliminated through the colon, signs of this dieoff can be some localized pain in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen near the appendix, diarrhea, flu like symptoms, headaches, sore throat, skin rash, etc. This is the body's way of eliminating toxins beyond the bowel. If the reaction is too uncomfortable, stop the probiotics for a day or so, and then start up slowly again. Be sure to drink plenty of good, clean water, like reverse osmosis water. Be sure to take a good whole food vitamin/mineral supplement as reverse osmosis water is devoid of minerals and because our foods have very little nutrition in them these days due to depleted soils. Organic is always better, but there is still the need to supplement.By the way, drink water between meals instead of with your meals. If you do drink with meals, limit it to water, and a small amount at that because drinking fluids with meals dilutes the gastric juices needed for digestion, and can lead to acid reflux. Also, never drink cold beverages at any time, as this shocks the stomach and intestines. If you have any questions you may e-mail me at ____@____.com.

My DR suggested this one and I now use it on everyone. It is not prescription but you do get it at the pharmacy. It needs to stay refrigerated and they keep it back there. It is in a green box and called BD Lactinex. There are 12 packets and you simply sprinkle it on milk, food or cereal a couple times a day. I have no problems getting my kids (2,5,8) to take it. They like it in applesauce or yogurt. My DR said this type is more potent and should not have any side affects unless there are allergies to milk. I use this anytime they have an upset stomach or bowels and anytime they take medicine(antibiotics) also works well for yeast infections and diaper rashes on little ones in diapers. They may have it in other forms but the granules are easy to give young kids

We buy Kids Florastor from the Organic Pharmacy online. It comes in premeasured packets and has changed my daughters ability to digest food . Within a week her stool which were loose and watery became solid. That was the only change in her diet that I made and it was huge! My daughter has a milk allergy so it was important for me to find a probiotic which did not contain milk proteins. Kids florastor is tasty and easily masked in apple sauce etc.

You can buy acidolphilous at Sun Harvest, it is refrigerated and with the vitamins. You can mix this in w/ his/her juice or you can buy yogurt w/ live cultures and let them eat this. My son loved the yogurt but not all kids do. Both were recommended by my peditrician.
Good Luck!

When my son was born at 29 weeks, the doctors told us his lung fuction would have to build. They didn't give us any ideas on how to diet-wise make him stronger, so I poured myself into research on diet and understan ding. I chose the best of the books, which are the Marilou Henner books. She even has one for the kids. My son doesn't have the astma attacks that alot of kids do and is even able to be like everyother kid. It was hard at first but I was able to feed him in a healthy way. Those books do touch on alot of the macrobiotics diet and she explains everything. Goodluck

Adult capsule have too high of a bacteria count for immature guts. Hands down, the best kid's mixture is Jarrodophilus (Whole Foods and Sun Harvest both carry it. Their adult is fantastic as well. The dose is 1/2 t powder a day (perfect to put in oatmeal or a drink).

We use "HLC neonate" by pharmax, can be purchased at People's Pharmacy however it is quite pricy ($23 for a tiny bottle). It's easy to administer, just stick your finger in the bottle until the powder sticks and insert into your child's mouth. My daughter is 13 mths and she took it fine, it doesn't really taste like anything. Hope this helps.

When I need to give my 2 1/2 year old a probiotic boost, I just open a capsule and put it directly onto some applesauce or into his juice. It is important that your probiotic (we use acidopholis) be refridgerated - not purchased at room temperature. Whenever Tommy is on antibiotics, he gets a probiotic at the same time as he is super-sensitive to yeasts and gets monster rashes when medicated.

I also recently started him on Juiceplus gummies. They are a whole food suppliment (not a vitamin) made with the powdered juices of 17 different vine-ripened, raw fruits and vegetables with probiotics naturally in it. He really likes them and we haven't had any rash or digestive type issues since he's been taking them. (unusual for him - we both have some pretty out there food sensitivities that need pretty regular probiotic intervention.) If you are interested in seeing a link to the juiceplus and studies that have been done on the product - let me know, I'll send you some stuff (I'll hook you to my nutrition educator's link).

Good luck with it. Have a happy, healthful week.

~ J.

As a nurse I believe as this age the best probiotics come from foods such as yogurt. So many of the over-the-counter supplements have additives that can actually lead to bigger problems. If you're worried about the sugar check out some of the "kids yogurts", the have less sugar and additives. You should always read the labels of supplements carefully to see what type and how much additives are in them.

I love Lactinex. I get it from the pharmacy at Walgreens. It's refrigerated, but over the counter. You just have to ask at the pharmacy window.

What I love about it is that it is granules in a packet (12 packets in a box) that you can sprinkle into a sippy of milk, on applesauce, etc. It's quite easily added to anything without changing the flavor or texture. When my little ones where under 1, I'd give them 1/2 a packet at a time. It works wonders!

Hi,

The other ladies have had some good advice, but I think if you can do it, making your own Kefir would be the best thing you could do. It's good for the whole family, takes very little time and has amazing gut benefit. It would take me way to long to really get into it, but here is a nutshell. Kefir has been around for centuries..you place grains of Kefir which you can find from other Kefir makers on there are Kefir lists where other people will share with you. Then you can go online and read about how to use the grains. Normally you place the grains in a glass container, pour in some milk, preferrably raw, but I know some folks freak out about that, so organic is the next best thing, with normal homogenized milk last on the list. Shut the lid and wait over night.. the next day you have Kefir a predigested, loaded with fresh fabulous gut flora. You can stir it into smoothies (no sugar please, stevia or xylitol) you can eat it like yogurt adding sweetner and fruit, you can mix it into oatmeal. Your grains, if you treat them nicely will grow and grow and you'll be able to share them.. They'll improve regularity, and aid digestion.

If you want to read more,.. check out Dom's Kefir online. It is so chocked full of good stuff you would not have to get much into them, and it has good guys in it that most other probiotics don't and it is inexpensive and you can control the amount you use and make.

We've been happy with the ones available at Sam's Pharmacies. Check Consumer Reports out and see what they say, too.

Look forward to hearing back if you finnd out somehting better/new.

If you're in the Austin area, try People's Pharmacy. I used them for my daughter's probiotics. It's been a while since she's needed them, but I think we used the refrigerated acidophilus. They are extremely helpful there. She was on them for a year and a half while she had to be on prophylactic antibiotics until she could have surgery. I would mix it up in her yogurt (which is also a great source of probiotics). Hope you find what you need!

People's Pharmacy is a great resource for this. Talk to the pharmacist. You are wise to do this. I recently read that when antibitocs were first introduced, this was a requiremnt for many years. Good luck.
C. G., mom of 2 teen boys and thefinancialwoman.com founder

I give my daughter Culturelle -- and have since she was 6 months old. It was recommeded by a nurse because her stomach got s*so* upset after her first dose of antibiotics. I only give it to her when she is taking antibiotics -- but since we have tried it -- she has never had an upset tummy.

Hope this helps,

M.