PART 1: What we know about infant gut health…
Now that I've breastfed two babies with food sensitivities, worked with hundreds of parents, and spent almost 6 years researching, studying nutrition and talking to professionals, there is one thing that I feel pretty confident about at this point when it comes to babies and these issues: the gut plays a big part.
We NEED more research overall, but I've been piecing together what we do know, and taking notes from others who are researching specific parts of the puzzle about why certain babies seem to have these infant food allergies or sensitivities.
There are a few things I have noticed:
1. If mom has gut issues, baby seems more likely to have gut issues.
2. If there's a family history of allergies or "colicky babies," that can be a factor as well (genetics plays a part here).
3. If mom or baby had antibiotics, c-section, NICU stay, etc. during pregnancy, labor or post birth, these things can really affect mom and baby's microbiome.
What is the "gut microbiome"?
Your ‘gut microbiome’ is made up of the trillions of microorganisms and their genetic material that live in your intestinal tract. These microorganisms, mainly comprising bacteria, are involved in functions critical to health and wellbeing.
We know that the first 1,000 days of life are particularly crucial for developing a child's microbiome and the chance of developing future allergies.
We know that mom passes good bacteria via breastmilk, but if mom's microbiome is not in a good place, baby might be lacking some of the good bacteria that is needed to develop their own healthy microbiome.
If baby received antibiotics after birth or wasn't colonized with mom's vaginal bacteria, this can also affect the way that the microbiome starts to develop.
This could result in "gut dysbiosis," which basically means there is an imbalance of microorganisms in the intestines.
In particular, from my observation, it seems that often the babies who don't clear up pretty quickly with just dairy and soy elimination, and have many food sensitivities or continue to have chronic symptoms, tend to be the ones that have some gut dysbiosis issues.
In general, allergies seem to be linked to the gut through scientific research.
If this sounds like something you might be dealing with, you are probably asking, "how can I get my baby's gut to where it needs to be?"
First, we can't say that "fixing" the gut microbiome will automatically "cure" the food issues that your baby is having. But I have heard many stories of symptoms being eliminated once baby was on the right probiotics or supplements for gut health. Sometimes time for gut rest is what is needed as well.
Unfortunately, testing at an allergist doesn't tell anything about the gut, it just shows the need to eliminate a food.
The types of stool tests that GI specialists run or that most independent companies offer, are created more with the adult microbiome in mind. These tests are often designed to look for major diseases or GI issues. These tests don't tell you very specifically what strains of microorganisms are in your infant's or toddler's gut and what good bacteria should ideally be in the gut at certain very critical stages of infant development.
This is why I’m so glad that I discovered Tiny Health. Tiny Health is a company that is dedicated to discovering what gut issues are going on with babies and moms! I love that they see the connection between mom’s gut microbiome and how this could affect baby (Click here to see my own test results with Tiny Health and what insights I learned).
Tiny Health can test your infant or toddler’s stool and give you a complete analysis of their gut health! The report shows what good and bad bacteria is present and what types of measures you can take to get the right bacteria into your child’s gut that they need (often specific probiotic recommendations, etc).
I tested my Baby on Day 7 post birth and it was so cool to see exactly what was seeded from me vaginally during the birth process and then see what my son received from the environment. We saw that Baby R had very high amounts of beneficial bacteria, but his gut did have some staph present ( I did too in my own test…) and so it was recommended to start a probiotic with specific strains to get rid of the staph.
A big reason why I appreciate this Tiny Health testing is because their instructions were that I shouldn’t give the probiotic for more than a month so that it doesn’t crowd out the good bacteria that is already present in his gut.
This is why I don’t tend to give probiotic recommendations when people ask me for them. I don’t want your little one missing out on specific bacteria strains they need and I also don’t want you child to too much probiotics, during a time in their life when their gut is actually supposed to be pretty limited.
If you are interested in doing this testing, you can use FEDWELL20 for $20 off your test and click HERE.
See what test results I got for my gut as it relates to baby! Click here for Part 2!
Wondering if your baby has gut issues and looking for some personalized support to relieve symptoms?
Work 1:1 with Susanna, Holistic Nutrition Consultant:
Figure out whether your baby has a gut imbalance (or you!) which might be a contributing factor to symptoms
Get personalized supplement recommendations for gut health
Get personalized nutrition recommendations for gut health
Go over your Tiny Health results to make a detailed action plan!