It’s almost inevitable that when children commence day care, kindergarten, or school they’re going to end up being sick for a period of time, which ultimately leads to a trip to the doctor and a prescription for antibiotics. Being a community pharmacist I spend my days preparing and dispensing antibiotic suspensions for children of all ages. I’ve witnessed at first hand the problems associated with prolonged antibiotic use such as poor gut health, digestion issues, reflux and fatigue.

The purpose of this post is not to argue or deny the role that antibiotics play in treating childhood infections. It’s my opinion that antibiotics, at an appropriate dose and length of course, are necessary in some cases. However I also believe that we need to not only look at fighting the bad bacteria in our systems, but also promoting the good.

Our gut microbiome consists of a balanced collection of “good” and “bad” microorganisms in our intestinal tract and is necessary to help digest our food, produce essential nutrients and also plays an integral role in immunity, fighting disease, brain and heart health as well as general well being. The use of antibiotics can inadvertently disrupt this balanced microbiome by not only killing the “bad” bacteria but also the “good” bacteria, which in turn can lead to an overgrowth of the “bad” bacteria within the gut.

Over the last 15 years working in community pharmacy I’ve seen the benefits and amazing results achieved with using a suitable, age appropriate broad spectrum probiotic in children to help improve their gut health and general wellbeing. Of course nothing can replace a healthy diet full of vitamins and minerals, plenty of exercise and a good nights sleep, but hey I’m a parent too, so I fully understand the difficulty in ensuring this happens each and every day.

The use of a quality broad spectrum probiotic such as our PONO range can help to maintain the balance in the gut microbiome residing in their little tummies and with a healthy gut they have the best chance possible in fighting off infections. I always recommend giving a probiotic when a child has been prescribed a course of antibiotics, not only for the benefits mentioned above but as it has also been shown to reduce the severity of common side effects of antibiotics such as thrush, bloating and diarrhoea.

One of the most common questions I get asked is “should I give my child a probiotic while they’re taking the antibiotics, won’t the antibiotics just kill the probiotic?” The answer is yes, you should give the probiotic throughout the whole course of the antibiotics. However you should separate the probiotic and antibiotic dose by a few hours to reduce the effects the antibiotic may have on the probiotic. You should also continue the probiotics for at least 2 weeks after finishing the course of antibiotics to allow the gut microbiome to recover and ideally continue to give the probiotic daily thereafter.

Our powdered probiotics make it easy to incorporate in your child's daily routine. It's as simple as mixing a dose in a smoothie or yoghurt, or sprinkle it over their cereal. For the bigger kids (over 2yrs of age) we have an amazing broad spectrum Coconut Plus probiotic packed with billions of beneficial bacteria with the added immune boosting benefits of coconut water and coconut powder. For the little ones we have a specially formulated broad spectrum Baby Probiotic powder suitable for newborns up to 7yrs of age in a yummy natural vanilla flavour.

Erin is a mother and community pharmacist based in Brisbane, Australia.