Baby Probiotic to the rescue

Let me start by saying that I love my daughter, of course I do, but I did seriously think twice about buying her baby probiotic. It is expensive stuff! Too bad I just couldn't feed her Activia.

not her normal self, but still sooo cute!

I was pretty sick on Friday with what I assume was a stomach virus. I hoped my breastmilk immunities would help G avoid the illness, but she has been having diarrhea diapers since Friday. She never ran a fever, and she acted pretty normal. By pretty normal, I mean she slept like a typical 7 month old would...not my usual daughter. She's also been more irritable, but not ridiculously out of sync. Her diapers were dirty more often, and the poop was so disgusting smelling. The color was way different, and they're very runny. Sorry for the TMI. You asked for it by reading a probiotic themed post. ;-)

Yesterday, I changed 14 diapers between 7:30 AM and 2:30 PM. 7 hours, 14 diapers. That's an average of 2 per hour. MORE THAN A NEWBORN!! Yeah, it was a great day. Yes, I did use some disposables. Not only did I get tired of just changing a diaper; I had to keep her hands out of that area, restrain her flailing legs, wipe her down, and deal with her squirming body FOUR times more often than a normal day. Oh, and I had to change her clothes 5 times. I like to let things run their course, but Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were not nearly as bad as Monday.

Source

Thus, a call to the doctor was made.
The remedy?
Baby Probiotic.

Weird, but it was worth a shot. Seeing as I was averaging a diaper change every thirty minutes, I went to the closest store. CVS. How much did they want for this magical powder? 29 big ones.

I can think of 100 other things I would rather do with twenty-nine dollars. I wanted G to feel better, I really did, but I just couldn't force myself to shell out that cash. At least not without checking the store down the road.

Super Target to the rescue. I could go on and on about how much I love Super Target, and yesterday they were like an angel sent to rescue me from this diaper changing abyss. Oh, and hopefully make G feel better...yeah, that too.

Rather than spending lots of time browsing the aisles (which I would not normally mind), we went straight to the pharmacy consultation. "Baby probiotic?" I asked.

The pharmacy tech took me right to it. No Up & Up (Target generic) option. bummer. The cost was still $10 cheaper than CVS. Well worth the extra 5 minute drive.

The doc told me to give her one packet of powder mixed with breastmilk 'now' and one packet (mixed with solids or milk) before bed. If it didn't seem to help by (this) morning, we'd need to make an appointment.

Seems like she is on the mend, so we'll see how today goes. She is back to her wacky sleep self and has only had one dirty diaper this morning. It was still a little weird, but nothing like before. I don't know if baby probiotic should get all of the credit or not, but it certainly didn't hurt.

source

What are probiotics?
Basically they are live microorganisms that help human digestion. Generally, they are thought to help irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea, and ulcers--among others. I've read several websites about probiotics, but am not quite sure how they work. Currently, it seems, literature is more focused on detailing what probiotics help.