September may feel eons away, but it will come in the blink of an eye, and with it, all the errands and prep work you need to do to get your kids ready for school. You have probably just established a good, strong nutrition routine for your little ones, but come September and they’ll likely struggle to adjust to a new schedule.
Some kids struggle with eating regular meals during lunch breaks, others don’t have the energy for all that school brings, but some may also experience dips in their immune systems. It’s also not unheard of for some little ones to deal with constipation or frequent stomach bugs. In any scenario, probiotics can make a huge difference, and now’s the time to start planning!
Soothe those viral infections
Spending so much time with their peers in small classrooms and so much interaction means one thing: frequent infections of all sorts, including those that affect the digestive tract! Probiotic-packed foods (that also taste great for those picky eaters!) such as yogurt can help your kids’ bellies stave off infections.
At the very least, even if an infection does occur and your little one does have diarrhea, you’ll most likely be able to manage the symptoms and reduce their severity as well as duration with good, probiotic-enhanced nutrition. With the help of your doctor, you can also pick a supplement as a reinforcement, such as ProBio Med Kids for added nutrient support when battling belly trouble.
A strong tummy – a strong immune system
As we’ve established, probiotics are an amazing ally for keeping your kids’ digestive health good and strong. However, probiotics are also essential for overall immune resilience, which means that consuming enough of these friendly microorganisms helps your little ones keep all kinds of infections at bay, not just the belly-related ones.
Probiotic-packed foods such as cheese bites for their midday snack, a glass of yogurt or kefir, or some pickles in their sandwich can all go a long way for your kids! However, when they just don’t like and won’t eat some or all of these foods, adding a supplement such as Metakids Probiotic can help keep their immune system strong for when school starts.
A balanced belly for proper digestion
Another way probiotics help your kids is by ensuring proper digestion – which in turn lets them make the most of every meal they eat by absorbing all the much-needed nutrients from food. Probiotics help keep the gut microbiome in check, with those good bacterial strains supporting digestion for your little ones.
This balance needs to be maintained consistently, which means that regular consumption of probiotic-rich meals is essential for kids during the cold season.
Reduce bloating, gas, and constipation
A nervous belly can come up with all kinds of trouble! That means your children might experience painful cramps, discomfort, gas, and even occasional constipation. Regular meals based on healthy, nutritious foods will surely help relieve all those issues, especially if you focus on introducing probiotics.
Be sure to double-check with your pediatrician to make sure you’re choosing the right foods, but also to see if there are any foods you should eliminate that might exacerbate the situation (such as too much candy, sugary sodas, and processed foods in general). It’s important to note that probiotics are only as effective as the rest of your kids’ menu!
Make the medicine go down
You probably already know that some bacterial infections might require antibiotic treatment. Should that happen when school starts, your little ones will have a far better chance at retaining and restoring their gut health with ample probiotics in their diet.
Check with your doctor if you should add a probiotic supplement while your kids need antibiotics, and for how long they might need to reinforce their diet in this way after the treatment. Meanwhile, enrich their meals with probiotic foods that can help ward off infections in the first place and strengthen their developing immune systems.
All parents know that a balanced diet already sets the stage for their child’s healthy belly. Sometimes, however, especially during a health crisis and when school is starting, you can give your kids’ nutrition a bit of a boost. If you need any further help tailoring your kids’ meals and choosing the right supplements, you can always rely on functional medicine and set up a consultation with us!
