By phone. “I would be covered in vomit at least once a week. At one point, she threw up every day, five to 10 times a day.…It was so stressful.”
The infant was diagnosed with acid reflux. Hunter and her husband, both teachers, tried everything their doctor suggested, from giving their daughter a medication that reduces stomach acid to simply letting her cry it out.
Nothing helped. And when she started losing weight at around a year old, her parents felt desperate. On the recommendation of a friend who runs a daycare, Hunter went to a health-food store and bought probiotic supplements.
Her daughter, now almost two, hasn’t thrown up since.
“It really was a miracle,” Hunter says. “Now she goes to bed singing as opposed to crying.”
Also known as “friendly” or “good” bacteria, probiotics are microorganisms that live in the human gastrointestinal tract. Taken in appropriate quantities through food (such as yogurt or tempeh) or supplements (in capsule, tablet, or powder form), they can, according to Health Canada, prevent and treat certain medical conditions by balancing intestinal flora.
