Category: Nutrition

Paediatric Nurse Lynda Quigley joined Pharmacist Laura Dowling on a live Q&A where they answered questions from their audience on baby and children’s health.

Q1. My two-month-old is really gassy and burpee. What would you recommend to help with her digestion?

Nurse Lynda Styler: Firstly, make sure you wind your baby regularly when you are feeding them, whether breast or bottle. Often, we don’t know that, especially if it’s your first baby. When you think about it logically, you’re not going to drink a bottle of fizzy water in one go because you’re going to fill up on air and you are going to have to burp. It’s the exact same for a baby. Try moderate your feeding – How many mls are you giving them?  Stop to see if they are ok with that amount but make them burp before they start off again.

Pharmacist Laura Dowling: A windy baby that won’t stop feeding can get a bit gassy as well because they are gulping down air, so it’s really important to wind them properly. I used to get into the bath with my baby and feed them in there because the water would help to relax them. And then obviously a live bacteria supplement can help with gassy tummies too, if people need it.

A lot of people have come into the pharmacy with their upset babies and told me they find sometimes giving live bacteria supplements can make a difference.

Q2. What are the benefits of giving a baby a live bacteria supplement?

Pharmacist Laura Dowling: Live bacteria are good for your gut health and digestion. If babies are born by C section, sometimes they don’t get all the good bacteria that they would if born by the vaginal canal so it can help support them this way. It can help with digestive issues such as windiness, gas, constipation etc.

Nurse Lynda Styler: If they do suffer from constipation, especially when they’re moving into the toddler stage where they’re starting on solids, try give them lots of water to help break down that food and reduce the constipation issues.

Q3. I am a first-time Mom due in three months. Any tips on how to develop a baby’s immune system. I keep I keep hearing the first thousand days are crucial.

Nurse Lynda Styler: Firstly, mind yourself and make sure to get plenty of sleep before the baby arrives.

Pharmacist Laura Dowling: That’s so important. We can have that burst of energy in our last trimester where we want to do everything, we are nesting and we want everything to be perfect for the baby and all too often we forget about ourselves.

It’s really important that mum’s get enough sleep, eat good foods and get a little bit of exercise and fresh air as that’s all going to benefit your own immune system. And by default, your little baby’s immune system as well.

Nurse Lynda Styler: We have all learned over the last couple of years that clean hands do save lives so when the baby does come along don’t be afraid to say to a visitor would you mind washing your hands or use the hand gel. We need to get comfortable with that.

A little tip that I always give to a new parent is to make sure you have something belonging to your own household when any visitor wants to hold your baby. A face cloth or blanket over their shoulders. It will protect your baby’s face from encountering any environmental germs on a visitor’s clothes.

Pharmacist Laura Dowling: It is also really important if you don’t feel comfortable with someone holding, touching and kissing your baby then just say it to them. People should not hold it against you if you just want to protect your baby. You have to consider the risk of the cold sore virus through kissing the baby on the mouth. That can be detrimental to your baby’s health, catastrophic if the baby gets the cold sore virus, so just hold your ground and know that you’re doing the right thing for your baby.

Q4. Can I give two fussy eaters aged 9 & 6 years of age a multivitamin and a live bacteria supplement all year round or only seasonally?

Pharmacist Laura Dowling: Yes, you can give your child a multivitamin and a live bacteria supplement all year round. Vivio Junior does a nice multivitamin with 14 vitamins and minerals. It doesn’t replace a good diet but they can help supplement any fussy eater diets. Importantly, it is advisable to give vitamin D supplement to children, especially because of the lack of sunlight in Ireland.

The Vivio Junior Tummies has Vitamin D in it as well which helps support the immune system plus the live bacteria supports the digestive system.

Q5. My three-year-old has been wiped since having COVID twice. How can I help to build him back up again?

Pharmacist Laura Dowling: You can get long COVID with kids as well and some kids take longer to recover from COVID than others, just like adults. So it’s important they get as much rest as they can, good healthy meals, exercise if they are up for it, fresh air, sleep. If you are worried about your child and they’re not like hitting those milestones or they’re very lethargic go straight to the doctor.

Nurse Lynda Styler: Absolutely go with your gut, you know them best.

Q6: Can you give a probiotic after an antibiotic? 

Pharmacist Laura Dowling: That’s actually the time a lot of people do come in to buy live bacteria for their kids and certainly you can, because we all know the broad-spectrum antibiotics can kill both good and bad bacteria. This is why you can sometimes feel a little wiped out after them. So, in order to replenish that good bacteria that can be killed by the antibiotic, a supplementation with a live bacteria can help, as well as support the gut health.

Often there can be a little bit of disruption in their stools when people take an antibiotic, like diarrhoea or constipation. So a live bacteria can help regulate that too if necessary.

Vitamin A

Beta carotene from orange and green coloured plants and retinol from liver and cod liver oil is crucial for the first line of defence that patrols our mucus membranes lining the respiratory tract.

Vitamin C

Needed for immune cell functions, prevent and treat respiratory and systemic infections and heal damaged tissues. Fresh raw fruits, vegetables and herbs are best sources – in case of infection supplementation is necessary.

Vitamin D

The “sunshine vitamin” regulates every step of our immune responses and deficiencies have been linked to both autoimmunity and frequent infections. Foods such as eggs, butter and mushrooms have very low amounts, supplementing with cod liver oil or enhanced omega 3 capsules are necessary in Ireland as we experience very little sunshine.

Selenium

Enhance the immune response against viruses and protect our cells from the oxidative damage during this noble fight. Brazil nuts are the best source – 3 a day can supply you with the right levels. Fish, brown rice and cottage cheese are also rich sources.

Zinc

Is the key to turn on white blood cell creating machinery, without it we cannot make enough immune cells. Shellfish – especially oysters, fish, pumpkin seeds, pecans and brown rice are best sources. In case of digestive problems supplementation is necessary.

Ingredients:

– 3 handfuls of goji berries
– 3 handfuls of pumpkin seeds
– 1 tbsp coconut oil
– 4 tbsp desiccated coconut

Directions:

Grind the seeds and berries in a food processor at medium speed until you get a coarsely ground texture. Melt the coconut oil in a small pot and slowly pour into the processing mixture. Roll into bite sized balls. Coat them in the desiccated coconut, then refrigerate until firm. Try with other nuts and dried fruits, and change the coating to chopped nuts or cacao powder also!

1. How can a multivitamin help young children?  Do they not already get the necessary vitamins & minerals from their meals?

A good diet with a wide variety of foods should indeed provide us with all nutrients necessary. But currently a lot of our foods contain less and less nutrients and more chemicals. Modern fast agriculture and cooking techniques might even interfere with absorption of nutrients, so everyone could do with extra nutrients, especially in demanding times. On the other hand, we all have different digestive abilities, not to mention taste preferences. Because children are growing so fast, they have a higher need for some nutrients, so children who are fussy eaters have a greater risk of becoming deficient.

2. What tips can you give parents of fussy eaters?

It is not an easy task to get a child who is a fussy eater to consume the variety and amount of food necessary for their wellbeing, but we should never give up.

Try to involve children in preparing and even growing foods – you don’t need a large garden, few pots is fine or sprouting is easy and exciting. Children tend to be more interested and adventurous in trying foods if they can be proud of growing and preparing them.

You can also try to disguise unwanted foods – soups and smoothies and stews are great to hide all sorts of things even if just small amounts are introduced this way, it’s better than none at all. You could introduce vegetables in exciting forms, such as kale crisps – easy to make and kids tend to love it! If meat is the problem, try cutting chicken breast into exciting shapes and make meat balls. In any case make sure the child gets good protein from eggs, fish cakes and worst case scenario you can try a good quality protein powder in fruit smoothie.

Until the diet is optimal, it is very important to introduce a good multivitamin that has a wide range of nutrients in a well absorbable form, such as Vivio Junior tonic. It comes in handy for two reasons; it replaces missing nutrients and it also helps to support the appetite, thanks to the well absorbable forms of zinc and B vitamins that are necessary to make our digestive enzymes and support our taste buds.

Until the diet is optimal, it is very important to introduce a good multivitamin that has a wide range of nutrients in a well absorbable form, such as Vivio Junior tonic. It comes in handy for two reasons; it replaces missing nutrients and it also helps to support the appetite, thanks to the well absorbable forms of zinc and B vitamins that are necessary to make our digestive enzymes and support our taste buds.

3. What key vitamin are many children lacking in their diet?

Nutrient deficiencies are unique to each child, depending on their diet, their individual needs and digestive abilities, but one nutrient that every child and indeed adults need is Vitamin D. It is the sunshine vitamin which we don’t get enough of in Ireland, not even in the summer in most years. It is very low in foods such as butter from grass-fed cows, fish and animal skins and organ meats which we don’t eat anymore.

Vitamin D is also called by scientists as the iceberg nutrient, because from what we know about its benefits and uses – such as bone health is just the tip of the iceberg – in fact it is necessary for all our cells for proper DNA function and our immune system is regulated by it. Vivio Junior contains a good dose of Vitamin D3 along with a good variety of nutrients to help its function.

4. Are multivitamins only useful in cold & flu season or can they be taken year round?

Multivitamins are beneficial all year round, especially for children who are fussy eaters and  often rely on processed foods. Vivio Junior is perfect for children from 12 months onwards, just 10ml a day cover a wide range of well absorbable nutrients and contribute to wellbeing.

5. What causes children to become fussy eaters? 

There are quite a few reasons behind why a child becomes a fussy eater. It might be just a learned behaviour, especially if a family member is picky eater. Or it can start when the child goes to school and sees other children refusing different vegetables. But if it is accompanied by poor appetite, it can be due to nutrient deficiencies and digestive difficulties. Zinc and B vitamins are absolutely necessary for digestive enzyme production. These nutrients are destroyed by food processing and fast growing children become easily depleted in them.

Zinc is also needed for the nerves in our taste buds, which may interfere with our food choices. It is also important to investigate if the child suffers from food allergies or an intolerance, as is often the case in fussy eaters. In which case an elimination diet and normalising the gut flora is necessary. I’ve seen it many times in my practice that after the digestive system is repaired and we replaced missing nutrients with a supplement like  Vivio Junior,  children became more and more interested in different foods they wouldn’t have touched before.