It always startles me to see children being overly prescribed antibiotics this time of year. When you have a child with autism or some other special need sometimes it is hard to tell if they even have an infection because they do not tell you or cannot tell you. Their doctors choose to give a medication “just in case there is an infection” but nobody stops to think what this is doing to their body long-term. Many children, whether diagnosed on the spectrum or not have horrible immune systems.

The long-term affects of antibiotics are a decreased immune system, 70% of the immune system is in the gut and when you wipe out all the “good bacteria” you leave it empty and pathogenic bacteria and yeast make a home. Can yogurt alone rebuild beneficial gut bacteria? Nope, this has become commercialized as the end all to healthy gut flora. What you need to do is get a pharmaceutical grade refrigerated probiotic for your child. You will want to select the one with the most variety of cultures and one that has the most cultures per cap. I like to coach parents to switch up their probiotic every 4 months or so to make sure the cultures are getting populated best.

As always keep a low sugar (not sugar-free) diet, keep taking your daily supplements and when they get sick consider seeing your chiropractor for an adjustment. This can help in many cases such as fever, congestion, runny nose, cough, sinus infection, etc. The adjustment allows proper lymphatic flow (drainage) and allows all the bad stuff to drain out of the body and heal much faster.

You can read more on natural remedies and gut connection in my book listed below. Have a healthy December!

All the best,
Dr. Brooks

Dr. Amber Brooks, CACCP is a Board Certified Pediatric Chiropractor, Craniosacral Therapist, Biomedical doctor and author of “15 Things Your Doctor Doesn’t Know About Your Child: Questions Answered About Developmental Delays.” She founded Whole Child Wellness to bridge alternative and traditional medicine by providing individualized and comprehensive approaches to pediatric wellness. Outside her private practice she offers physician consulting, mentoring and is also available for speaking engagements. Visit her at www.mychildwellness.com or www.dramberbrooks.com and follow her on Facebook at “whole child wellness”.