A probiotic for travelling

Nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea and tummy ache - you must admit that this is not a very desirable scenario when travelling with your child. Therefore, a probiotic for travelling is required and necessary wherever the journey takes you.

Why is a probiotic for travelling important

Whether you are travelling to summer vacation, a winter vacation, an off-season rural weekend adventure, or exploring a far more exotic destination, travelling with children is a fantastic opportunity to create priceless family memories which will bring you closer for life.

However, the changes in water, diet, sanitary and climate conditions on your travellings can lead to stomach problems and diarrhoea.

A probiotic aids and enables the establishment of a healthy balance of “friendly” bacteria in a child’s digestive tract. With its effect, the probiotic eliminates pathogenic bacteria from a child’s body, whether we are talking about the so-called traveller’s diarrhoea, antibiotic diarrhoea, fungal infection, and even in many cases, food poisoning.

Traveller’s diarrhoea

Traveller’s diarrhoea is a dysfunction of the digestive tract which causes aches and cramps in the stomach followed by a rare stool. It most often occurs because of the consumption of food or water which is different from the ones the child is used to at home. Sometimes food and water on travellings, especially in exotic destinations, are contaminated with certain bacteria, and this can also be a cause of traveller’s diarrhoea.

Young children are very sensitive and very prone to traveller’s diarrhoea because they do not have fully developed immunity yet, so their tummy usually has a reaction when it is found in different climate and/or sanitary conditions.

Fortunately, a probiotic for travelling can prevent these discomforts from occurring and allow your vacation to pass by undisturbed by your child’s illness.

The timely use of probiotics can prevent serious consequences of dehydration, which are very common for children when they lose a lot of fluid in a short period of time through vomiting or diarrhoea.

Make sure you seek medical attention if your child has the following symptoms:

• Constantly vomiting
• Elevated temperature (above 39°C)
• Occurrence of blood in the stool and severe diarrhoea
• Dry mouth and crying without tears
• Exhaustion and weakness

How and when to use a probiotic for travelling

Take special care especially when travelling with very young children who have not often had the opportunity to be exposed to changing living conditions. 

To avoid disruption of the sensitive tummies, start giving your child a probiotic three days before travelling. Continue the therapy daily throughout the trip and complete it three days after returning from your vacation.

A probiotic for travelling – the best combination for children

When it comes to probiotics for children, there is indeed a great choice thereof. And here are some of the features of the best ones:

A probiotic should contain good lactic acid bacteria and bifido bacteria because they are natural inhabitants of the intestinal tracts and the best tested probiotic bacteria.

It is desirable to include prebiotic inulin in the composition, which is actually a plant fiber in composition, which promotes the growth and activity of good bacteria and enables normal operation of the intestines and the entire digestive system. In conjunction with probiotics, prebiotic inulin accelerates the stopping of diarrhoea.

A probiotic for travelling with zinc in composition promotes regeneration of intestinal epithelium by aiding the normalization of the bowel function. This mineral shortens the duration of diarrhoea and reduces the severity of the disease. Because of its remarkable effect in enhancing the body’s defense capability, zinc enhances immunity and reduces the possibility of infection.

Vitamin C in the composition of probiotics, as a powerful antioxidant, contributes to strengthening the body’s defense capabilities. Vitamin C further reduces exhaustion and fatigue, which accompany diarrhoea.

Useful advice

A probiotic for travelling can prevent the onset of abdominal discomfort while travelling, but it can not hurt to extra cautious. Follow the advice below to make the best out of travellings with your children:

• Do not give children food purchased on open counters sold by street vendors.
• Avoid unpasteurized dairy products, including ice cream.
• Avoid raw, thermally untreated meat, fish, and seafood.
• Feed your child warm food that has been processed at high temperatures.
• When choosing fruit, opt for the one that has the thicker peel which you will peel yourself (banana, orange, avocado…).
• Do not administer unsterilized water to children, especially not from a faucet or natural sources. The safest choice is bottled water.
• Make sure that the dishes the child eats from are clean and dry.