I didn't develop IBS until I was an adult.

Probiotic products, such as Activa yogurt, made my IBS worse, not better. Perhaps my IBS is associated with "leaky gut syndrome"?

And yes, I have been treated, scoped and tested numerous times by GI doctors.

 I am a believer in pro-biotics.  When my son was a baby he was on anti-biotics constantly for ear infections and would develop yeast infections, thrush and diarrhea.  I used a powder form of pro-biotics externally on his bottom for the yeast infection, internally for the diarrhea and thrush.  The PCP said it wouldn't hurt and to call him back when I needed a perscription (a homeopathic non-believer).  I never had to call back.   My sister's doctor encouraged it when my sister had a staph infection and had to be treated with iv anti-biotics.   My whole family including extended family whenever on anti-biotics includes pro-biotics for better gut health!  I am a believer.

Termites cannot digest cellulose without the bacteria in their guts. They get the bacteria from eating guess what from other termites? Humans produce about 100 enzymes to digest food. The bacteria in a healthy person's intestines produce over 200 different enzymes. These bacteria also produce vitamin K. Many if not most pro-biotics are a sham, but the concept is sound. Healthy people need their commensal bacteria. After are round of broad spectrum anti-biotics, it is wise to reseed with "good" bacteria.

Jesus Loves you:)

My kids take acidophilus. It really works! I have noticed if we run out of it and don't pick it up within a few days, they start getting stomachaches. They aren't on antibiotics often. They just have sensitive stomachs.

A very real possibility and a boon for juvenile IBS sufferers if it proves safe. This medication is also being used in adult patients suffering from Crohns Disease (such as myself), an auto immune disorder causing significant abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss, digestive tract bleeding and sores, debilitating nausea, permanent tissue damage anywhere from the mouth through the rectum, and a myriad of dismal symptoms. Many sufferers of Crohns have a difficult time with antibiotics due to the "backwards" immune response and pro-biotics are proving very effective in moderating symptoms in mild to moderate CD. Though available in over-the-counter forms ALWAYS discuss the use of this medication with your primary care physician or gastrointerologist, and GOOD LUCK!

It is a good luck pot shot to figure out what balances the stomach issues. I find that having stomach ailments without medication can assist a person in weight management. Probiotics tend to do the exact extreme opposite of symptoms.

Recently on TMX, they were talking about Madonna's new workout gym, Hard Candy costing $165 a month in Mexico. The joke was, you can lose weight quicker if you drink the water in Mexico. Suffering from dysentery twice in life feels like having stomach cancer, but worse because it ends up being a full digestive meltdown.

Chicken Noodle soup is the one suggestion for what ails the stomach. I'm not sold on the probiotics.

Seriously? This is a "new study". Chiropractors, Naturopaths, and other Holistic healtcare providers have been touting the benefits of "good-bacteria" for years now. Evidently some idiots out there haven't heard the news. Get a clue people.

Pro-biotics work for me now. I just wish I had known more about it when my kids were small - one in particular had consistent stomach pain and other digestive tract issues. Like anything else in life, what's good for one isn't necessarily good for all. Just try it and see how it works for you or your children, but discuss it with your physician first.

The article mentions nothing about diet. I wonder if the study took it into account. Seems to me that what these children are eating could play a large part in their condition and/or response to treatment. They should have at least tried to control for diet by trying to maintain consistency in what they ate -- which would be very challenging over the course of weeks, as one particular food (or combination) might be a trigger.

My son had colic the first 9 months of his life. Not only does the constant crying drive a parent crazy but it also is extremely frustrating not knowing why they are crying non-stop. Doctors long had suspected pain...but where? Just so happened that my son also vomited non-stop his first 9 months. Probiotics worked. We took him off milk of any sort for an entire week (against advice of pediatrician) and fed him yogurt with live cultures during that week. Him stopped crying and stopped vomiting. At the end of the week, we put him back on regular formula and apparently his gut now had the right bacteria so that he had no reaction to the formula. I know it is antecdotal, but i am convinced that colic is caused by gastro-intestinal distress. Maybe not in all cases, but it was for my son.