Probiotics pass into breast milk and then into baby (which can help colic)

This is important research to me in my quest to help colicky babies. It shows that probiotics, an important piece in the puzzle of helping colic, are detectable in a mothers breast milk when she takes them orally and even better they are then found in the stool (poo) of the baby which is just where we want them to be!

If you have read Calming Colic you will know that colicky babies have different gut bacteria make up to non-clicky babies, so too do bottle fed to breast fed babies. Also that probiotics have been shown to ease colic. The strain used in this research is actually a strain of friendly bacteria I use in the babies I treat. It is found in the drops from Biogaia.

J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2009 Sep;49(3):349-54. doi: 10.1097/MPG.0b013e31818f091b.
Probiotic lactobacilli in breast milk and infant stool in relation to oral intake during the first year of life.
Abrahamsson TR, Sinkiewicz G, Jakobsson T, Fredrikson M, Björkstén B.
Source
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Sweden. thomas.abrahamsson@lio.se
Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
This is to identify factors affecting the prevalence of Lactobacillus reuteri in maternal faeces and breast milk and infant faeces after oral supplementation with L reuteri and to assess the influence on microbial ecology, particularly Clostridium difficile and Bifidobacterium colonization.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
In this double-blind trial, 232 mothers with a family history of atopic disease were randomized to a daily intake of either L reuteri American-type culture collection (ATCC) 55730 (1 x 10 colony-forming units [CFU]) or placebo for the last 4 weeks of pregnancy. Their babies then continued with the same study product daily from birth until 12 months of age. Bacterial counts and prevalence were assessed in maternal breast milk and faeces and infant faeces, using conventional cultivation methods.
RESULTS:
The prevalence of L reuteri was higher during the first year of life in the stool samples from infants in the active as compared with the placebo-treated group. The highest prevalence was recorded at 5 to 6 days of age (82% in the treated vs 20% in the placebo group, P < 0.001). Lactobacillus reuteri was isolated from 12% and 2%, respectively, in the colostrum samples (P < 0.05). Breast-feeding seemed to reduce faecal L reuteri counts, although antibiotics did not influence the levels of L reuteri. The administration of L reuteri did not affect bifidobacteria or C difficile colonization.
CONCLUSION:
Lactobacillus reuteri may be detected in breast milk after oral supplementation to the mother and in almost all infants after oral supplementation during the first year of life, as well as occasionally in many untreated infants.