The gut microbiome is a critical asset to your health. It starts developing in the womb (contrary to original beliefs) and is heavily influenced in the first few years of life. These early years of development set your child up for a life of health or potential disease. 
Gut Microbiome in the Womb and Infancy
While a woman is pregnant, her gut microbiome changes. Significant differences exist between the microbiome of a non-pregnant woman and a pregnant one. The gut microbiome continues to change throughout the pregnancy to support the health of the mom and baby.
We don’t know much about the gut microbiome while the baby is in the womb, but we have found that it isn’t as sterile an environment as it used to be. Babies in utero have their microbiome partially shaped by their mother’s lifestyle choices—the foods they eat, how active they are, etc.
During delivery, babies are introduced to an entirely new environment full of bacteria (good and bad). During the delivery process, babies are exposed to the vaginal microbiome which helps to support their gut microbiome development. Babies born via c-section are not exposed to this environment which restricts the amount of bacteria they’re exposed to.
After delivery, babies are then exposed to other beneficial microbes via skin-to-skin contact, breast milk, and kisses from mom, dad, and siblings. All of these help to shape the baby’s microbiome. Infants who need to spend their time in the NICU or whose mothers aren’t able to produce breast milk and need to eat formula, aren’t exposed to as many of these beneficial bacteria and have significantly reduced bacterial microdiversity.
Babies that are sick at a young age and need to use medications and antibiotics become significantly disadvantaged in their gut health.
Early Childhood Gut Microbiome
As infants begin to eat solid foods, their gut microbiome changes to be able to use these nutrients efficiently. When your child is 3 years old, their gut microbiome already resembles the adult microbiome. So, the first 3 years of life are crucial to setting your child up for a healthy life.
Children with diverse and healthy diets will have better health than those with poor diets. Healthy diets for kids that support a good gut microdiversity look like:
- Fruits and vegetables with every snack/meal
- Protein with nearly every snack/meal
- Healthy fats from things like olive oil, nuts, fish, seeds, and avocados
- Limit (preferably none) food additives, dyes, preservatives, fast food, non-natural sugars (and sugar substitutes), etc.
- Whole-grain sources for carbohydrates
- Adequate hydration with water or natural fruit juices (watch the sugar levels with store-bought fruit juices)
What influences the gut microbiome in childhood and infancy that affect the adult microbiome?
We’ve mentioned a few of these already, but here we are going to dive a little deeper into the science of it all.
Mother’s Health
While the long-term effects of the mother’s health on the baby’s gut health for the future aren’t well studied, some studies show the mother’s health during pregnancy does matter.
Mothers who have dysbiosis during pregnancy have a higher chance of giving birth early. Babies who are born preterm don’t develop their gut microbiome as quickly as babies born at full-term.
Mothers who experienced inflammatory conditions, obesity, or diabetes during pregnancy had babies that experienced early gut dysbiosis. The mother’s diet during pregnancy can affect the baby in utero and potentially via breast milk.
Medication Use
Medication use of the mother during pregnancy can affect the baby in utero and its gut microbiome development. If mothers use antibiotics while breastfeeding, there is a potential for it to cross into the breast milk and affect the baby and the milk quality itself.
Medication, especially with antibiotics, drastically affects the baby’s microbiome. Antibiotic use decreases microdiversity — which is essential for microbial health — and increases the risk of antibiotic resistance in the future.
Delivery Method
Babies who were delivered via c-section have a significantly higher potential for different allergies as they grow up — conditions like asthma, obesity, and atopy. Children, even at 7 years of age, show the difference between those who were born via c-section versus those who were born vaginally.
Babies born vaginally have a much healthier balance of gut microbes that prevent them from experiencing allergies and the other conditions associated with c-sections.
Dietary Intake
Breast milk is, hands down, the best thing you can give your baby — especially the colostrum found most abundantly right after giving birth. Colostrum has gotten quite a bit of attention in recent years for it’s benefits for the gut lining and immune support. Babies who get colostrum from their mothers are set up for significantly better health than those who do not.
Some of the other benefits of breast milk include:
- Immunoglobulins
- Endocannabinoids
- Oligosaccharides
- Galactooligosaccharides
- Lysozyme
- Lactoferrin
- Immune regulatory cytokines like IL-10
- Fatty acids
- Lactic acid bacteria
While formulas have been created much better than they used to be, formula-fed babies have a higher representation of C. difficile.
As babies are introduced to solid foods, their gut microbiomes change as well. Healthy diets that consist of prebiotics, probiotics, protein, fiber, and healthy fats set children up for better health in the long term. Children with unhealthy diets full of junk foods can destroy any initially good gut health and set their future up for inflammation and disease development.
All of these things mentioned have a huge effect on disease development and the immune system’s response in the long term. Some studies show that these issues in childhood set children up for common diseases in adulthood, like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
How to Keep Your Baby’s Gut Microbiome Healthy for a Healthy Life
Since everything we detailed has determined the health of your baby’s immune system, the integrity of their gut lining and microbiome, and their potential for autoimmune disease, it’s very important to make the right choices to help your baby have a healthy start.
Here are the simple steps to keep your baby’s gut microbiome healthy so they can live a long and healthy life well into adulthood. These steps set your child up to make better choices when it comes to their health.
- If you are able to, give birth vaginally. There are times when this isn’t possible, however, if it is your option, having your baby vaginally will help to support their health significantly.
- Make sure they get colostrum and breast milk if possible. This is one of the most crucial ways to support their immune and gut health while keeping the gut lining healthy and strong.
- Do skin-to-skin when you can with each parent. This helps support the baby’s skin and gut microbiomes.
- Enjoy time with family and close friends. This allows the baby to grow socially and be exposed to more microbes. Just make sure people don’t kiss on their face to avoid dangerous germ exposure.
- Avoid using medications, especially antibiotics and those with dye in them, during pregnancy and early childhood, if possible. Obviously, if they’re completely necessary, use them, but talk to your doctor about potential alternatives you can try before jumping right into medication use.
- Mother and child (when they’re old enough) make sure to eat plenty of polyphenols from fruits and vegetables. This helps to protect and support your gut microbiome so that it can provide your body with all the essential nutrients you need.
Ultimately, do what is best for you and your child
Parenting, especially newborns, is a wild journey and it can be stressful especially if there are any complications. Have grace with yourself if you’re unable to meet any of these suggestions. Prioritizing a healthy routine of exercise, healthy foods, sunshine, and laughs with your closest people can benefit your baby’s microbiome too and can help to normalize levels if you weren’t able to during their first days of life.
