Probiotic for babies doesn't ward off allergies:
In a previous study, Prescott and colleagues gave 178 children either a preparation of the good bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus every day for their first 6 months of life or a placebo. At 1 year of age, they found the children given the good bacteria were actually more likely to develop sensitivity to allergens.However, when the children were 2-and-a-half years old, there was no difference between the probiotic group and the placebo group in the likelihood of developing rashes or other allergic conditions, and the children who had taken the probiotic were no longer more likely to develop allergen sensitivity.
While these children did have significantly fewer gastrointestinal infections in the previous 18 months than those given placebo, the findings should be interpreted cautiously given that the study wasn’t designed to look at this effect, the researchers say.