How To Use Growing Up Prebiotics

Hooray! You have taken the first step to improve your little one’s gut health. Read on for our favorite tips from our nutrition and pediatric experts, plus some practical tips from other parents like you.

If you want to share how you use Begin or don’t see your question covered here, shoot us a note at [email protected]

Start Slowly

When you add a fiber supplement into your toddler and kids’ diet, you must do it slowly over a few days, to avoid any unpleasant gas, bloating, or stomach discomfort.

Our Begin Health nutrition experts recommend that you start with only ½ of a packet of Begin Prebiotics per day. (You can save the other half for the next day, or Only use a ½ packet for several days before you increase to a full dose appropriate for the age of your child.

Mix Begin Growing up Prebiotic With The Right Stuff

Mix each packet with 4-6 oz of fluids or foods.

We think water and milk are the easiest way to do it. Just add one sachet to your kid’s sippy cup. If you add it to water, it is OK if they drink it throughout the day.

Another awesome way to get your kid to eat Begin is in foods like yogurt or a smoothie. Again, make sure it is mixed in with at least 4-6 oz of foods. It’s tasteless and textureless, so they shouldn’t even notice!

Here are our favorite ways to serve Begin:

Sprinkled on top of a pancake dough while its on the stove
Mixed into a bowl of mac and cheese, oatmeal or yogurt
Added to the blender when you mix a smoothie

Begin Growing up prebiotics going into a cup

What about juice?

The American Academy of Pediatrics tells us parents to limit kids’ juice consumption to no more than 4 oz per day. Some juices like prune, apple and pear can assist with constipation by drawing water into the colon. This is because these juices have sorbitol.

What if the powder is having trouble dissolving?

In some cases, if you use very cold liquid to mix with Begin, it does not dissolve well. If your kid likes her beverages very cold, this does not mean you can’t use Begin!

Here are our two favorite tips that solve this problem:

Mix the sachet with room temperature water and then refrigerate the water
Slowly pour a little bit of the sachet into the cold liquid at a time. Mix or shake as you go.

What if your kid can taste it?

In some cases, kids are extremely picky or just notice change. If your kid tells you they can sense the change in their smoothie or water, try to add the packet when they are not around. Begin was designed to be tasteless and textureless and we promise in 99.9% of our taste tests with kids, they couldn’t tell it was there.

Check out some more tips to get your kid to try Begin if they are a picky eater.

Adjust The Dosing as You Need To

The daily dose for toddlers and kids under 4 is 1 packet per day. As stated above, start with ½ a packet per day over several days before progressing to 1 full packet.

Daily dose for kids over 4 (and adults) is 2 packets per day. Again, start slowly.

You may find that your toddler or kid tolerates a dose that is different than recommended. Some parent’s find that their toddlers and kids under 4 tolerate ½ packet per day better than 1 full packet. We’ve heard from other parents that their kids over 4 tolerate 1 packet better than 2 packets. This is perfectly acceptable and you should adjust the dose based on your kids’ tolerance.