Are antibiotics safe for babies? Can they lead to obesity?

To answer it directly, no, you shouldn’t give your baby any antibiotics. When you opt for antibiotics for your toddler in the first 5 to 6 months of age, they are likely to be fat, and it could be the reason they may remain fat when growing up too. Widely prescribed drugs are the reason obesity epidemic continues. About 2 children from a 100 are fat as toddlers which can be unhealthy due to antibiotics.

Several kinds of researches have been conducted by doctors, and it has been recorded that sometimes when neither parent is overweight, your child can still become obese due to consumption of antibiotics.
What exactly happens?

1. When you are opting for repeated antibiotics before and a few months after 6 months of age for your tiny ones, you are causing your child problems. The medicine will kill the bugs in the stomach that are usually feeding on the food eaten, and this frees up more space in the body. This increases their appetite, and they want to keep eating or will feel hungry quickly. This leads to parents overfeeding children without realizing. 

2. Over the course of time, if you often use antibiotics for your baby, they will get accustomed to eating a lot even without any medicines. Their hunger will increase, and this will contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle. 

3. Sometimes, due to antibiotics overuse, you might have an obese baby but along with that digestive problems and eczema are at high risk. They can also grow up with cholesterol problems at an early age, and it can be difficult for them to shed weight. 

The main takeaway is that you shouldn’t opt for antibiotics for babies. Try to find home remedies to cure any problem or talk to your doctor about other ways to keep your child healthy.