When the perfect start isn't enough: tracing a toddler's eczema back to the gut

Jess first came across Alba on Instagram. What caught her attention was the mention of eczema, and the idea that she could see Maya's gut microbiome precisely rather than guessing.

She went in with modest expectations. Given Maya's near-ideal history, Jess genuinely didn't think the test would turn up much.

"I wasn't expecting much, because her diet is as good as it can be. She was breastfed, born vaginally, never had antibiotics – really all the 'ideal' things. But it was something I hadn't checked, and I was willing to try anything."

The process itself was straightforward. Maya is toilet trained, so Jess had her use a potty to collect the sample, which worked well. The results came through clearly in the Alba app.

The result that didn't fit the story

The findings surprised her. Despite everything that should have set Maya up for a robust gut, her test showed low levels of two important beneficial bacteria: Bifidobacterium and Faecalibacterium.

Bifidobacterium is central to gut barrier function and immune regulation in early childhood, exactly the kind of bacteria you'd expect to be involved when the skin's immune response keeps misfiring. For Jess, who had long suspected the cause was internal, finally seeing it on a test was the breakthrough.

"We would never have guessed Maya was low in some strains, because I feel like she's an anomaly given her history and diet. It's something I could never have predicted – and it was invaluable to see it on a test result."

The action plan that came with the results was a mix of the simple and the genuinely challenging. Introducing a specific probiotic to address the low Bifidobacterium felt immediately achievable. Improving an already excellent diet was harder.

On her coaching call, the nutrition coach agreed Maya's diet was already very good and difficult to optimise further. The practical takeaways were to add more fermented foods – and to vary the oily fish in Maya's meals, rotating in options like mackerel rather than relying on salmon alone.

"Sauerkraut isn't readily available where we live, sadly, so we've opted for kefir and try to get that into smoothies two or three times a week," Jess says. The oily fish switch is a work in progress: "That's harder for me, because I only like salmon, so I need to get my head around it."

One detail reassured her: the recommended probiotic turned out to be a brand she already used herself. "So I trust it too."