Baby Colic & Gripe Remedy
When I had my first grandchild 21 months ago, I headed to New York to help the new parents for 7 weeks, offering to do the night shift as the parents catch up on some much needed rest. The first week or so of her life was easy as she slept all the time, only waking up to eat and a diaper change. The doting mom was exhausted after 38 weeks of pregnancy, 48 hours in labor and a baby who had some difficulty regulating her blood sugar & spent the first few days in the NICU ( neonatal ICU).
Shortly after arriving home, the gas monster visited my beautiful angelic granddaughter Aria.
A phone call to the Pediatrician led to recommendation to try milicon drops and gripe water to no avail. The pediatrician stated that excess gas and gripes was a natural course as the newborn’s digestive tract develops and matures. This she said would last for at least 4 months, that there wasn’t much to do but try our best do do some massages of her tummy and bicycle movements of her legs. The traumatic pains continue as the colicky pain gripped this child and had her writhing in pain.
Everyday at 6pm the gas monster paid it’s visit, not leaving until 6am. Certainly, if baby wasn’t sleeping then nobody in the house slept.
We marched around the house all night in an attempt to pacify this suffering child. The screams were gut wrenching.
Desperate for a remedy, we turned to the internet for natural gas remedies for baby.
Phone calls to a few elderly women in my native land Jamaica led to suggestions to use fennel which I was quite familiar with as a remedy for gas & bloating for adults, I just wasn’t aware of it’s safe use for babies.
My mom told me that in her days fennel tea was the remedy for baby’s gripes & gas.
Further research led me to a tea being sold on Amazon. There were thousands of very positive reviews from moms who praised the results of this tea for their little ones. We ordered a box of this expensive tea. It worked & rid the gas pain about 75%. We were happy but wanted 100% relief.
The ingredients in that baby colic tea included fennel, chamomile & caraway. We decided to make our own at home. Within days, our baby was completely free of gas & gripe related suffering, sleeping throughout the night. As you can imagine, we were all happy.
Fast forward 20 months. This little one welcomes home her new sister. As usual the first few days were pleasant for baby & parents. Sleep, eat, pee, poop, repeat.
Then the cruel gas monster knocked on her door. Bloody gut-wrenching screams, vigorous kicking of the legs, writhing, grunting & wiggling followed as the tiny abdomen distended with firmness. The gas was trapped in the digestive track unable to escape from the top nor the bottom. Oh what a nightmare…literally.
We turned to the previously recommended remedies of Milicon drops & gripe water to no avail. The new pediatrician informed the parents that these 2 over the counter drugs were placebos in her opinion & did nothing to rid the trapped gas. We turned to our tried and tested home-made baby colic tea which was proven to help our first baby.
After 24 hours use of this colic tea, we saw about a 50% improvement.
A hired Nanny who’s originally from Jamaica informed us that the most effective remedy included a tea made with the fennel leaves. Again, the new mom was desperate for results as her heart wrenched with pain as she witnessed her baby suffer, screaming & kicking relentlessly. A trip to the local grocery store where I found organic fennel bulb with leaves. We tried the remedy and the rest is history.
Disclaimer: I will share this remedy with you. Be sure to discuss any remedies with your Pediatrician before administering to children. This is my family’s personal experience and I am in no way recommending or suggesting that you administer teas to your baby. Please do your own research and discuss all medical issues with your doctor. This article is purely informational.
My baby’s colic tea:
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon fresh fennel leaves washed
- 1/4 tsp organic fennel seeds
- 1/4 tsp organic caraway seeds
- 1 organic chamomile tea bag
- 1 measuring cup water
Bring water to boil
Add fennel & caraway seeds + fennel leaves. Boil on low heat for 2 minutes. Turn off heat. Add chamomile tea bag. Stir. Let steep for 10 minutes. Strain & store in a glass container in refrigerator once it’s cooled.
( I administered 5ml to 15ml twice daily to my baby)
My granddaughters’s other grandmother is from Nigeria and has stated that drops of lemon juice is given to newborns for colic and gas.
Further research points to chamomile, licorice, fennel and balm mint used in various parts of the world to help parents deal with their baby’s colic, gas & indigestion.
I was not surprised to read about the powerful effects of fennel tea as fennel seeds are known to be a natural digestive aid because they relax the smooth muscle lining of the digestive tract and also help to expel gas.
Some years ago while I was going through menopause, I credited fennel & caraway for saving my “digestive life”. This combination helped me to expelled the trapped gas from my digestive tract. It worked for me then & it’s working very well for my new angel.
Along with the digestive tea, we incorporate warm baths, massages with oils, bicycle leg exercises, tummy time, gentle stretches & special anti gas feeding bottles. Together, these steps have led to a happier baby, parents and grandmother.
Marva Riley, RN
Author
Health Advocate
Doting Grandmother
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