When is gripe water ok for newborn

Gripe water is made with many natural ingredients to ensure it is safe for your baby, made of various mixes of herbs that make it incredibly mild for an infant digestive system. As their internal organs are still developing, infants often will experience gas buildup. This discomfort often leads to babies crying for extended periods of time, as they cannot relieve themselves of the pressure from gas buildup.

This internal discomfort can be caused by several factors, colic, for example. If your infant is crying for at least three hours a day three or more times a week, he or she might have colic.

Prolonged hiccups can cause discomfort as the muscles in the abdomen contract quickly and repeatedly. One potential cause of hiccups is taking in too much air while feeding too quickly. Using gripe water for babies and newborns helps to relieve gas pressure and the buildup of air that causes hiccups; a common cause of internal discomfort for infants up to six months of age. Gripe water helps to relieve gas that causes many different issues with your newborn.

With the blend of herbal ingredients, gripe water is mild enough to be safe for newborns and infants, and gentle enough to address the many problems babies face in the first six months of life. By settling the stomach of gas buildup in infants, gripe water addresses the symptoms associated with all the above issues—the buildup of gas in the abdomen.

Good bacteria are helpful for our bodies, especially in babies, whose immune systems are still developing. Although it may not be as big of an issue in well-nourished infants, consistent use of gripe water in low-income families is a big concern. One study found that gripe water is often used in developing countries, such as India, where mothers may not be well-enough nourished themselves to produce adequate levels of breast milk or mothers may not be able to afford enough formula for their infants.

Gripe water is used as a non-nutritive supplement to feeding, so in those cases, gripe water can be dangerous because it's being used to replace necessary feedings for babies. And lastly, if a mother begins giving her baby gripe water right away, it could interfere with the baby's ability to breastfeed and decrease her own breast milk supply. If you have a baby who is unusually fussy, has problems with digestion, or you suspect has colic, it is best to work with a pediatrician or doctor to try to find a solution.

There may be an underlying medical condition, such as acid reflux or food sensitivity, that can be treated. If your doctor has ruled out these medical issues and your baby is still extremely fussy or colicky, there are some other remedies you can try before resorting to the use of gripe water.

Here are a few things that may help calm your baby:. Having a colicky baby can feel overwhelming and exhausting at times, but with time, most babies outgrow their colicky tendencies.

If your baby is fussy a great deal of the time, it's normal to look for solutions to ease their discomfort, especially if your doctor has ruled out larger issues like food allergies and acid reflux. If you're considering giving your baby gripe water, talk to your doctor about how to best use it and watch your baby for any potential side effects.

Also, be careful not to use gripe water in place of a feeding. Doing so could cause your baby to miss out on important nutrients they need to grow and develop. In the meantime, make sure you give yourself adequate breaks and that you engage in self care. Having a fussy baby is hard but rest assured with time your baby will outgrow this stage and soon will be giggling instead of fussing. Get it free when you sign up for our newsletter. Gripe water administration in infants months of age: a cross-sectional study.

J Clin Diagn Res. Sung V. Infantile colic. Aust Prescr. Food and Drug Administration. Pseudomonas aeruginosa septic shock secondary to "gripe water" ingestion. Pediatr Infect Dis J. Adhisivam, B. Is gripe water baby-friendly? Lucassen, P. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive.

Let's work together to keep the conversation civil. Taking care of a newborn can be incredibly overwhelming. You have to understand when they are feeling sleepy or hungry, just by the way they are crying. Although crying is normal, but sometimes they do it incessantly without any reason, which clearly indicates that there is some serious issue.

Mostly this happens when the baby is feeling bloaty or is colic an unexplained digestive difficulty. In such cases, parents prefer to give a herbal remedy called gripe water, which is believed to be very effective and safe.

Gripe water has been used from decades to soothe a crying baby. But the question is, is it really safe to give this concoction to the infants? Gripe water is a liquid solution believed to be made of natural ingredients, which can help to soothe the discomfort caused by bloating, colic, indigestion, and hiccups. Gripe water has been used across the world for a long time and is believed to be quite effective, but the paediatrician does not support this claim.

The companies selling gripe water are not regulated. So they do not exactly specify the ingredients they use to process the liquid. You do not know if the ingredients are safe or not. Although Dr Arora does not recommend gripe water, he said if you are still willing to give it then it is important to remember two things- "First It should not be given to a baby less than three-month-old and second it should be homemade. Sometimes it even contains chemicals.

So, we don't advise parents to give gripe water to their child. It is useless. As per a study published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information, giving anything other than breast milk to the infants in the first six months may increase the risk of introducing bacteria, causing allergies and irritating their intestine. The same thing applies with gripe water. Traditionally alcohol was used to prepare gripe water, which provides a soothing effect.

But the study further revealed that the brands of gripe water available in the Indian market are alcohol-free but contain sodium bicarbonate.

When sodium bicarbonate is feed in large quantity it may cause alkalosis and milk-alkali syndrome. Dr Arora says that rather than giving gripe water there are other things that you can do to soothe a crying baby. Asafoetida and Probiotics may help to reduce or relieve excess gas and pain. Asafoetida: You can take half-a-teaspoon of asafoetida and add a few drops of water to it to make a paste. Apply this paste around the belly button of the baby for relief.

Probiotics: Probiotics may also help to provide relief from pain in breastfed infants. Since the herbs in gripe water theoretically help with digestion, this remedy is thought to help with colic caused by gassiness. However, most of this research is from adults, not infants. Some gripe waters also use sugar and flavoring agents to make the supplement more palatable. Some may even contain alcohol.

In other words, these products are considered safe until they are proven unsafe, unlike prescription medications which undergo rigorous testing before they can be sold to consumers. The FDA has recalled certain formulations of infant gripe water because they contain alcohol, which is not safe for babies.

The benefits of gripe water are largely unproven. One study found that 64 percent of mothers were involved in the study in India were giving their children gripe water, but most infants who received the supplement continued to cry excessively. Support for gripe water largely comes from anecdotal reports of parents. Due to a lack of standardization and regulation, many professional medical associations do not recommend parents use gripe water. There are different types of gripe water.

Some traditional formulas include alcohol and sugar. Make sure you read the ingredients listed on the package. Some forms of gripe water also contain sodium bicarbonate and peppermint. This can cause too much alkalinity and worsen colic symptoms. Watch out for gripe water containing peppermint. You should also avoid gripe water containing gluten, dairy, parabens, and vegetable carbon. Gripe water is not recommended for babies younger than 1 month. The digestive tract is sensitive and still developing at this age.

Most pediatricians will advise parents to try other methods of soothing a colicky baby before giving them gripe water.

The benefits often do not outweigh the potential risks, and gripe water is likely not effective as a treatment. If your baby suffers from colic, the pain may come in waves and worsen after each feeding.

You can give gripe water immediately after feedings to help your baby avoid gas pain. Slowly press the dropper against the inside of the cheek.