Natural Remedies to Help Colicky Baby
Infants and colic, this can appear to be so tricky!
Little tiny babies have such sensitive systems. Colicky pain, constipation, gas pain and spit up can be among the various symptoms that your poor little wee one is suffering with. I had a difficult time with one of my girls with constipation, gas pains and lots of spit up! Often in my experience the root of the real problem is not having enough bowel movements. Think about it, babies are so tiny. If they haven’t had a proper bowel movement in a few days, where does it go? There really isn’t enough space so the what doesn’t go down and out properly, creates all kinds of discomfort. In East Asian medicine terms this is a disharmony between the Stomach and Spleen meridians. The Stomach meridian is in charge of the downward flow of digestion and the Spleen meridian is in charge of the upward flow of the clear yang. So things can easily be stuck in both directions, creating constipation, colicky gas pains and lots of spit up in a little one.
I would like to pass a long a simple recipe that could really help your baby. I refer to it as gripe water, but this is not exactly that traditional formulation. This gripe water is a blend of western and eastern herbalism. It is simple easy to use formulation and it could potentially make a real difference in your baby’s discomfort.
Recipe:
- 2 cups of purified water
- 1-2 slices of fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons of dried chamomile
- 2 teaspoons of dried fennel
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of food grade vegetable glycerin
Now if you are using formula with your baby, from East Asian medicine perspective, formula is considered is to be cold in nature. Also if or the constipation is more severe, you can add this part below as well. These herbs give the extra warmth to the cold accumulating in your baby’s tummy.
If desired, add additionally:
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground clove.
Add the ingredients into cheese cloth or something similar to make a sachet.
Add the water into the saucepan.
Then add the sachet to the water saucepan and slowly bring to boil.
Cover the pot, turn off the heat and allow to steep for about half an hour.
After 30 minutes remove the sachet.
Then add the glycerin to the water and then stir.
Store in an airtight, glass container in the refrigerator. (Lasts about 3 days) You can freeze into ice cubes trays and pop out as needed.
Recommend dosage approximately:
0-3 months: 1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml)
3-6 months: 1 tsp (5ml)
6-12 months: 2 tsp (10 ml)
Thanks for this wonderful guide. There is this question on baby colic and how to take care of it. I know there are a lot of products out there to help soothe colic in a baby. But what if the mother is so busy (usually with work) and can’t really make use of a specific product such as a carrier or swaddle blanket? What do you advise in such a situation? Thanks.
Thanks for this information! I have been drinking a combination of chamomile and fennel seed tea which has helped my milk production as well as reduce fussiness in my baby girl. I learned that chamomile is a natural sedative and helps with all sorts of digestive issues in adults and children. Great information.