Seeing your baby’s crying bouts out of colic pain is really painful! Most of the times, you often wonder whether it is safe to give Gripe water to your baby or not?
With all this hue and cry about Gripe water not being safe for babies, you are left wondering whether or not to use it especially when the baby is suffering from severe colic pain.
Gripe water is one of the oldest and best recommended remedies for abdominal colic since 1850. It is most widely used formula to get rid of severe colic pain in babies.
“Colic pain is one of the worst pains to ever have”
Earlier, it was made of alcohol and sucrose which were believed to be harmful for the little babies. Sucrose would cause immediate tooth decay and alcohol by itself is one of the worst things to give to a child.
But these days, gripe water is free from sucrose and alcohol and contains dill, fennel and bicarbonate. This sodium bicarbonate is an alkali which neutralizes the acid in the stomach of the baby and relieves the baby of the pain.
The composition of Gripe water varies from one brand to another. In this post, you would come across supporting or opposing facts about Gripe water that will guide you to its usage correctly.
Gripe water for newborns Safe or Not ?
Gripe water is made with sodium bicarbonate as its main ingredient. Most doctors believe that sodium bicarbonate should not be administered to small babies but there is no conclusion drawn regarding it, and its presence in Gripe water is still debatable.
One should rather look for herbal Gripe water that is made of lemon, cardamom, ginger, fennel and often glycerine is used as a sweetening agent. But, herbal Gripe water is not readily found everywhere.
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the safety of Gripe water largely depends on its composition. The ones with alcohol in it are extremely unsafe and should not be used.
The new borne depend largely on milk which leads to flatulence and bloating. Hence, frequent episodes of colic pain are quite common in babies.
How does Gripe water work?
The presence of sodium bicarbonate in Gripe water helps to diffuse the bubbles of the gas being formed in the stomach and helps to get relieved of the pain in just a few minutes.
The gripe water basically eases out passing of the wind preventing it from being trapped in the tummy and leading to pain. It softens the muscles of the stomach and aids in proper digestion.
Usually, if the baby is gassy and has bloating tendencies then doctors recommend to give gripe water on a daily basis till up to a few months.
A lot of times, you would see the baby still crying even after giving gripe water which may be due to some other discomfort. Gripe water is only for colic problem and if the pain doesn’t go away after giving it than you should consult your doctor.
Woodward’s Gripe water is often considered to be the best till date, however other popular brands also have emerged successfully.
The best time to give Gripe water is soon after the feed when the milk is broken down and the digestion process begins. This is when the gas bubbles are made which get trapped in the stomach leading to colic pain.
If the baby has frequent gassy tendencies, then you need to mandatorily feed gripe water after the last feed before sleeping. This will ensure a comfortable sleep through the night.
Gripe water these days come in safe composition for kids. One should look for good brands having superior content value in it. Having a Gripe water by your side is helpful till at least one year. It really soothes down the agony of colic pain in just a few seconds which is a big relief. Gripe water is also recommended to be used when the baby has any sort of indigestion to prevent colic from developing.