Is Gripe Water Safe For Newborns ?

From generation to generation it is considered that gripe water is as important in baby care as milk. We don’t know since how long parents rely on gripe water without any question. But it’s the time when people don’t have blind faith on anything. They want to know everything about what they use. So there is a discussion about pros and cons of gripe water.

Is Gripe Water Safe For Newborns: Generally it is used to relieve colic. If the newborn is crying for long but is otherwise healthy, the baby is colicky. The symptoms of colic develop after 3 weeks of birth. It happens because the digestive system is not fully developed and after feeding gas is formed. Though gripe water has all natural and herbal ingredients, like ginger, fennel, peppermint, cinnamon, cardamom, chamomile etc, it’s healthy for babies. It also helps in relieving gas. It collects all the tiny air bubbles to form a large one. The large bubble easily burps out. In this way gripe water leads to relief from pain. Not only relief from gas but helps in digestion also.

During teething baby suffers from pain. It is considered that natural gripe water soothes the pain. Being all the ingredients natural, there is no side effect. The ingredients like ginger, fennel, cinnamon, cardamom and others also are sometimes used individually too, but there is no harm. Gripe water is so common that it’s available any where easily. It’s not costly, so anybody can afford it.

There are pros and cons of gripe water as a medicine too. It is natural and herbal, that’s why it’s so popular since long. But it’s not that there is no harm of it.

There are not known significant natural gripe water side effects. But some brands of gripe water contain alcohol. It’ s to make baby sleep, so that to relieve him/her from pain. But alcohol is harmful for babies. So purchase a brand which doesn’t contain alcohol. Babies before 1 month are very delicate. Their digestive system is so fragile that they can’t tolerate anything other than milk. So before 1 month of age they shouldn’t be given gripe water.

Which particular brand of gripe water will suit the baby, it’s a matter to research. It’s not sure that the same brand will suit all the babies. The parents will have to undergo trial and error to see the effect. When the baby is affected by both colic and hiccups, gripe water is not effective. It doesn’t work in hiccups. Some parents feel it effective in this case too. Again you will have to try trial and error method.

Though gripe water is herbal, but how the baby will react it’s to be watched. Ginger peppermint or some other ingredients can cause burning sensation in stomach of the infant. Different babies react in different way.

Gripe water is not a treatment. If there is any underlying reason of crying, gripe water will not work. If there is no health problem and baby is only colicky then it will soothe the baby. So it’s not treatment, it only soothes. Now this is the parents who have to decide about introducing gripe water to their baby to prevent him/her from pain.