Anyone Has Used Gripe Water for Colic?

I know there are many Moms who would say I am crazy for this, but so be it. I gave my daughter a 1/4 tsp of mylanta when she had very bad colic/reflux. within 5 min she was quiet and sleeping and showed no ill effects. It worked great. Especially on those nights when she seemed in so much pain my heart was breaking. I would put it in a nipple and lay her down and she would suck it right out. She liked the mint one. Its an option if it gets real bad.

I haven't, but if you are breast feeding, there are foods that are more gas-producing than others, try to avoid them.

mama, it might not be colic!
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if your ped won't listen to you: SWITCH PEDS!!! It is your BABY'S RIGHT to have a good doctor who will listen to her mama!!

Constipation screams to me that it is someting in your diet if you're breastfeeding or, it's something (milk or soy) in the formula. NOT lactose! but milk PROTEIN or soy PROTEIN or some other PROTEIN (if you're breastfeeding)

also: true constipation is if the poop is coming out in hard little balls. if it's coming out soft but baby is straining & grunting, then it's not technically 'constipation'
I would NOT use dark karo syrup for it or any other 'home' remedies, rather I would look for the CAUSE of it!

Hi Yolando-

I am going through the same thing right now with my second child. I use the gripe water and it seems to help some. I have used different brands and I do not find much difference. I am also using know something call Cocyntal- I found it at Whole Foods and I seem to like it better and it is less expensive. It also comes in a single serving so you can easily put it in your diaper bag and go. Hope this helps and hopefully we will both be done with this very soon. Good Luck!

Y.,
I used gripe water and alternated with Mylicon drops. It helped a little. I found getting the front harness thing, walking and singing to the baby soothed him. My sister is a physical therapist and she rubbed his belly which helped a little too. But do not rub your babies belly unless you know how to rub in the right directions or it can make things worse.

As for the constipation. Have you tried a different formula (if you are not breast-feeding)? Ask your doctor for a recommendation. If all else fails, get a Q-tip, dip in Vaseline, insert in babies butt, hold butt cheeks together for as long as she will let you, wiggle it a little, and STAND BACK. This worked for me and was suggested by my doctor.

Hope this helped
T.
Mother of a 2&1/2 year old boy.

ive never used gripe water but i have a 4 month old baby girl who had the same problem, what i did was used white karo syrup , 1 table spoon in one ouce of water for the constipation, also if you put the baby on her belly on your chest, it helps with the gas and also the warmth soothes her.not too much you can do but these certainly helped for me! be patient as well the baby can sense that you are tense which will cause her to cry, dont worry it wont last forever, my baby is doinf ine now and happy as ever. Good Luck i hope this helps!

I used gripe water with my daughter. It seemed to help her. Your daughter's system is so new and small. I think as the body grows, it allows the insides to better adjust and work out gas better. But, there are things to do to help.

If you are nursing, make sure you are drinking a lot of water. If you are nursing, keep track of what you eat the most of. When I would eat acidic foods, my daughter would have the worst time. Especially this one time that I ate about half of a pineapple.

Just try to relax when she's suffering and keep her moving. Pat her little back, rub her belly. There's usually one position that you'll find that will offer her a little relief. It eventually gets better. For my daughter, it was around 5 months.

Good luck. I am so sorry for your and your daughter's suffering.

A friend of mine swore by it, though her son still had colic until he reached four months.

I read an article that said that colicky babies don't cry because they're in pain, but that they tend to get gas from all the crying.

I wish you the best of luck, and remember to take time for yourself--it can be all-consuming when your baby has colic!

When my oldest son was born the pediatrician said he had the worst case of colic he had ever seen. He also cold not have a bowel movement on his own. We had to use suppositories every time he went. Our Family doctor had said don't worry, he will out grow it. He was still like this whenhe was three months old, that's when I took him to the peditrician. He gave me a prescription for something called maltsupex. It looked like chocolate (you put it in their formula) but it smelled like burnt prunes. I started using that and never did have any more problems with him using the bathroom. That was 40 years ago, so I'm not sure they even make it now.

I didn't have colicy babies, but I can understand how frustrating it is.

I saw this on tv the other day...

http://www.bonnybabies.com/happi-tummi-colic-remedy.htm

It's supposedly an old Irish remedy.

Good luck!

Hi Y.,
I am a Ayurvedic postpartum doula. I want you to know it is not "normal" for a baby to have colic. It is because doctors do not seem to know why that they choose to tell their patients it is "normal" Your baby's digestive, immune, & respiratory systems are still developing after birth. It is very delicate & can take 2 to 4 weeks of eating wrong for these symptoms to show up.Your diet is the main element in her digestive system. Learning infant massage is an invaluable tool that I teach to all my moms. If you are nursing I would suggest you check out my site for dietary guidelines for a happy baby & mom. doulascare.info. My daughter had colic very bad & it was extremely upsetting to me as a first time mom to see her suffering so! If you are not nursing then you may need to change her formula. If you can get a bottle of organic therapeutic grade fennel oil, then rub it on her belly. For the constipation you can put ghee on your pinkie & let her suck it off. Make sure you only use organic for her. I hope this is of some help to you. Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions. I have been caring for women after birth for many years & have seen wonderful results from following this program. Joy & Blessings, G. Glick

Gripe water is wonderful! I used it with my first and now my second and it works fast! However, I also agree with the moms that say it is also her digestive system. Please get her some probiotics or take them yourself if breastfeeding. If you had any antibiotics, a C section, or epidural, then the medicine took the good bacteria out of her system and she can't digest food properly. I took some after having my baby and give her gripe water and she does great. The probiotics really are important to getting her digestive system back on track.

Hope this helps,
T.

I am soooo sorry to hear about your daughter's discomfort!! I have a 7 month old that suffered from colic and it truly was one of the most difficult times of my life! You just want to make the crying stop and have them not in pain and there is nothing you can do. Here is the WODNERFUL NEWS they do get over it!!! My daughter smiles and laughs and is developing 100% the same way every other baby does! (for a while it seemed like there was no way she could become a normal baby because she was too busy crying)I will give you ANY advice or support I can!

I was able to get a xray of the entire inside of her body because I was convinced something was seriously wrong! The only thing that showed up was a little acid reflux and a lower half FULL of gas bubbles! The doc gave her acid reflux medicine, I gave her gripe water (the brand I used that worked had the most ginger in it - look at what each gripe has in it. I had to try 3 or 4 before I got to one i thought made a difference) and then I gave her gas drops. Every morning and every night I gave her the three of them - we did this for 3 months! I cant tell you 100% that it made a difference....maybe just made my husband and I feel like we were doing SOMETHING! I also slept in a recliner with her in my arms for about 3 months or so because that was the only way she could sleep a little bit (and I could too!!!)

I would for sure suggest looking for support where other moms with colic are. I talked a lot about it on here and then there is a support group on Cafemom.com.

Good luck to you and your family....I hope that it all goes better and I really hope that I made you feel better (not worse) about colic. You WILL come out on the other side I promise!!!! If there is ANYTHING that I can help with please dont hesitate to ask me! ____@____.com and try to take an hour or so for yourself every once in awhile! It did a world of good just to go for a walk alone!

Greetings Y.:

I swear by gripe water. My family is W. indian and it a staple for raising healthy, happy babies. The kind that I prefer is the Woodward's brand, it's made in England and you can typically find it at W. indian stores. Remember that once you open it is typically good for about two weeks and then fizz goes away so make sure you buy more than one.

Good luck,
M. D

Ohhhhhhhhhhh how I feel your pain...

Yes, I LOVED gripe water! My son was very colicy for the first 4 months... Gripe water saved us at times. I used Baby's Bliss Gripe Water. I got it at a natural health food store in Delray Beach on Atlantic Ave. I don't know if your daughter uses a pacifier but I would carry around a smaller container with gripe water and constantly dip his pacifier in it when he got grumpy. I went through lots of bottles of gripe water...

Also make sure your daughter doesn't have acid reflux. I brought my son to a gastroenterologist and he had bad reflux and was put on medicine.I circled my sons legs after he ate in a bicycle motion to help break up the gas. My son would stop crying if I rocked him over the vacuum cleaner (the white noise).I had to switch to alimentum formula also (good for colicy babies) I'm not sure if your nursing or not but if she's formula fed you might want to try that. If you get her onto alimentum (it's the most expensive formula unfortunately) and you have insurance you can get a written notice from the doctor as to why she's on alimentum for "medical" reasons and your insurance will cover it.. Keep all your receipts though.

Good luck.. I understand how you feel, I was once there... IT WILL PASS I PROMISE..

Her inner ecosystem (digestive system) is out of balance. She probably picked up some pathogenic bacteria and/or candida in the birth canal. She could use a little probiotic liquid to bring her back into balance. Just a tiny bit on a spoon will help. If you are nursing then you should be taking a probiotic and eating probiotic rich foods like cultured veggies. If you are formula feeding the sugars and dairy or soy won't help the situatuion. you can email me for more info at ____@____.com

Gripe water isn't recommended for ones as little as yours. It's not normal to have colic at that age. Something is going on and I concur with everyone else who suggested seeing another pediatrician! If you are breastfeeding she may have some issues with something in your diet. Try eliminating milk and milk products. You won't see an immediate result because it does take some time to get out of your system. Kellymom.com has some really good info.

Yes, we used gripe water for our daughter. It was wonderful for us!!! We went to a local Medicine man's shop and bought a bottle. It worked wonderfully for us and my sisters son. I'm not sure of the name but I do know me and my sister used two different brands and they both worked!!!!! Good Luck!

Why do you think she has colic? I'm just curious. It seems a bit early to diagnose colic although I admit while my first was incredibly fussy, I don't think she had colic. So I'm not an expert. Some babies are really fussy and some might seem like they're constipated because they strain when pooping. But really, they're getting used to their body and how it works. It's also very normal for babies to be super fussy in the evenings. Before giving her anything like gripe water, which I would be careful about since it's dangerous to give small babies water, I would try other methods first. In particular, I would get the DVD: The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp. He has excellent techniques for soothing a fussy baby. I would get the book too because it goes in depth about his techniques and has a whole chapter devoted to colic. I recommend the DVD first because it's short and you can immediately put the ideas into practice, which is a good thing when you're sleep deprived and too tired to read.. Then read the book to get additional info when you've got time. Whether your daughter has colic or not, the Happiest Baby techniques are a lifesaver! I used them with both of my children. Congratulations on your little girl!

It might be normal, but who wants to see there baby in pain??!! You can try Milicon drops. I am Jamaican and we definately beleive in gripe water- the brand (its english) is called Woodards Gripe Water- and mostly sold in ethinic stores- I have seen however gripe water being sold in Target & a few other stores but cant say anything about that brand.

The pediatrician would never agree these remedies work...but they do. It wont be instant results...but anything will keep them...

Some other things you might wanna try...warm some baby oil(please test it on your hand should be lukewarm) and just rub that around your baby's tummy- it soothes them. Think about it, we have a tendency to rub our tummy when it hurts!

I have 4 girls- from 24yrs old tomorrow to a 26mth old toddler, and have done ALL of these over the yrs.

I have also given them a small bit of honey in some barely warm water to drink...and yes, drs say no honey....

Last but not least- mint tea. We use the real mint plant(very hard to find here unless you know of a carribbean family that grows it) but you boil it in some water, strain it and feed about 2-3ozs a bit warm of course, not hot.

I know these are not the traditional methods used by drs or most families, but any carribbean family has done these & it really helps the baby.

Good Luck!

Oh how I can relate!!! My oldest daughter had colic as an infant, and we tried everything, an dIdo mean everything. In the beginning I was breast feeding her, but a friend sugested we try similac's Alimentum formula. It is made just for colicy babies it is easier on their stomachs and it was a night and day difference. We started the new formula in the morning and by the next afternoon she was totally different. ( the time it took for the old food to work it's way out of the system). Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or would just like an ear. I 've been there and sometimes it's nice just to talk to someone. ###-###-####.
K.

Hi Y.,

I ditto Laura completely and especially about the karo syrup. If anyone recommends it for constipation, it may work, however it's dangerous. Pediatrician recommend it because it usually does work however, Peds look at statistics, not individuals when it comes to risk.

Regards,

M.
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