Gripe Water

Hi M.,
I used gripe water and it worked like a charm.
We bought the one with no alcohol nor sugar added too.
First, we couldn't find any where we lived (NY). My cousin who lives in Toronto sent me a bottle. When we moved to NJ, we found gripe water at a Buy Buy Baby store in Paramus.
Many Asian and Middle-East speacialty stores seem to carry them.
Good luck coz colic is a tricky thing. I've heard all sorts of remedies: from lightly pinching the baby's upper part of the ear to blowing directly on to her face( by the way, this works for hic ups), whispering to her(works for tantrums).
Take care,

Wondering if you have tried the s's (from Happiest Baby on the Block book)

Swaddle
shhhh
swing

something else I can't remember.

Basically it's swaddle the baby up pretty tightly (he recommends the swaddle blankets that are made for it but you CAN use anything - just cut open a pillowcase if you need to lol). Sling the baby, or out into a swing chair if you can't sling her (bad back or something) - slinging her means wearing a sling on you, and putting her inside it. It's suspension, like in the womb, warm 'cause next to you, and also she's part of the world but completely protected. Shhhh is about white noise - use white noise to block out all the other sounds. I guess they've found that the level of noise inside the womb is at 50 decibles (WOW). So use that level of noise for the baby when the colic gets bad. And then the last S but I can't remember now what that was. I'm sure the library has Happies Baby, or it's not terribly expensive, and once you're done with it you can pass it on. Some babies are just more sensitive to the world, and it's hard for them to process all the action, light, sounds, smells etc. This helps give them the barriers that they need to be quiet and content. Good luck!!! PM me if you want more info on slings.

Found the link! http://www.babyslumber.com/happiestbaby.html

Hi M.-
I don't have any experience with gripe water as my son was not colicky, but it seems to me that the alcohol in the non-organic gripe water would be what calms babies down. I know that when my son would cry and not be easily consoled, i used to hold him on the length of my arm stomach down and hold his head/chin with my hand-recommendation from a friend. There is just something about that position that helped. I am sorry I don't have much info for you. Good luck.

actually im using it now for my daughter for gas bubbles in her stomach thought it was a southern and west indies thing but i have the old traditional one and it works for my daughter and she is 3 months

Are you absolutely sure that it's colic and not reflux? Without more details, obviously I could be wrong, but you might want to check with a GI specialist to see if there's a reflux problem that can be treated. If it IS colic, you can make your own gripe water.

Gripe Water (For Baby)

A simple home remedy for your colicky baby. Remember to talk to your doctor before giving this to your little one! Fennel seed can be used in place of dill.
by Hadice Requires Premium MembershipMy Notes

7-8 2 oz bottles 12 min 2 min prep
Change to: 2 oz bottles US Metric
1 teaspoon dill seeds
1 pint water

Simmer water and dill seed for about 10 minutes.
Strain out the seeds and allow water to cool.
Fill as many 2 oz bottles as you can.
Feed to baby as needed at room temp or slightly warmed.
Discard water after 24 hours, it doesn't keep it's potentcy and may start to turn.

http://www.life.ca/nl/48/herbs.html
"Although dill is most usually used for culinary purposes, it has excellent medicinal qualities. It is especially helpful for digestive problems. Flatulence in babies has long been helped by infusions of dill seed in warm water. Gripe water – the universal panacea for babies for many years – is made of dill and fennel. But not only babies benefit. Dill is rich in minerals and improves the condition of hair and fingernails. Using dill weed or seed as frequently as possible in your menus will be both a delight to your taste but also a help to your digestion."

You may, of course, buy Gripe Water in bottles, but always check the ingredients first. Most contain only herbs, but some from Europe may have alcohol or even phenobarbital, whichyou should avoid.

Hi M. -

My husband is Jamaican and his family all kept telling me to give my daughter gripe water when I was in Jamaica. She actually didn't really have any issues, she would just cry sometimes, but they seem to give gripe water as a matter of course from what I gathered. I asked my doctor about it when I returned and she said it was the alcohol that calmed them down and she didn't recommend it.

My son, who is 11 weeks, came home from the hospital and always seemed to arch his back and cry when he was awake, never liked to be put down on his back and he spit up alot. From my research, if it's stomach issues they pull the legs up when they cry, if it's GER, they arch the back and don['t like to be flat (which I remember being the case with my heartburn when pregnant). The doctor confirmed my diagnosis of GER and prescribed Zantac, then Prevacid and he's been significantly better since then (both medicines worked equally well).

I don't know how your baby is reacting, but if it's similar to the signs of GER, I would talk to you doctor and forget the gripe water. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend the one with the alcohol and don't know about the other, organic kinds.

I've no experience with gripe water, but..I did find that giving my baby Little Tummy Drops 15 minutes before I fed her seemed to reduce her tummy problems and her crying.

My daughter was VERY colicky. I was also at my wits end and ordered the gripe water off the internet...in hopes that I could get just a few minutes of peace and quiet!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, there is really nothing you can do but wait it out. There is no cure for a colicky baby.

I tried the gripe water with my son, and he hated it. His problem ended up being the formula itself-he could not properly digest the lactose (he gets that from his momma:() Once we switched him to Gentlease and added some gas drops, he was a totally different child. Definitely talk to your ped. if you are formula feeding-you may just need to switch to something easier for baby.

hi M.,

gripe water did not work for my daughter, we bought the organic kind as well. my partner is very against giving medication to babies, but sometimes it felt like we were at our wit's end. sometimes giving ella mylicon drops and holding her on her belly worked. nothing seemed to work consistently. sometimes running the shower and sitting in the dark bathroom with the noise of the shower helped. sometimes running the vaccum helped.

one thing that seemed to work well and we loved it was something called "the amazing miracle blanket." it's a big swaddler (great because ella was too big to be swaddled in traditional blankets) and it's pretty amazing!!! we had a friend who swore by it lend us hers, and it worked sooooooo well. you can check it out at www.miracleblanket.com

good luck!!

I just found this info from another yahoo group I'm on- a mom posted that her little one had GER, and sent the link. http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/T106004.asp
I've read it and realized that my little colicky dd likely has GER and I've naturally been using the tricks Dr. Sears recommends for it so thankfully it's not that bad anymore. Check it out...

My son was colicky up until he was 9 mopnths old, I swear by Gripe water, Mylicon drops, and Soy Formula (unless you're breast-feeding). I NEVER slept, for the whole first year of my son's life, and I bought a herbal heating pouch, and microwaved it until it got warm to the touch, and I would rest it on his belly, and put the Gripe water in with his bottle. and hold his knees up for him, and holding them upright works better too, lying down seems to make the air travel upward causing pain in the upper abdominal cavity. Good Luck!

i tried gripe water for my colic baby it didnt work i finally told her doctor about her problems and he switched her formula to allimentum which is suppose to be easier to digest and it helped so maybe trying a new formula will help your little one and good luck

C.