Can Herbal Tea Help With Colic?

When a baby has colic, it can place a tremendous amount of stress on a household. Frustrations tend to become high, and parents search, often in vain, for some way to relieve their little one’s discomfort. The fact of the matter is, however, that colic is not harmful to a baby. While the baby may not particularly enjoy crying, there are no long-term negative effects of colic.

Treating colic can be a difficult process. Part of the problem is that experts just aren’t certain what it is that causes colic. It may be that there are different causes of colic for each baby. Some experts believe that colic may be caused by gastrointestinal problems, and some of the evidence seems to support this idea. For this reason, parents have often turned to a variety of solutions to help their baby’s tummy. Among these are things like gripe water, which contains a number of herbal remedies for stomach troubles. Some parents have also tried herbal teas, with varying degrees of success.

Herbal teas, such as those containing ingredients like fennel, chamomile, peppermint, and/or ginger have been known to relieve adult gastrointestinal discomfort. Star Anise tea has been given to infants with colic for centuries. If you would like to try these sorts of herbal teas to help your baby with colic, there are some things to keep in mind. First of all, make certain that the tea is no warmer than formula would be when you give it to your baby. Second, start your baby out with an ounce or so, to make sure that he or she doesn’t have a negative reaction. If your baby doesn’t react negatively to the tea, you can give between four and six ounces of herbal tea in a day. Giving more than this runs the risk that your baby will drink too much tea, and then not be hungry when it comes time to have breast milk or formula.

Keep in mind that the effect of herbal teas on infants has not been studied. It is probably worth discussing with your health care provider before giving herbal teas to help with colic. If your baby experiences jitteriness, vomiting, irritability, jerky movements or seizures after drinking herbal tea, you should stop giving him or her the herbal tea and contact your health care provider immediately.