6 Ayurvedic Tips for Colic: Make Your Own Gripe Water

6 Ayurvedic Tips for a Colicky Baby:

Babies and children are incredibly sensitive, in Ayurveda the protocol for addressing health concerns with kids is to always make the medicine or remedy mild and gentle. Such a sensitive being will react quickly and sensitively to any medicine given or change in their diet. These six tips will help you address the colic for instant remedies as well as an overall lifestyle adjustment to support them as they develop and grow their digestive system. We have to remember that they are learning to ingest food through their mouth and eliminate it like we do, their system is brand new and doing it’s best but sometimes it needs some extra gentle support.

1. Put ghee or coconut oil on your nipple, the bottle nipple, or just a little bit in the mouth. This will help with constipation and to hydrate the digestive system if they are dry. *I used this remedy often in the first few months of my daughter’s life and it always helped!

2. Gently massage their bellies with oil in a clockwise manner, this should help get things moving. It doesn’t matter what kind of oil, I used olive, coconut, and even ghee sometimes. Just make sure it is pure oil or an Ayurvedic baby massage oil that does not contain and preservatives or scents.

3. Space out their feeds for at least 2-3 hours. Make sure they are good and hungry so that when they eat it is an actual meal they consume and not just smaller amounts every hour and not meals that will fill them properly. I personally went against the grain and allowed my daughter to sleep as much as she needed to and sometimes that was 3-4 hours. But when she woke was good and hungry and ate a full meal that satisfied her. I am happy to report that she had lots of thigh rolls and sleeps very well to this day at two years old.

4. Don't let them snack or nibble throughout the day. This leads to them eating smaller amounts, never getting full, and then not ever able to digest fully before their next feed. Just like in adults, this creates back ups and gas from an overworked digestive system. Sometimes I noticed they really are hungry in shorter time frames when they are growing or learning a new skill, so it is best to try and wait at least 2 hours but don’t beat yourself up. For my daughter I always made sure I did my best to wait otherwise it was an immediate cause and affect for her getting colicky.

5. Mama's diet -- this is a big one. If mama is eating really dry foods, junk foods, heavy to digest foods, or if the formula is using milk that the baby can't digest well you need to switch up the diet. For formula I reccommend goats milk as it is much easier to digest than cows milk and is closer to human milk. For mama's diet I reccommend seeing an Ayurvedic Practitioner to adjust your diet or start with eating warm well cooked foods that are adequately spiced in regular meals and avoiding dairy, onions, wheat, or any major allergens for the time being to see if that brings some relief.

6. Finally you can make your own gripe water! It is a digestive water-based tincture you can add to your bottles or just drop a few drops in their mouth a few times a day.

Gripe Water Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups filtered water ¼ tsp. Whole fennel seeds ¼ tsp. Whole coriander seeds ¼ tsp. Fresh ginger

Boil two cups of filtered water with ¼ tsp.each of whole fennel seeds, whole coriander seeds, and ¼ tsp. fresh ginger. Let cool then take a dropper and add 5-10 drops or 1/8th of a tsp. into their bottle or their mouths.

Most resources will tell you not to introduce water to your baby until they are at least six months, but just to reassure you a few drops of water decocted with some herbs is perfectly fine for a baby.

Chamomile

"Chamomile is veritably one of the best herbs for cooling excess heat and inflammation associated with high pitta.” Annie McIntyre

Chamomile is one of my favorite herbs to use in my practice. Not only is it the cutest little flower, I love its ability to cover such a wide variety of ailments and be mild enough to help those with the most sensitive systems. Chamomile is an age-old medicinal herb known in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome but also spans over 26 different countries in medicinal use.

Chamomile's volatile oils and flavanoids are what give this powerful daisy-family flower healing properties. Below are some main uses and Ayurvedic or herbal remedies safe for anyone to adopt in their routine (unless of course you are allergic to chamomile):

• Analgesic (vedanasthapana): relieves pain whether it be muscle, nerve, menstrual, e.t.c.
• Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, antiseptic
• Anti-inflammatory (shothahara): reduces inflammation across the board
• Antihistamine (shothahara): acts as a benadryl for allergic reactions
• Antioxidant: like vitamin C and E it reduces the oxidation of cells to help combat cancerous free radicals in your body
• Antispasmodic (shulaprashamana): relieves muscle tension and muscle spasms
• Carminative (vāta anuloman): mildly laxative without drying the colon
• Regulates menstruation (artavashamana): an herb women can use for any menstrual ailment
• Diaphoretic (svedajanana): induces perspiration, helps reduce swelling and edema
• Digestive (pachan) and stomachic: calms overheated digestion but slightly bitter taste stimulates digestion producing appetite
• Febrifuge (jwaraghna): helps regulate a fever
• Diuretic (mutrala): cleansing for the urinary system
• Nervine (medhya) & sedative (nidrajanana): sedative and calms nerves
• Strengthening tonic (balya): as it calms all systems it stregthens and revitalizes
• Vulnerary (ropana): heals wounds

"In moderate amounts it is good for all constitutions, and it is a particularly good beverage for Pitta. It helps relieve bilious, digestive headaches, relieves congestion of the blood and promotes menstruation. It is a sattvic herb that is very balancing to the emotions... For most medical purposes its action is mild and serves as a harmonizing adjunct." -- Yoga of Herbs, by David Frawley and Vasant Lad

Remedies:

As a tea:

→ A little fresh ginger prepared with the tea makes chamomile a completely balanced beverage and counters any emetic effect it might have.

→ Drink tea a half hour after meals to aid in digestion.

→ Drink tea first thing in the morning to help pregnant mama's with morning sickness.

→ Use in a takrum or Ayurvedic digestive yogurt drink to aid digestion, increase appetite, lose weight, remove bloating and flatulence, as well as aid in bowel movement.

→ Lemon/lime and chamomile liquefy stagnant lymph, flush heaviness and stiffness out of the muscles, and reduce swelling/edema in the body. This is extra helpful for those that live in more humid climates or during the wet seasons of later winter/spring time. Add a little local raw honey to increase these benefits!

→ To help with sleeplessness. For chronic insomnia you will need to use in conjunction with stronger herbs like valerian or catnip. It IS perfect however, to calm nerves during a stressful day or bring down the heat a notch after a bout of irritation and anger.

→ Heal mouth sores and prevent gum disease. A chamomile mouthwash may help soothe mouth inflammations and keep gums healthy. Make some tea and swish around mouth for a few minutes before drinking!

→ Reduce menstrual cramps. Chamomiles believed ability to relax the smooth muscles of the uterus helps ease the discomfort of menstrual cramping.

→ Treat diverticular disease, irritable bowel problems and various gastrointestinal complaints. Chamomile's reported anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic actions relax the smooth muscles lining the stomach and intestine. The herb may therefore help to relieve nausea, heartburn, and stress-related flatulence. It may also be useful in the treatment of diverticular disorders and inflammatory bowel conditions such as Crohn's disease. (2)

Eyes & Skin

→ Soothe skin rashes (including eczema), minor burns and sunburn. Used as a lotion or added in oil form to a cool bath, chamomile may ease the itching of eczema and other rashes and reduces skin inflammation. (2)

→ It may also speed healing and prevent bacterial infection. Place steeped teabags or cooled loose tea in a compress over cleaned wounds, scrapes, or burns.

→ Place cooled tea bags over your eyes after making tea to treat eye inflammation caused by allergies, air pollutants, or even conjunctivitis.

References:

1. Yoga of Herbs by David Frawley
2. https://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-chamomile.html
3. Photo by ORNELLA BINNI on Unsplash