How to Treat Colic With Homeopathic Remedies

Colic is painful

Nothing breaks parents’ hearts more than watching their little baby writhing in pain and screaming. You changed the diaper, fed the baby, rocked, and walked for hours. Nothing seems to help your distressed infant. Your baby could be suffering from colic. While there is not a cure for colic, you can help alleviate baby’s painful symptoms with homeopathic remedies. The pain could be the result of baby’s inability to rid painful gas bubbles from an immature digestive system. However, it could also be an allergy to milk based formula, over feeding, or gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD.) If you have ruled out these other possibilities, try to treat colic with homeopathic remedies.

Things You'll Need

• Peppermint oil or candy
• Chamomile
• Caraway
• Ginger
• Fennel
• Lemon balm
• Rice baby cereal
• Simethicone drops
• Baby swing that swings sideways
• Fan or air purifier

Instructions

Prepare a Bottle

1. Fill a bottle with two ounces of warm water. Add a few drops of the peppermint oil that you use to make candy. If you don’t have the oil, add a piece of peppermint candy to the warm water and allow it to dissolve for a few minutes. Feed the bottle to baby. Baby should experience relief quickly.

2. 

   Add a teaspoon of plain rice infant cereal to each two ounces of formula if baby is spitting up frequently. The thickened formula stays in the stomach better. Allow baby quiet time after each feeding with the upper body slightly elevated. You can achieve this by placing baby in a baby swing or infant seat. Try not to get baby excited for at least 30 minutes after each feeding.

3. Turn on a fan or air purifier. White noise can be calming to baby and stop the screaming. The more baby screams, the more air baby takes in, which adds to the pain and discomfort.

4. Brew a tea made with herbs such as chamomile, lemon balm, peppermint, fennel, catnip, or a combination of herbs. Serve about two ounces warm to baby in a bottle.

5. Rub baby’s tummy in a circular pattern with lemon balm, chamomile, or peppermint lotion. Don’t forget to let baby suck on a pacifier.

6. Try one of the premixed homeopathic remedies, gripe water, or simethicone drops available at your natural foods store, Internet stores, or herbal section of your pharmacy.

Tips & Warnings

• Switch baby to a soy or specialty non-allergenic formula.

• Try thickening the formula with a teaspoon of rice cereal.

• Try using a combination or massage, tea, and white noise.

• Take a break from a fussy baby so you don't lose your cool.

• Ask a friend, relative, or the other parent to help.

• If remedies do not help, see your doctor. It could be something more serious.

• See your doctor if your baby also has fever, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, or fails to gain weight.

• Don't shake, discipline, or yell at your baby. Instead, place baby in a safe place such as a crib, and call your spouse, friend, or relative to watch baby while you unwind.

Resources

• Parent colic advice