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Summary: Gripe water is used to calm the digestive track, including the stomach and small intestine, in order to treat and benefit babies with colic. Create homemade gripe water or buy pre-made formulas to help colicky babies using advice from a registered dietitian in this free video on gripe water.
Christine E. Marquette is a registered and licensed dietitian with the Austin Regional Clinic in Austin, Texas. She conducts nutrition therapy for ages two and up for all dietary needs.read more
Gripe water is a home remedy that has been used to treat babies with colic for many years. It is generally made with purified water, baking soda, chamomile, fennel, dill and mint, with some recipes calling for alcohol. It is thought that colic is caused by intestinal or digestive distress, and gripe water is meant to sooth and calm the digestive track, thereby treating the colic. In this free video series on treating colic, a registered dietitian explains gripe water. Learn about the benefits of gripe water for treating colic and get information on how gripe water is made. Find out some alternatives to gripe water when treating colic and learn about whether a baby can overdose on gripe water.
"My name is Christine Marquette and I'm a registered and licensed dietitian with the Austin Regional Clinic and I'm going to talk to you about the benefits of gripe water. Gripe water has actually been around for many, many, many years. It originated in Europe and it's a home remedy that has been used to traditionally to treat colicky babies. The formulation can vary quite a bit. It can include alcohol bicarbonate, which is baking soda. It may include different herbs like fennel, chamomile, dill, mint, and it will usually also include sterile water. Now, again because of some variation of herbs, particularly if it's a home made remedy, some people won't use alcohol at all. They'll just use a sterile water. Now right now, in the US, there are actually over the counter, manufactured versions of gripe water that can be purchased and most of these do not contain alcohol. A lot of them also don't contain baking soda. They primarily contain a sterile water and the various herbs. And it is thought that the main benefit of gripe water is that it actually calms the digestive tract. It soothes an irritated stomach and an irritated small intestine, thereby helping a baby to feel better when they are experiencing symptoms of colic, so the main benefit of gripe water is for babies, it is for infants, to help soothe their stomachs and help soothe their digestive track so that they don't have such severe symptoms of colic."
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