Gripe Water - Good or Bad?

One of my friends swore by mylicon, another by gripe water. Neither worked for me. I did not like the amount of gripe water you had to give, it just seemed like to much non-nutrition for his little tummy. what woked for me, was not eating dairy. every baby is different, you will have to find what works for you. I think my son's doctor summed it up great. the last thing you try will be what works. meaning, they will just grow out of it and you will be convinced that it was because of _______. good luck

1 mom found this helpful

I'm also a lactation specialist... The stuff has never worked for me personally, we have 4 children. I have had mom's that said it worked for them. Try baby gas-ex type drops, they usually work better. Also, look at the Hylands brand tablets. The teething tablets are the BEST!!

Another thought would be your diet. If you are still nursing, maybe you are eating something that isn't agreeing with your little one. Onions, garlic, spicy foods, chocolate, caffene, cucumbers, to name a few of the common problem foods.
Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

We only used it for hiccups; worked great though, and he took it with no problems (of course he prolly just assumed it was food!) For gas we used Mylicon, and that always worked, and worked fast. Not sure what his "hurting belly" is caused by...?

I've heard it helps like the other moms said.
BTW, congrats on the new baby!!!!!!! :)
Also, I highly recommend you read the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block", by Harvey Karp, M.D.
It deals with comforting colicky babies. I am just about to give birth to our 3rd and I only wish I would have read this before the 1st two. I'm really not all that into parenting books, but this one is definitely one to read.
I know you probably don't have a lot of time right now, but you can skim thru, and use his "5 S" method...
Swaddling, side position, Shushing, Swinging, Sucking.
Some of his logic is kind of funny, he makes a lot of references to cave men/women and babies, which I think is a bunch of baloney, BUT his comforting methods are totally sound and REALLY work. And if you end up with a really colicky baby and have to use all 5 at once to calm the baby, you'll be so glad you knew how to do it, supposedly works like a charm.

Loved it! Our son had colic for the first 4 months of his life and gripe water was our saving grace! There's nothing in it that can hurt him. We also used the Boiron & Hyland's products.

I have not tried the gripe water but I have tried Mylicon on my daughter when she was a few weeks old. Her doctor
reccomended it because she had a lot of gas. On the box it says it is safe to give to newborns. Good luck.

we used nestle good start supreme with gripe water and it always worked for my daughter.

I gave my daughter gripe water after her 1 month check up. I tried the gas drops prior to the gripe water but she had an allergic reaction to them. Since then I have used the gripe water when she seems a bit gassy. You may want to check with pediatrician first.

If you or the baby got antibitoics (ABX) in the hospital, then PB8 will probably work wonders for you both. If he is breastfeeding, then you can take it and also you can open a capsule and dump a little in his mouth few times each day until he's comfy. Even if you don't think you got ABX, it still might work well....but it's a sure thing if there were ABX.

we tried gripe water when my son was a newborn but he just spit it out...he did like the mylicon drops though. I'm not sure if they really worked but at the time I thought it definitely help settle him down. just fing something that your son will actually swallow :-) goodluck

When my little boy was brand new gripe water was our friend. It always soothed and calmed him down. The ingredients are good and the results were better.

My parents used to give it to us when we were kids...I use it every once in a while with my son...but he's three. Never given it to a newborn before. I remember loving the taste as a child though. I would check with your pediatrician.

-M

Hi C. I also used Gripe water with both of my girls and it is great stuff! No complaints about it at all. Good luck.

Congratulations! I hope you are feeling well.
I gave my baby boy gripe water at about 3 days old. It seemed to help almost instantly. He would settle down and go back to sleep. I hope your new little man does well.

We used it when our son was only a month old. Ours was called Colic Calm and it was black dye stuff that looked horrible...but worked like a charm! We bought one of those pacifier medicine dropper things and that helped with the messyness of giving it to him. I've heard it works for some and not for others...but I have a feeling it depends on the baby. Also try laying him on his back and pedeling his legs gently, like a bicycle, squash those bubbles out! Good luck, I remember those days well :)

Gripe water's great, have used it myself. But note that it does have an expiration date once you open it. So we actually had to throw ours out because we just didn't get enough use out of it before it went bad. Then a friend turned me on to Boiron products. They have a teething relief version, as well as tummy relief (colic). We've used both, with fantastic results. You can find it at Whole Foods/Mother's, etc. Good luck, C.!
http://www.amazon.com/Boiron-Homeopathic-Medicine-Cocynta...

I used gripe water with both of my babies and loved it. much better for the baby than milacon drops.

Congratulations and God Bless!!
T.

C.,

I used it with limited success with my youngest child. Turns out he had "silent" reflux which is reflux minus the spitting up - the acid just burns the esophogus. The reflux was caused by allergies to dairy and soy proteins. We started him on prevacid which wasn't very effective until I started an elimination diet. Once I eliminated dairy and soy from my diet, he started to improve within 3-4 days and then continued to improve for about 3 weeks (dairy proteins take a while to leave your system). Within about a month of eliminating dairy and soy from my diet we were able to cut the prevacid dose in half and within another month or so we were able to quit giving it entirely. My son is 2.5 now and still allergic to both dairy and soy. I was dairy and soy free until he weaned at 18 months and he's still dairy and soy free. Doing an elimination diet is kind of a pain in the butt but it is worth it to have a healthy and happy child.

:-)T.

I used gripe water with my son. It worked soo much better than mylocon. It calmed his tummy and he was less fussy. It is all natural. It is mostly made of ginger root which helps calm stomachs. I would highly recommend it!

I used it and I also laid my son on his belly which helped him.

it is good, but not as good as homeopathic remedy. if your lactation consultant has no experience with choosing individual homeopathic remedy, you can use Hylands combo. it is built on 80/20 rule, but you may just be in that 80% who do benefit from combo remedies.
Good Luck
V.

We used it with our colicky daughter along with swaddling using the "miracle blanket". Worked almost instantly. I agree with the mom who said get the "Happiest Baby on the Block" too.
Baby Go Round Resale has both these items. If you need the address, e-mail me!
Hang in there, it gets better very soon. Make sure you are getting rest when you can.
Congratulations!

I used it with my second, and it seemed to calm her down quite a bit. I keep it on hand in case of yucky tummies still, actually! The brand I bought you need to keep in the fridge, so it can get complicated when you are out and about and baby gets fussy because of a bad stomach. Other than that, it really saved us!

Best invention! Used it on my daughter and it calmed her right away.

Gripe water was a life saver for my first child. It really seemed to help him and I was never without it. It is natural and I believe it really works. Hang in there!

I used it with ALL of my kids. Great stuff. I checked with my ped first and he said it was totally safe. All natural. And my kids loved the taste of it and would just gobble it up!

My mother, crazy old Greek lady, made very week chamomile tea and added the smallest pinch of sugar. Seriously it was like several grains and daughter sucked it down. Pooped and farted a ton. Some of those oldies but goodies work really well. I really think it was the water, got her insides just going. an ounce of water can't her. I have tried the gripe water but the tea worked better for my daughter.

Gripe water is AMAZING and so WONDERFUL! its great for upset tummies on little ones! my son had acid reflux and we used this alot...great for gas too! use it! you will love it!

I tried Gripe Water with my son but it didn't seem to help any. He had extreme gas issues and the only thing that helped him was Colic Calm. It was a lifesaver. They even have a money back guarantee if it doesn't work for your child.

Hope things get better!!!

Gripe Water is the best thing invented. I gave it to both my boys as babies. Both my boys had "tummy" issues. They were allergic to formula and had to have soy. They both were very gassy. The gripe water worked 10X better than the mylicon drops.

I used colic calm gripe water with my daughter when she was a week old, it's homeopathic and really made a huge difference. my ped also suggested giving her a teeny bit of cooled chamomile tea to ease her tummy, just like a teaspoon in a syringe. it also helped my daughter when we laid her on her tummy on a heating pad, the warmth helped relieve the tummy pressure. my sister had a gripe water with her daighter 18 years ago but it turned out there was alcohol in it! just be sure to check the ingredients carefully. i swear by the colic calm though, it was a little pricey but so worth it! good luck