If you use gripe water for your little one and find out that it helps greatly in relieving gas and hiccups, it is tempting to try giving gripe water whenever your little one feels uncomfortable. When I was searching for what gripe water can do, I have seen so many parents ask questions about when gripe water is useful, and when it is useless.
Let's go through all these questions in this article.
What is gripe water?
Let's recap what we have known about gripe water.
Gripe water is a liquid that contains sodium bicarbonate and herbs. Depending on the brand and the formula, the herbs in gripe water are fennel, ginger, peppermint, lemon juice, etc.
Manufacturers of gripe water claim that it can help relieve tummy issues and many parents and grandparents also swear by it. However because the ingredients of gripe water varies between different brands and manufacturers, the effect of it also varies.
An important note is that gripe water is not approved by the FDA, but the American Academy of Pediatrics says they are a safe option to try with a reasonable dosage.
What can gripe water help with
Below is a quick summary of the ingredients in gripe water and their effects as well as the sample of which famous gripe water contains it.
In a nutshell, gripe water can help to reduce bloating, digesting food, reduce heartburn, nausea, vomiting and prevent constipation. Each type of gripe water can have different effects due to the ingredients in it, but the main purpose and the most common effect of gripe water is to relieve pain from gas and hiccups.
Read more: Ingredients in gripe water and how much gripe water can you give a newborn?
Ingredients | Effect | Sample |
|---|---|---|
Baking soda | Reduce bloating | Mommy’s Bliss Wellements Organic Woodwards |
Fennel | Help digesting food & prevent constipation | Mommy’s Bliss, Wellements Organic, Little Remedies, Maxi Health, Zarbee’s Natural Baby |
Ginger | Reduce bloating | Mommy’s Bliss, Wellements Organic, Little Remedies, Maxi Health, Zarbee’s Natural Baby |
Chamomile | Reduce heartburn, nausea & vomiting | Mommy’s Bliss, Wellements Organic, Maxi Health, Zarbee’s Natural Baby |
Dill |
Reduce bloating & prevent constipation |
Wordwards, Colic- Ease |
Peppermint |
Reduce stomach pain |
Maxi Health |
Vegetable glycerin |
Relieve constipation |
Mommy’s Bliss, Wellements Organic, Little Remedies, Maxi Health |
Citric acid |
Promote digestion |
Mommy’s Bliss, Wellements Organic, Little Remedies, Zarbee’s Natural Baby |
Will gripe water help diarrhea
Many parents notice their babies have diarrhea when teething. In fact, according to Indiaparenting.com, teething it's a most common cause of diarrhea in infants. However, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, teething does not directly cause diarrhea.
The main reason people associate diarrhea with teething is because their babies often have diarrhea when teething, which is at the range of 4 to 6 months. At this point of time, babies are likely to start eating solid. As their digestive systems are still developing, they are likely to have diarrhea as a response to solid food.
In short, diarrhea in babies is due to the change in diet and babies need some time to get used to new foods. Even though gripe water can contain some ingredients that can help to promote the digestive system, it doesn't directly help with diarrhea.
Does gripe water help with teething
Teething is the cause of some discomfort symptoms such as diarrhea, drooling, fever, etc in your baby. In order to ease their discomfort, parents try many different things to help the babies to get over this teething phase.
Does gripe water help with teething? No it doesn’t. While gripe water can help to relieve some discomfort in a baby's digestive systems such as constipation, gas, hiccups, it doesn't do anything with teething.
To deal with teething, you can just wait it out, give your baby fever pills, give chewing toys or something cool for your baby to chew on to help ease the discomfort.
Can gripe water cause sickness
If you use gripe water to your babies and you realize that your baby feels uncomfortable after using gripe water, or your baby might get sick after using gripe water, you are concerned. Can gripe water cause sickness?
The truth is, the ingredients in gripe water varies from one brand to the next, and for sensitive babies, some of these ingredients can be allergic factors. if you notice your baby get sick after using gripe water, watch out for allergy symptoms as well as allergy history in your family. it is possible that your baby can be allergy to one or more ingredients in the gripe water.
Some allergy symptoms to watch out are:
- Stuffy nose, sneezing, itching, or runny nose
- Red, itchy, watery eyes.
- Red, itchy, dry skin
- Hives or itchy welt.
- Rash.
- Trouble breathing, coughing, out of breath, etc.
Once you see those allergy symptoms, make sure you call your doctor or even an ambulance right away.
Can gripe water cause green poop
Even though almost all ingredients in gripe water are gentle for babies, some still can have diarrhea problems or other digestive problems after using gripe water.
According to Medical News Today, many babies occasionally have green poop. “Some possible causes include:
- slow digestion, usually because the baby has eaten more than usual
- green foods in the diet of the breastfeeding mother
- a cold or stomach bug
- a food allergy or intolerance
- antibiotics, either in the baby or the breastfeeding mother
- treatment for jaundice
Some infants’ poop is naturally slightly green. If the baby is putting on weight and seems content, green poop is not necessarily a cause for concern.”
As some of the most common reasons why babies can have green stool is slow digestion,, gripe water can actually help to relieve green poop. If your gripe water includes fennel And is not an allergic factor to your baby, it is possible that it can help with your baby's green stool. However if your baby’s green stool is due to lactose intolerance, food allergies, or imbalance in the breast milk, or just because the diet has a lot of greens, gripe water isn’t likely to help at all.
In short, gripe water doesn't cause green poop in general. but if your baby is allergic to one or more ingredients in gripe water, using gripe water can make the green poop more severe.
Read more: Can gripe water cause green poop? The science-backed answer.
Wrapping it up
I have given you the most commonly asked questions of parents when it comes to gripe water. Even though gripe water can seem to help a lot with digestive problems in babies, it is not a one thing fits all solution for all babies. Make sure you dig deeper to the root cause of the problem in your baby's digestive issues, and from there you can see if giving gripe water helps.
As with everything else, what do you supposed to give gripe water to your babies, make sure you follow the instruction and watch out for all the allergy symptoms if any.