Gripe Water….at home.

Okay, so you probably all know about gripe water. The colic miracle, the gas reliever, the baby whisperer….etc. And it is….for like, ten seconds.

Here was my issue with gripe water. It worked amazing! For the first couple doses. At first,  I wrote it off as placebo and thought that gripe water was full of BS. Then I looked around and it seemed to be a common issue. So I decided to look up recipes and at the bottom of most of them, it said they expired in 24hrs. Whaaaaa?

So it all made sense after that. Obviously the first couple doses were still potent but after 24hrs they didn’t do crap because it had already expired. Some companies try to deal with this issue by adding baking soda and such ingredients but the main thing, fennel, dill or anise seed, is no longer potent after a very short period.

I resolved to make some of my own and found a million recipes with simple, herbal ingredients. I chose one that used ingredients I already had laying around!

Gripe Water

• 2 tsp dill seeds, crushed
• 1 organic chamomile tea bag
• 1 quart water

Crush the dill seeds up with your pestle and mortar (or rolling pin or something) and add into boiling water with the tea bag and boil for ten minutes. Then strain out the liquid.

That’s it. Dosage, 1/2 tsp. You can give the dose as often as every thirty minutes. Just don’t exceed 6tsp in a 24hr period.

Since this does expire in twenty four hours, I decided to freeze most of it.

Freezing it in the form of ice cubes is particularly useful since each cube is an ounce and that is about the  dosage you want to give a baby in a twenty four hour period. So I’ll basically just defrost an ice cube any time Eli needs it!

So, if you’re wondering how it works, this is the low down.

Fennel, dill and anise seed (interchangeable in this recipe) all contain a very effective component called a carminative. This encourages the release of gas, and release of esophageal pressure. Basically, it treats painful gas in infants and adults. It also encourages bowel movements.

This is just one of the many benefits of these seeds (other benefits include relief from menstrual cramps and antifungal properties) and therefore it’s perfectly good for adult issues as well (in larger doses). It’s important to note that though herbal, this is still a powerful chemical and extended, or high dosage can be dangerous. So please be cognizant of how much you or your baby ingest.

The Test

The real reason I made this was because Eli has been constipated the past few days and seemed to have gassy discomfort. I’m not sure if it’s because he’s had too many bananas or if I’ve eaten something I shouldn’t have but that’s neither here nor there. I gave him the gripe water at bedtime and once more in the middle of the night. He was passing gas like crazy and the whole next day he pooped every diaper….which is a lot.

So I can say from personal experience that this stuff works.

One more note. A lot of recipes call for some sort of sweetener but that is absolutely unnecessary. When did we assume babies want sticky sweet and flavored medicine? They don’t need it, they shouldn’t have it, and they most certainly don’t prefer it. This comes out tasting like a strong herbal tea and is actually quite tasty.

All in all, I think paying $8 for 4oz of gripe water is not only a massive ripoff, but it won’t work for long so I highly suggest taking ten minutes and making it yourself! You save money and get a safe, effective and all natural solution.