Happy Baby: Easy Organic Fresh Gripe Water Recipe

Having a new baby at home is so exciting, but when your baby has an unhappy tummy or has colic, life can get really stressful really fast!! Over the past few months I have had more questions about how to help a colicy baby than I can count. I want to be sure that my gripe water recipe is easy to access, so I'm putting this up on my blog.

First of all, what exactly is colic?

Colic is a general term used to describe any uncontrollable crying in an otherwise "healthy" baby. Any baby under 5 months who is crying for over 3 hours, nonstop, is considered to have colic.

As I said, it's a blanket term and can be due to many different issues from overstimulation to digestive distress. However, the most common reason for this upset is a digestive disorder due to lack of appropriate gut flora.

Most doctors and lactation consultants will recommend that you give your baby a product called "gripe water" to help calm the baby. Gripe water is highly effective, HOWEVER, the gripe water you buy in the store (even the brand at whole foods) is LOADED with sugar (used as a preservative instead of alcohol), which is the number one culprit for supporting the growth of candida and the WRONG type of gut bacteria. Gripe water is by far the most effective tool new parents have for calming colic, but not when it contains sugar. So what's the solution? Make your own!!

INSTRUCTIONS

I recommend to my patients to give their baby 1/4 - 1/2 dropper full of grip water before feeding, every time they feed, when they have a colicy baby. Just squirt it in thier mouth. If possible, serve at room temperature.

Over time, you will be able to reduce the freequency, as this recipe promotes the growth of good gut flora, and helps soothe the baby's tummy at the same time. The culinary herbs used in this formula are totally safe and good for baby!

RECIPE

1 large bulb of fennel (organic)

7 slices of fresh ginger root (organic)

cut up the ingredients and place in a pot.

cover with about 1-2 inches of water

simmer for 20 min

strain, cool, and serve

I recommend making a large amount and freezing the gripe water in small batches for easy access. Since there are no preservatives in the recipe, it will keep frozen for 6 months, refrigerated for about 2 days, and at room temp for about 12 hrs. If it taste sour, it has gone bad. If it is too spicy, add a little more fennel, and a little less ginger.

Some recipes you find may include other herbs such as chamomile. Feel free to add this if you like, but i find the ginger and fennel alone to work well. I don't recommend adding pepermint.

If you don't have access to the fresh ingredients, you can make it with ginger tea (make sure ginger is the ONLY ingredient in the tea bag) and fennel seeds (found in the spice section at the grocery store).

*as always, consult a doctor before any new health regiment