Gripe water is a kind of product that helps infants to get relief from colic and other gastric problems. It is highly recommended by practitioners and pediatricians and is easily available in various dietary supplement forms and at all pharmacies. Gripe water constitute ingredients such as ginger, fennel, dill, fructose, cardamom, peppermint and cinnamon. Below mentioned are a few pros and cons of giving gripe water to infants:
Advantages of Gripe Water
Natural Ingredients
Gripe water is a very healthy drink and is considered good for consumption as it contains various types of natural ingredients such as fennel, chamomile, ginger and fructose.
Decreases Tooth Pain
Gripe water helps to cure problems related to baby teething.
No Side Effects
One of the best advantages of gripe water is that it has no side effects. When a baby consumes gripe water, it does not create any adverse effect instead helps the baby to stay healthy. All the natural ingredients like peppermint, fennel and fructose present in the gripe water provide a healthy diet to the child.
Helps in Digestion
It is observed that when a baby is born, the digestive system of the infant’s body takes time to develop properly. Hence there is a tendency of gas formation in the child’s stomach that irritates the child and yields pain. The gripe water helps to convert the tiny bubbles of gas into one whole gas bubble, thereby making it easy to burp out and get relief from pain.
Disadvantages of Gripe Water
Alcohol Content
Some brands of gripe water possess alcohol contents along with the other ingredients that result in sleep and this is considered to be good for infants. One should be careful and must read the contents and check the ingredients mentioned on the label before making a purchase of the drink.
Hiccups
Gripe water is not a treatment for hiccups. Sometimes hiccups affect many infants along with being colic.
Time Limit
Time is an important factor for any infant to take gripe water. As the body systems remain fragile at the infant stage, it is difficult for them to digest so many ingredients altogether. Thus one should refrain from giving gripe water to any infant who are less than a month old.
There are circumstances when we may find that gripe water does not work well at all, whereas at times we may see that it yields a good result. Therefore one should always be alert to choose what best suits your baby’s health.