tea anyone?

Jessica's been getting quite a bit of tummy ache and slight constipation the
last few days. The HV suggested it might be because I've stopped taking
Fenugreek, and that's the only diet change I've had.

What she said next confused me a bit. She said warm boiled water might help
with the tummy ache, but then went on to say camomile or peppermint tea
might help. Now, I assumed she meant for me, but then she said I might also
want to try drinking it becuase it might filter through my milk??

I have no intention of giving it to Jess, especially as she's only 10wks,
and that might not have even been what she meant. But has anyone ever done
this? I've just gone and bought some peppermint teabags and some camomile
ones, but I wondered if anyone has any experience of this helping/not
helping, or any toher side effects, such as increased/decreased milk supply.

Thanks

Lucy

Lucy,

The other thing that might help is fennel seed tea. Make a quart and
start drinking around 4 PM, and finish by bedtime..

Larry

lucy-lu writes:
: Jessica's been getting quite a bit of tummy ache and slight constipation the
: last few days. The HV suggested it might be because I've stopped taking
: Fenugreek, and that's the only diet change I've had.

: What she said next confused me a bit. She said warm boiled water might help
: with the tummy ache, but then went on to say camomile or peppermint tea
: might help. Now, I assumed she meant for me, but then she said I might also
: want to try drinking it becuase it might filter through my milk??

: I have no intention of giving it to Jess, especially as she's only 10wks,
: and that might not have even been what she meant. But has anyone ever done
: this? I've just gone and bought some peppermint teabags and some camomile
: ones, but I wondered if anyone has any experience of this helping/not
: helping, or any toher side effects, such as increased/decreased milk supply.

: Thanks

: Lucy

I drink chamomile tea A LOT and haven't given safety much thought - not
all herbs are unsafe. People drink black tea w/o a seconds thought, it
seems. Chamomile is a very useful tea and wouldn't surprise me in the
least that it would help tummy ache since it relaxes things.

We started giving it directly to Lily when she was about 3 months for
teething pain - the purpose being to relax her so that she could sleep.

We gave fennel tea more often directly to Lily, specifically for gas
very early... probably around 6 weeks. It worked incredibly well.
Never a supply issue one way or the other.


lucy-lu wrote:
Jessica's been getting quite a bit of tummy ache and slight constipation the
last few days. The HV suggested it might be because I've stopped taking
Fenugreek, and that's the only diet change I've had.

What she said next confused me a bit. She said warm boiled water might help
with the tummy ache, but then went on to say camomile or peppermint tea
might help. Now, I assumed she meant for me, but then she said I might also
want to try drinking it becuase it might filter through my milk??

I have no intention of giving it to Jess, especially as she's only 10wks,
and that might not have even been what she meant. But has anyone ever done
this? I've just gone and bought some peppermint teabags and some camomile
ones, but I wondered if anyone has any experience of this helping/not
helping, or any toher side effects, such as increased/decreased milk supply.

Thanks

Lucy

"lucy-lu" wrote in message
...
Jessica's been getting quite a bit of tummy ache and slight constipation
the
last few days. The HV suggested it might be because I've stopped taking
Fenugreek, and that's the only diet change I've had.

What she said next confused me a bit. She said warm boiled water might
help
with the tummy ache, but then went on to say camomile or peppermint tea
might help. Now, I assumed she meant for me, but then she said I might
also
want to try drinking it becuase it might filter through my milk??

I have no intention of giving it to Jess, especially as she's only 10wks,
and that might not have even been what she meant. But has anyone ever done
this? I've just gone and bought some peppermint teabags and some camomile
ones, but I wondered if anyone has any experience of this helping/not
helping, or any toher side effects, such as increased/decreased milk
supply.


I probably wouldn't give it to her directly (I have a thing about herbal
supplements being an unregulated industry and while I'll drink herbal tea or
take supplements myself I would not feed the stuff directly to a baby) but
drinking it yourself is not likely to do anyone harm. If you DO give it
directly to the baby, then make sure it is very diluted, nowhere near the
strength you'd make for yourself. Peppermint tea is usually recommended for
tummy upsets while camomile is for relaxation. I've drunk both peppermint
and chamomile with no negative side-effects or it affecting my supply.

I'd say that "give it to the baby" is exactly what the HV meant! My mum's
been trying to convince me to give "herbal tea" to Matt since he was only a
couple of weeks old. I've refused, but like with water, you would have to be
careful of both volume and concentration.

Kasia

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Matthew 21 June 2005
DD EDD 06 Oct 2006

Check out our family at
http://www.geocities.com/engram_au/

According to my herbal book:

- fennel does increase supply.

- the menthol in peppermint upsets some babies & is generally not given
directly until 1 year. (although she notes the usefulness in dealing w/
tummy aches

- caraway is AWESOME in eliminating gas in newborn (& beyond,
probably). I either ate a tbsp-ful a few times a day or steeped some
in boiling water to dink. I was amazed how quivkly it made me burp and
how it helped Lily's wind.

Brookben wrote:
I drink chamomile tea A LOT and haven't given safety much thought - not
all herbs are unsafe. People drink black tea w/o a seconds thought, it
seems. Chamomile is a very useful tea and wouldn't surprise me in the
least that it would help tummy ache since it relaxes things.

We started giving it directly to Lily when she was about 3 months for
teething pain - the purpose being to relax her so that she could sleep.

We gave fennel tea more often directly to Lily, specifically for gas
very early... probably around 6 weeks. It worked incredibly well.
Never a supply issue one way or the other.


lucy-lu wrote:
Jessica's been getting quite a bit of tummy ache and slight constipation the
last few days. The HV suggested it might be because I've stopped taking
Fenugreek, and that's the only diet change I've had.

What she said next confused me a bit. She said warm boiled water might help
with the tummy ache, but then went on to say camomile or peppermint tea
might help. Now, I assumed she meant for me, but then she said I might also
want to try drinking it becuase it might filter through my milk??

I have no intention of giving it to Jess, especially as she's only 10wks,
and that might not have even been what she meant. But has anyone ever done
this? I've just gone and bought some peppermint teabags and some camomile
ones, but I wondered if anyone has any experience of this helping/not
helping, or any toher side effects, such as increased/decreased milk supply.

Thanks

Lucy

I have a thing about herbal supplements being an unregulated industry

For supplements, I must agree with you!

But to make chamomile or peppermint or whole-herb tea, there is no
regulating to be done - it's a plant. Just look on the box (if you get
a box - I love to buy bulk herbs and, for that, www.herbalcom.com is a
great source - for chamomile, we're talking a honking 1 lb bag of just
the flowers for $6 that is incredibly fresh and wonderful). If it
lists more than one ingredient and you only want chamomile, then don't
buy it! A pet peeve of mine is that ascorbic acid is added to
practically everything, so I stopped buying grocery store herbal tea.
Besides being a terrible waste of money (albiet a timesaver in a
pinch), it was never fresh, always stale, and the brands I frequented
started to add preservatives.

The term 'unregulated industry' was, I'm sure of it, coined by a drug
company. The only people it benefits are the drug companies... herbs
have been proven for thousands of years to be a effective remedies for
every problem known to man. It's weird, I think, how someone would
give Prevacid to their baby for GERD, but have a thing about giving a
known, safe tea.

I hope your baby's tummy feels better soon!
Misti

"Brookben" wrote in message
oups.com...

I have a thing about herbal supplements being an unregulated industry

For supplements, I must agree with you!

But to make chamomile or peppermint or whole-herb tea, there is no
regulating to be done - it's a plant.

I would suggest chamomile. I seem to recall something about an oil in
peppermint that's problematic, but I can't remember for whom.

I have used a very weak brew of chamomile on Sproglette at times with a
degree of success.

Jess

"Brookben" wrote in message
oups.com...
I love to buy bulk herbs and, for that, www.herbalcom.com is a
great source - for chamomile, we're talking a honking 1 lb bag of just
the flowers for $6 that is incredibly fresh and wonderful). If it
lists more than one ingredient and you only want chamomile, then don't
buy it!

I definitely agree with you - if it's got more than one ingredient, then it
should most likely be avoided. And ascorbic acid (aka vitamin C) is a
laxative in large enough doses so should probably not be given to a baby,
anyway, because for them an acceptable dose would be much smaller than for
an adult.

The term 'unregulated industry' was, I'm sure of it, coined by a drug
company. The only people it benefits are the drug companies... herbs
have been proven for thousands of years to be a effective remedies for
every problem known to man. It's weird, I think, how someone would
give Prevacid to their baby for GERD, but have a thing about giving a
known, safe tea.

The term "unregulated industry" wasn't coined by drug companies but by those
who discovered that ingredients written on labels of "complementary
medicines" were often not even present in the bottle. Regulation of this
sort of industry would be of benefit to consumers not drug companies.

I don't disagree that herbs are good and have been used successfully for
thousands of years to treat a variety of conditions. It's the fact that in
the complementary medicine industry they can smack a label on something that
says "chamomile tea" and they don't have to list all the ingredients that
are actually in this "chamomile tea" that worries me. If you can buy a bag
of what actually IS chamomile, that's great. But, like a lot of people, I
tend to just get stuff from supermarkets and maybe health food stores and
the stuff that's sold there is definitely not guaranteed to contain what it
claims to contain or has a bunch of additives.

"Brookben" wrote in message
A pet peeve of mine is that ascorbic acid is added to practically
everything, so I stopped buying grocery store herbal tea.

Ascorbic acid is just vitamin C.

It's weird, I think, how someone would give Prevacid to their baby for
GERD, but have a thing about giving a known, safe tea.

Not all teas are safe for everyone. At least the Prevacid has been tested.
And if a baby is truly miserable with reflux, the medication is a godsend.

--
Sue (mom to three girls)

In article ,
"lucy-lu" wrote:

Jessica's been getting quite a bit of tummy ache and slight constipation the
last few days. The HV suggested it might be because I've stopped taking
Fenugreek, and that's the only diet change I've had.

Fully breastfed babies should not be constipated at all. Remember that
constipation is not irregular frequency, but hard motions. If she is having
hard poos, count nappies -- she might be a bit dehydrated.

How do you know she has tummy ache?

What she said next confused me a bit. She said warm boiled water might help
with the tummy ache, but then went on to say camomile or peppermint tea
might help. Now, I assumed she meant for me, but then she said I might also
want to try drinking it becuase it might filter through my milk??

I have no intention of giving it to Jess, especially as she's only 10wks,
and that might not have even been what she meant. But has anyone ever done
this?

ISTR one of our European subscribers using some herbal teas, but of course
dilute and in small quantities (teaspoons).

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue