Colic and Teething Pain: Moms Using Herbs That Aren't Proven Safe
FDA says moms are using herbs not proven safe or effective
Fussiness and teething — when I lead first-year parenting groups these are two of the hottest topics, and everyone has a different option about how to alleviate them.
According to a new study by the FDA, lots of moms are going the herbal route — choosing to give their infants teas and herbal remedies for colic and teething pain. That’s a fact that doesn’t please doctors, since there is little evidence that they work and that they are safe.
Here’s what moms are giving their babies for discomfort, and why researchers wish they wouldn’t:
In the current study, nine percent of those surveyed (in a group of 2,600 U.S. mothers) gave their babies an herbal remedy in the first year of life. Interestingly the longer mom breastfed, the more likely she was to use herbs and teas. The most popular were products containing chamomile to sooth teething pain, gripe water (which includes fennel and ginger), and teething tablets.
A review of 15 studies published in Pediatrics earlier this year found little evidence that treatments to sooth colic (like probiotics, sugar water, and herbal extracts) really work. And since herbal products aren’t regulated the same way drugs are, the FDA warns that we can’t know if they are really safe to give to babies. I’m remembering the recall of Hylands teething tablets last year (they were found to have unreliable dose of their active ingredient). Meanwhile, my son had chomped on plenty as a six-month old as I struggled to find a way to settle his fussy spells.
The researchers also point out that babies are really only supposed to drink breast milk or formula for the first year — introducing anything else could affect their hunger and taste for their regular milk diet.
What do you think? Did you ever use herbal remedies for your baby — did they work?
Image: flickr
As a medical librarian, this kind of doublethink around herbals drives me crazy. On the one hand, people think herbals are effective. On the other hand, they think, “It’s just a herb; it can’t hurt me.” Well, if it has the power to heal, it has the power to harm. And this avoidance of “drugs” in favour of “herbals” is just silly; many drugs are derived from plant ingredients. Give your baby Tylenol or don’t, but don’t be fooled that a herbal alternative is necessarily either effective or safe. They should be held to the same standards of evidence as other drugs. Having said that, I think you’re on fairly safe ground with any herbs that are widely consumed as food (i.e. mint, fennel, turmeric).
The medical industry is all about band-aiding symptoms. They’d much rather you give a colicy baby simithicone than Gripe Water when gripe water contains food herbs that actually do work and don’t just mask an issue!
And being that practically all Functional Medicine practitioners (and yes, these are medical doctors that paid out of pocket for further medical training–b/c pharmaceutical companies won’t fund functional medicine training! http://www.functionalmedicine.org/about/whatis.asp) would agree that neither ibuprofen or acetaminophen are ideal and shouldn’t be given so quickly and arbitrarily for pain relief b/c ibuprofen is horrible for the digestive system and acetaminophen is taxing on our livers (so you give this to your child for teething pain, then they have stomach or other digestive issues eventually). I’d much rather go with natural alternatives that are more often safe and effective than otherwise!
I used Gripe Water and I used teething tablets (both Hylands and Boiron) on my babies with great success!
I think the key is that whatever you give your child, make sure you are informed and educated about it.
Just with any other drugs (yes, I’m referring to herbs as drugs because they are), you have to be cautious and educated. My daughter had terrible gas as a newborn and no amount of simethicone helped her. Upon recommendations from friends, I started using Gripe Water and WOW, it worked WONDERS! Wellements Gripe Water for Colic was the only one she liked – she loved it so much, she’d suck it straight out of the syringe and it made her tummy calm down and helped her settle down as well if she was colicky. Once she was older, we started using the Hyland Teething Tablets for teething pain or when she was just plain fussy and they worked fabulously as well. I do understand the recall, but I will say the new teething tablets without belladonna aren’t as effective in calming them down, LOL. I just wish regulations and protocols were more strict before they’d let a product go out on the market without knowing every single one is safe and accurately dosed.
Heather– agreed! I also wish they regulated natural remedies better, however, there are plenty of recalls on FDA regulated medications even with the stringent oversight!
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