What You Need to Know About Chamomile Tea for Babies
For adults, a cup of chamomile tea is the perfect aid for relaxation after an exhausting day. This type of tea also helps sleepless nights. It soothes the insides of those who drink it making it a popular tea drink all over the world. As popular as it is for adults, chamomile tea is also a famous soothing drink for babies six months and older.
Chamomile is a herb that works as a prevention of gas formation. The herb relaxes the small muscles responsible for bowel movement. This ability of the herb makes it ideal for soothing uncomfortable and fussy babies. More remarkably, chamomile teas for babies are known for their calming properties. Other known teas that help soothe babies are peppermint, fennel, and dill.
Can chamomile help with colic?
In addition to being a soothing drink for babies, chamomile teas work as a mild sedative too. This is one of the reasons why adults love drinking it before going to sleep. This herb is also good for babies who experience colic, which is probably the most common reason for crying babies and sleepless nights for both the baby and the parents.
As mentioned, chamomile tea is good for babies six months and older after the baby has started weaning. When you start giving your babies other foods aside from breast milk and formula milk, chamomile milk can also be given. To make chamomile milk simply add chamomile tea to breast milk, formula, or cow’s milk.
How to make chamomile milk for your baby:
To make chamomile tea, start by boiling water then add chamomile flowers or tea bags. Let it steep for 5 minutes then strain. Chamomile tea is usually taken without a sweetener but if you want to sweeten it a little, we recommend that you use either honey or brown sugar. You can give chamomile tea to your baby up to 3 times a day, it is not recommended to exceed that.
When giving chamomile tea to babies, always remember that too much of anything is bad. Be sure to ask your doctor how much chamomile tea is safe for your baby. Giving your baby chamomile tea excessively is not recommended, it’s best to let the baby drink it in small amounts. Maybe start with around half an ounce of tea. When the baby accepts it well, you can increase the amount to one ounce every time your baby is irritated with colic. The maximum recommended amount of herbal teas, especially chamomile tea a baby can have in a single dose is about five ounces. However, the best way to avoid any side effects is by keeping it small, around two to three ounces per dose, per 24 hours.
Aside from colic and irritation, chamomile teas help in other baby problems too. Here are some of the other benefits of chamomile tea.
Better sleeping. Because chamomile is a natural relaxant, babies who drink chamomile tea could have an improved quality of sleep.
Colds. Aside from helping with the bowel movement of babies, chamomile also helps in
relieving discomfort in the upper respiratory due to colds and coughs. This tea helps babies to breathe easily.
Calms inflammation. Chamomile contains antioxidants that help reduce any form of inflammation. Since diaper rashes are somewhat common in babies, chamomile tea is a good remedy for it. Also, it helps reduce the irritation in your baby’s gums during teething.
Other medical conditions. Aside from those mentioned above, chamomile tea also helps in minimizing the intensity of some conditions of the gastrointestinal tract like IBS or irritable bowel syndrome and GER or gastroesophageal reflux.
Buying and Preparing Chamolie tea for my baby?
Chamomile teas give somewhat the same benefits to adults and babies but since babies are more sensitive, you have to be more considerate of where you buy your chamomile products or what kind of chamomile products you buy for your baby’s consumption. We recommend that you try to find the actual chamomile flower where possible, this is the purest form. If not tea bags are the second best option, but read the box carefully to check there is nothing else added that could irritate your baby.
When you purchase chamomile tea for your little one, you have to consider various things. First is that you need to check the reputation of the store as well as the brand of the tea you are about to purchase. Established brands are well-known for a reason. Next is to choose tea bags only. Purchasing tea bags ensures you lesser contamination of the tea since it is packed in a single packaging. Next thing to consider when buying is making sure that it is pure chamomile tea. Some manufacturers put more than one herb and something branded as a chamomile tea could have other herbs such as peppermint, tea leaves, rooibos leaves, or lavender. When introducing new foods to a baby it’s always best to use single ingredient products, that way you can check for allergic reactions and you will know what is tolerated and what to avoid in the future if there is a reaction. So it is best to avoid products that have multiple ingredients while introducing new foods to your baby.
After buying chamomile tea for your baby, you will need to prepare it correctly. It’s quite easy though. Just boil water, place the flower or tea bag in a drinking cup and then add the boiled water and let it sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the flower or tea bag and let the tea water cool down. You can then give the tea to your baby in small sips or with a spoon. Don’t forget the amount your baby should have for a day.
- 2-3 ounces per serving
- max 3 servings per 24 hours
Can Chamolie tea harm my baby?
Chamomile teas are indeed beneficial and good for babies. But do they have any side effects? Reports show a few side effects related to chamomile tea, but anyone who is allergic to ragweed
could have trouble with it. If you observe any allergic reactions, there are other herbal remedies for your fussy baby.
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