Read more. Infacol and gripe water are both used to relieve the symptoms of colic in babies. Some parents swear by one and others are fans of the other — some people use both at the same…but should they? Here we outline what infacol and gripe water are, their effectiveness at relieving colic, other ways to treat colic and steps to help prevent colic in the first place. Infacol is a medicine used for relieving colic and other stomach-related symptoms in infants.
Infacol helps relieve gut spasms which can cause pain, discomfort, gas and bloating in the tummy. Infacol contains simethicone, a type of medicine called an antiflatulent. It works by helping to break down gas bubbles that are trapped in the intestine. It can be given from birth and has an orange flavour.
Gripe water is a syrup that has been used for generations to cure colic in infants and children. It was the first thing we tried, and we used it religiously before every feed for two months. Did it help? I don't know. We spoke to our GP about it and she said that its real value is in calming the parents down as they believe they are doing something to help.
She seemed very dismissive of it. We stopped using it after about eight weeks and I can't say that it made any difference when we gave it up. But by then, she was bigger and found burping easier.
So in that sense, I guess it had a soothing effect and was of some benefit. As for Gripe Water - people have sworn by this for years. We only tried it a few times, mostly after she'd eaten and was screaming with wind, and again, it had the magical effect of distracting her for a few minutes. But otherwise, I think it did less than Infacol. It's also a pain in the arse to administer as it doesn't come with any kind of dropper device so you have to try to give it to the baby on a spoon, but it's ridiculously sticky and goes everywhere.
In the good old days when we were kids it had alcohol in it, and so it basically got your baby so drunk she feel asleep. Not sure why they had to take the alcohol out but probably something to do with the WHO or the EU spoiling everyone's fun. Only kidding. Anyway I actually have half a bottle of it left so that shows you how little use it was for us. If you have a baby with colic, I think both Gripe Water and Infacol are worth a try, but I do think what's more important is trying to work out why your baby is crying.
If it's this 'period of purple crying' thing, then these are unlikely to have any effect, and really, you just have to ride it out although I will say that not enough is said about overstimulating babies - why don't they warn you that tiny babies' brains can hardly cope with anything?!
If I run out of dentinox, I have a bottle of gripewater just in case. Again I add gripe water to the bottles.
My LO is always calmer when I have added them to bottles, as she doesnt spit it out and it goes down. I give infacol during a feed then gripe water after if he is struggling to bring his wind up, i bought a syringe from boots for 70p and use this to give to him.
I also put gripe water on his dummy if he is a bit windy during feeds, seems to settle him really well. Yes I use both, he is worse at getting his wind up at night so I give him gripe water after his two evening feeds, but use the infacol before every feed. I have been using a little plastic spoon, some does get spilled but he loves the taste so at least he doesn't spit it out! But then again, he spits them out of his mouth so he's not getting the full dosage anyway!!
0コメント