Most newborns experience colic and other digestive problems due solely to functional immaturity of the intestines. One of the most effective natural remedies to solve colic problems is fennel tea for newborns.
Fennel for newborns is prepared different ways, the most common method is infusion in boiling water. It is necessary to measure out 1 teaspoon of seeds (2-3 grams), lightly crush them in a mortar or using a heavy rolling pin and pour one glass of boiling water. After an hour, the infusion should be filtered through cheesecloth and slightly diluted with clean boiled water, bringing the volume of liquid to 200 ml.
About others healthy drinks for baby:
It is recommended to give the resulting drink to the child before meals, starting with one teaspoon per day. In the absence of an allergic reaction or digestive disorders (constipation/diarrhea), within 5–6 days after starting to take the infusion, you can gradually increase the daily amount of the product to 3–6 teaspoons. The newborn should receive 1-2 tablespoons of tea immediately before feeding at approximately the same time.
Due to its safety, the total time of use of the drug is practically unlimited: it is used from the onset of colic until its completion at the age of 3–5 months.
The drink has a faint anise smell and a neutral taste - giving a newborn a drink will not be difficult.
HiPP fennel tea granules
The total daily dose for a child aged 1 week to 3 months can be 50–100 ml. The drink should be consumed in small portions at the same time before each feeding. It is better to give tea to breastfed newborns from a spoon, and to bottle-fed babies - from a bottle. Mixing the drug with milk is not recommended.
Older children are allowed to increase the amount of drink consumed after consulting with a pediatrician.
Most parents and specialists note the positive effect of taking HiPP tea, which is expressed in the following:
- rapid onset of relief;
- reduction in the frequency and intensity of spasms during colic;
- relieving symptoms of flatulence in a child;
- normalization of stool;
- improvement of the child's general condition.
Side effects and overdose
Fennel tea for newborns is an absolutely safe remedy. However, like any herbal drug, it can cause adverse reactions in the form of allergic skin rashes, diarrhea, and vomiting. More often allergies small child develops gradually and can appear only 5–6 days after starting to take the drink. Therefore, the first few days, the dosage of tea should be minimal. If any of the listed symptoms are detected in a child, drinking tea should be stopped immediately and the pediatrician should be informed.
You should not give the drug to infants with serious disorders of the central nervous system and combine it with other medications for intestinal colic.
Cases of overdose have not been recorded to date, but you should not exceed the daily dose of the drug and give it uncontrollably.
It should be remembered that fennel, despite its safety, is a medicinal product and should be used only after consultation with a pediatrician.
Useful properties of fennel Fennel is a perennial medicinal plant
- , which looks like dill. Most of the active ingredients are concentrated in the fruits. They contain a whole complex of vitamins and minerals, essential oils, rutin, glycosides and flavonoids. Thanks to their unique composition, fennel seeds have a whole range of beneficial properties:
- relieve spasm of intestinal smooth muscles;
- eliminate pain from infant colic;
- improve digestion and appetite;
- suppress increased gas formation;
The umbrella plant strengthens the immune system, helps relieve skin rashes and has a mild calming effect. Fennel is absolutely safe and has virtually no contraindications for use.
A drink from the seeds can be given to infants from the age of 1–2 weeks after consultation with a pediatrician. As a rule, it is during this period that the first intestinal colic begins.
Relieving painful symptoms of intestinal spasms in a child should be approached comprehensively. To enhance the effectiveness of dill water, you should follow a number of simple rules:
- place the baby on the tummy more often;
- massage the child’s abdomen in a clockwise direction several times a day;
- during colic, apply a warm diaper to the intestinal area and do the “bicycle” exercise;
- follow the diet of a nursing mother.
During breastfeeding Women are also recommended to drink fennel seed tea. His useful material increase lactation and are partially transmitted to the baby along with mother’s milk, alleviating the baby’s condition.
Reviews from forums
Description:
- Fennel is a perennial plant that resembles dill.
- Fennel is popularly known as sweet dill.
- The plant belongs to the celery family.
- The stem and leaves have a bluish coating.
- Fennel is known as a medicinal plant.
There are two main varieties of fennel:
- Ordinary(medicinal) – used for medicinal purposes. Tea, decoctions, and infusions are prepared from fruits, roots, leaves and seeds.
- Vegetable– widely used in cooking as a spice. It is added to salads, soups and meat.
Beneficial features:
- Fennel has been used for a long time folk medicine for the treatment of newborns and children.
- Use it in the form of tea or decoction, it has a positive effect on nervous system and digestive tract.
- In ancient times, fennel was considered a sacred herb, because it could cure many ailments: colic, poor appetite.
- Fennel tea acts as an analgesic, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, sedative and laxative.
- Helps fight insomnia in children and calms the nervous system.
Vacation conditions
- with fennel is sold in pharmacies.
- It is available without a prescription.
- Cost from 80 rubles per package of 200 g.
Chemical composition of fennel
Item name | Amount, mg per 100 g |
Minerals | |
950 | |
Sodium | 90 |
475 | |
392 | |
1520 | |
4,2 | |
19,3 | |
1,2 | |
Vitamins | |
0,04 | |
19 | |
Vitamin PP | 4,3 |
Vitamin B 1 | 0,34 |
Vitamin B 2 | 0,45 |
Vitamin B 6 | 0,27 |
Nutritional value, g per 100 g of fennel | |
16,0 | |
15,9 | |
Carbohydrates | 11,7 |
Alimentary fiber | 38,7 |
Ash | 8,7 |
Water | 9,1 |
Fennel has expectorant, antispasmodic, mild laxative and analgesic properties.
The benefits of minerals and vitamins that are part of fennel:
- Sodium promotes normal growth and development of all organs and the body. Normalizes water balance, participates in the process of hematopoiesis.
- Potassium. Important for good brain and cardiovascular system function, normalizes blood clotting.
- Magnesium regulates metabolic processes in the body; in the absence of magnesium, cells, tissues and organs will cease to function normally. In the absence of magnesium, the baby suffers from insomnia, constipation, sometimes muscle spasms appear, and he becomes very nervous and irritable.
- Calcium necessary for every newborn organism. Without calcium, normal development of the bone skeleton is impossible; calcium takes part in the formation and structure of bone tissue.
- Phosphorus and calcium act together. If there is a deficiency of phosphorus in the body, calcium will be poorly absorbed. Phosphorus is also involved in the process of cell division.
- Zinc necessary for blood, promotes rapid regeneration of damaged tissues and organs. Zinc regulates the functioning of the sebaceous and sweat glands.
- Iron necessary for hemoglobin; in the absence of iron, iron deficiency anemia develops. The baby becomes lethargic, sleepy and feels constant fatigue. Iron ensures normal development of the nervous system, normalizes thyroid function, and helps improve immunity.
- Vitamin A necessary for the body to restore and heal wounds. Its benefits for vision are also widely known.
- necessary to normalize metabolism and digestion. B vitamins are essential for newborns and babies whose digestive system is just beginning to develop.
- Vitamin C necessary to maintain immunity, protects the body from infections and diseases, helps to recover from them.
Benefits and harms
Indications for use:
- Cough.
- Headache.
- Gastrointestinal spasm.
- Colic in newborns.
- For painful periods.
- To relieve constipation and nausea.
Contraindications
Fennel tea is contraindicated for those who have an individual intolerance to fennel or its constituent components.
Special instructions for use
Fennel tea is a harmless product, so it can be consumed and is not contraindicated. Only those who suffer from intestinal disorders (diarrhea) should be careful with fennel.
Fennel does not need to be boiled or infused, but simply brewed like regular tea.
Uses of fennel tea
For a newborn
Newborns use fennel tea as an alternative to dill water. To prepare tea you need:
- Fennel seeds – 1 tbsp.
- Water – 0.5 l.
How to brew:
- Bring the water to a boil.
- Place fennel seeds in water.
- Boil for 5 minutes, remove from heat.
- Let it brew for 5-7 minutes, strain.
Take the tea warm daily norm for a newborn should not exceed 50 ml. For older babies (after 3 months), the dose can be increased to 80-90 ml per day. This tea will help get rid of colic, calm the baby and eliminate insomnia.
When coughing
You need to take:
- Fennel seeds and leaves - 1 tsp each.
- Water – 300 ml.
Preparation:
- Boil the leaves and seeds with water.
- Let simmer for 3-5 minutes.
- Then remove from heat and leave for 10 minutes.
- Divide the tea into 2 doses. Drink before meals. The course of treatment is 7-10 days.
Tea prepared according to this recipe will perfectly eliminate not only a cough, but also help with menstrual pain.
In folk medicine, fennel is one of the most common plants. The use of drugs based on it is recommended for weight loss, treatment of neurasthenia, bronchial asthma and other ailments. Sweet dill is indispensable in caring for babies; “dill water” or tea, decoction, or fennel infusion can relieve unpleasant symptoms of flatulence and colic.
Fennel in the treatment of flatulence in newborns
Colic, expressed in spasms, increased gas formation, bloating, can be observed during the adaptation period digestive system baby. To calm the baby and relieve him of pain, parents should use a proven recipe. Dill water based on fennel is natural remedy, which was used by our grandmothers. Fennel improves intestinal motility. A mixture made from fennel helps in the complex treatment of colic problems.
The essential oils contained in dill reduce bloating. In addition, fennel herb has antibacterial, antifungal and soothing effects. It relieves spasms of the intestinal muscles, as a result of which the baby will no longer suffer from increased flatulence.
Dill water accelerates the adaptation of the gastrointestinal tract to new conditions. This is an excellent alternative to pharmaceutical remedies for colic and insomnia. After drinking dill tea or a fennel-based drink, the baby will quickly fall asleep.
How to use fennel for colic
Doctors often recommend taking fennel-based tea. The product allows you to increase the production of breast milk and improve lactation. Fennel can be consumed by pregnant women in small quantities for digestive problems or nervous tension. However, you should always take into account individual intolerance to the components of the plant, including when treating colic.
You can prepare an infusion of fennel yourself using pharmacy raw materials. To do this, pour a teaspoon of chopped dill fruits into a glass of boiling water and infuse the liquid for half an hour. After straining, the cooled dill water can be given to the baby from a bottle or using a spoon. It is best to give an infusion of fennel fruits between feedings, because the remedy reduces appetite. It is enough to consume one tablespoon of the drug per day to notice a positive effect.
To save time, you can use medicines made from fennel. This could be ready-made tea with pharmaceutical dill, or Plantex. Such preparations do not require infusion or straining; they are made taking into account the dosage.
Fennel can not only be given to drink for colic, but also dill water can be used to treat skin inflammation and diaper rash. For these purposes, fennel infusion is added to bathing water, and areas with rashes are wiped with cotton pads soaked in dill water.
Almost every new mother faces such a problem as intestinal colic in her child. This condition is primarily associated with the characteristics of the gastrointestinal tract of infants and their body’s adaptation to independent digestion of food. According to pediatricians, the digestive system of newborn babies is characterized by “sterility” due to the fact that colonies of lacto- and bifidobacteria, necessary for proper digestion of food, gradually populate the intestines. And it happens that their place is “taken” by opportunistic microorganisms that interfere with the normal processing of food. As a result, the baby experiences bloating and intestinal colic, which leads to such unpleasant symptoms as crying, anxiety and lack of appetite. In such a situation, naturally, every mother strives to help her baby in different ways.
Despite the fact that the pharmaceutical market is currently represented by many different medications that promise to relieve babies from increased gas formation and intestinal colic, many mothers still prefer to use more natural medications that do not contain chemical additives and artificial ingredients. Such remedies include fennel tea for newborns, which is also called dill water. We suggest we talk about the features of using this product, as well as how to brew fennel for newborns.
Indications for use of fennel for newborns
The main indication for the use of this remedy is dysfunction of the baby’s digestive system, namely bloating and intestinal colic. Fennel tea for newborns effectively eliminates these manifestations and relieves the discomfort they cause. In addition, fennel for newborns has a positive effect on the development of the baby’s immunity, and also improves the functioning of his nervous system. And thanks to the content of a large amount of vitamin C, fennel promotes the absorption of such an important trace element as calcium by the child’s body.
Currently, many special medicines for colic in infants are produced based on pharmaceutical dill (for example, Plantex). At the same time, you can prepare such a medicinal drink yourself by purchasing fennel seeds at any pharmacy.
How to brew fennel for newborns?
Let's look at how to make fennel tea for a baby. So, to obtain this drink you will need fennel seeds (dill), which must be crushed and poured with boiling water at the rate of 2-3 grams per 1 glass of water. After this, the water should be allowed to steep for at least half an hour, and then it should be filtered.
According to reviews of fennel for newborns from experienced mothers, medicinal tea can also be prepared from fennel essential oil. To do this, you need to dilute 0.05 g of ether in one liter of boiled water. The resulting liquid can be stored for up to 1 month.
If it is not possible to buy fennel, mom can always replace it with regular dill. The recipe for such a drink made from fresh herbs is quite simple: you need to pour 1 spoon of chopped dill with 0.5 cups of boiling water. After this, the water should sit for 1 hour and then strain.
If mom doesn’t have time to prepare a fennel drink, she can buy it at the pharmacy in ready-made form. It is important to pay attention to the expiration date of such medicine.
How to give fennel tea to a baby?
According to doctors, fennel can be used as early as 2 weeks of a baby’s life. To do this, 1 teaspoon of tea should be diluted in breast milk or infant formula and offered to the child to drink before feeding. Also, the mother can carefully inject it into the little one’s cheek using a syringe without a needle. If this drink If the baby takes it for the first time, it is better to start with 2 teaspoons per day, gradually increasing its dosage to 5-6 spoons.
Parents need to carefully monitor the baby's reaction to this remedy, and if there are no signs of intolerance, the use of fennel tea for newborns can be continued.
Contraindications to the use of fennel for newborns
In general, fennel tea is a fairly effective and safe remedy, which in most cases is ideal for babies in the first months of life. But it happens that its use does not always give the expected result: tea either does not help the child get rid of the bloating that is tormenting him, or it helps, but not for long. In addition, this remedy in some situations can even have a negative impact on the baby’s well-being. So, according to reviews of fennel for newborns, this drug can sometimes cause various allergic manifestations in infants: rash, hives, abdominal pain, shortness of breath and even photodermatitis. Although, according to pediatricians, the described adverse reactions are observed very rarely.
In any case, fennel tea has long established itself as a effective remedy for colic and abdominal pain in newborns. In addition, the mother can use it herself, since it improves digestion, stimulates lactation, and also has a mild sedative effect.
Of course, colic does not last forever. Often, by 3-4 months of a child’s life, they stop, and the functioning of his digestive system is successfully improved. Until that time, fennel tea will be an excellent help in the fight against such an unpleasant phenomenon that haunts neither the baby nor his parents.
Even the strongest and healthiest babies are not immune to digestive problems that lead to the development of colic in the first months of life. Fennel for newborns is a real salvation and safe " ambulance». Natural product is able to quickly relieve unpleasant symptoms, alleviating the child’s condition. Of course, it will not speed up the development of all processes in the digestive tract and the formation of beneficial microflora, but in combination with a massage it will quickly calm the baby. You just need to learn how to brew the product and give it to your baby so that allergies or other unpleasant consequences do not occur.
Mechanism of action of the product and expected effect
Fennel is one of the relatives of the most common dill. All its parts, which have a pleasant spicy aroma, are suitable for eating and preparing medicinal decoctions. The product contains numerous vitamins, mineral components, glycosides and essential oils.
The most impressive content of substances necessary to normalize the child’s condition is found in the dried seeds, roots and grass of the plant. It is from them that it is best to prepare a decoction, infusion or tea for newborns. At the same time, you can use essential oil, which is added to the bath when bathing infants. This helps to relax the baby and prevent diaper rash.
During therapy, which is based on children's fennel tea, the following occurs:
- The spasm of the smooth muscles of the intestine, which causes severe pain, is relieved.
- Increased gas formation is eliminated. Gas bubbles burst and are eliminated naturally.
- The process of food digestion is normalized.
At the same time, the fennel drink relieves tension, calms the nervous system, and strengthens the baby’s immune defense. But, despite such pronounced positive results However, it is better to coordinate such treatment with your local pediatrician.
Treatment rules and drink recipes
Although fennel for newborns is considered a safe therapy option, it must be introduced into the toddler’s diet very carefully. In case of overdose, the baby may develop an allergic reaction in the form of an itchy rash. The product can be given to children starting from the second week of their life, limiting the first dose to half a teaspoon. The dose is gradually increased, reaching 3 teaspoons per day (1 before feeding).
Tip: Fennel is not a preventative, so you should not give it to a child who does not suffer from colic. In some cases, this may not lead to negative consequences, but we cannot exclude the possibility of a kind of addiction to the product, due to which the child’s digestion will be carried out without problems only if the tea continues to be consumed.
Brewing the product is very simple, you just need to follow one of the following schemes:
- Tea. Take 2-3 g of fennel seeds, pound them in a mortar until a homogeneous powder is obtained (you can grind them in a coffee grinder) and pour a glass of boiling water. Infuse the product for 30-60 minutes, then strain through double gauze. Add a little boiled water at room temperature so that you end up with a whole glass again.
- Decoction.
- Finely chop 5 g of fennel roots (fruits) and pour a glass of boiling water. Then simmer over medium heat for 2 minutes and leave covered for another 10 minutes. Next, filter the drink and cool to the desired temperature.
- Infusion. Chop the fennel herb and take one tablespoon. Pour half a glass of boiling water over it, leave for an hour, then strain and can give to the baby.
Dill water. Despite its name, it is prepared from fennel essential oil. When converting milliliters into drops, you can seriously confuse the dosages, so it is better to initially purchase the product in finished form and store it in the refrigerator for a month. In general, to prepare the composition, use 0.05 g of essential oil, which is diluted in a liter of cooled boiled water.
It happens that the allergic response from the use of fennel appears only 4-5 days after the start of therapy.
Today, you don’t have to bother with preparing the listed drinks; you can simply purchase ready-made children’s tea or powder for preparing a medicinal solution. Products under the Hipp, Humana, and Bebivita trademarks have earned the greatest popularity and trust among mothers. Instructions for preparing the compositions are on the packaging itself. Most often, recommendations boil down to brewing a teaspoon or bag of the product in a glass of boiling water, leaving for 15-20 minutes and cooling to room temperature. The main thing is to give preference to drugs without added sugar or its analogues.
To achieve the maximum effect from treating colic, drinking fennel drinks is recommended to be combined with soothing baths with the addition of the same plant. In this case, the main component can be combined with other medicinal decoctions (chamomile, licorice, marshmallow root, wheatgrass, thyme, oregano). It is not necessary to carry out the manipulation daily; 1-2 times a week will be quite enough. The main thing is to adhere to basic technical recommendations. Take a tablespoon of all the selected ingredients, pour them into one container and pour a liter of boiling water. After a couple of hours, filter the composition and add its liquid part to the water.
All fennel products, except dill water, should be given to the newborn at fresh. The drink left over after feeding the baby can be consumed by the mother. This will allow her to improve her digestion and additionally provide the baby with useful components through breastfeeding.