Chamomile for newborns: can it be given or could it harm them?
Many parents use chamomile for babies in their bottles, with the sole purpose of helping them to relax and sleep better. Furthermore, chamomile should also be used to reduce the always frequent evening colic in children. a "safe habit for the health of children and what precautions to take to avoid the greatest risks. Before continuing, here is a video to deepen the theme of "feeding children."
See also
Can you get pregnant with the birth control pill?
Chamomile for newborns: main properties
Often when children are small, using plants, herbs, infusions, decoctions can be a "valid idea to make up for small daily ailments. Plants such as chamomile in most cases have almost no or negligible side effects. In the specific case of very young children, however, chamomile can be administered following very specific rules that we will tell you in this article.
Chamomile is commonly known for its antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, antidiarrheal, angiogenic, anticarcinogenic, hepatoprotective and antidiabetic properties. In addition, it is useful for osteoarthritis, ulcerative colitis, premenstrual syndrome and gastrointestinal disorders.
After this overview, let's see how it can be used in the case of newborns.
How to prepare and use chamomile tea for newborns
Chamomile can be given to newborns, but how and how is it prepared? Let's see together.
To prepare the chamomile tea to drink, you must first get the chamomile flowers from a herbalist's shop. Then follow these steps.
- Heat the water until it just begins to boil.
- Put 2 teaspoons of flowers in a cup of hot, but not boiling water for 3-5 minutes, cover and let sit
- Before drinking, filter the infusion.
This preparation has the main purpose of being drunk, but once the chamomile has cooled it can be used in other ways.
- Its antimicrobial power makes it perfect to be used to clean abrasions and small wounds.
- The calming effect makes this "potion" useful for making compresses for the eyes, both to cleanse them and to relieve them in the case of redness due to fatigue, too much sun, inflammation, or when, upon awakening, the eyelashes are glued to cause of tear residues.
To use the chamomile infusion in the eye area, use cotton pads. Wet each disk in the now cold chamomile tea, let the child lie down and place both discs on the closed eyes. After a few minutes, remove everything.
Chamomile for newborns: are there any real risks?
Although at first glance chamomile may seem absolutely harmless, what we often forget to consider is the specific weight of the child which, being absolutely different from ours, can react differently to the dose of infusion.
For this reason, when we decide to give a chamomile infusion to a child, we must make sure that we use chamomile flowers without pesticides and grown in uncontaminated areas, precisely to avoid introducing harmful substances into the children's body.
Sometimes the herbs used for the infusions can have residues of heavy materials (aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead and mercury), even if minimal, their concentration in the infusions can have a greater impact on the child's body.
Another of the risks associated with chamomile for infants lies in possible allergic reactions, which, although moderate, have been observed above all in subjects allergic to ragweed. The main symptoms would be reduced to breathing difficulties, but there is nothing to exclude. For this reason, if there are cases of allergy in the family, it may be appropriate to be careful to administer chamomile, like other herbal infusions, and keep under I check the child the first few times he is given these substances to drink.
Some parents have noticed an opposite effect of chamomile tea on their children. In the sense that instead of favoring a state of calm and relaxation, the child appeared agitated, manifesting arousal behavior, which can occur especially when the chamomile is left to infuse for a long time.
The suggestion remains to observe the child and his behavior, keeping him monitored.
Avoid sugaring chamomile tea, especially since if the goal is to make your baby fall asleep, the sugar could have the totally opposite effect.
Remember that taste is a matter of habit and infusions can be drunk even without sweeteners, or sweetened very little. In children, sugar should never be used (in reality it would be ideal to do so also for adults). If you can accustom children to simple and low-sugar flavors, it will benefit their health as children and adults.
Finally, we want to address the issue of soluble chamomile, which is already sweetened to begin with, which is why it should not be given to newborns at all, and it would be better not to administer it even to small children. In any case, it should absolutely not be used to relieve the eyes or cleanse wounds, because sugar nourishes the bacteria and you will get the opposite effect to the desired one.
Avoid chamomile tea in infants up to 6 months
One of the main beneficial effects of chamomile is that it relaxes the muscles and has a mild relaxing effect in the case of cramps in the digestive tract. This action is assisted by the warm and beneficial warmth of the drink. This explains why chamomile is one of the recommended plants in the case of colic typical of newborns. Ask your pediatrician for advice, but in some cases you can associate the action of chamomile with that of fennel, to get rid of gaseous colic, or use lemon balm and passion flower which promote sleep and rest.
However, as already mentioned at the beginning, chamomile should not be given to infants to drink at least until the 6th month of life. During this whole period, infants have to eat only and exclusively mother's milk, the only nourishment suitable for the development of their organism.
Even for all those children who are not breastfed, but take a bottle, the administration of chamomile should be avoided. In general, infants up to 6 months should not be given other liquids other than breast milk or infant formula specific for them, prepared according to precise procedures to avoid bacterial risks.
... and herbal teas? Some parents are attracted by the temptation to prepare a herbal tea or an infusion based on fruit, vegetables or herbs, to give beneficial effects to their child. But are they safe to give to the baby? The guidelines of the Italian Society of Pediatrics speak for themselves: it is advisable not to offer liquids other than breast milk to infants under the age of six months who are breast-fed; so water, herbal teas and even chamomile will not do well.
