Body, Mind & Spirit

My 5 1/2 month old is teething and needs some comfort especially at night so I have been giving him some camomile.  But I’m not sure how much to give him.  He is only breastfeeding and I don’t how much extra liquid to give him and when so not interfer with feedings.  Also what about letting him chew on the tea bag?

I will direct this post to Mary Lou, but until then, I’d just remind you that a great way for him to get any herbal benefits are through YOUR breast milk. So be sure to drink lots of chamomile yourself.  I’m not sure about the tea bag. Seems like little emerging teeth would rip right through it and you’d have pieces all in his mouth.  I’m not sure if it’s Mary Lou who recommends this, but some babies really like chewing on a licorice stick (meaning the dried root of the plant). It’s a little sweet and great for gnawing!

Hi, Jackie. 

If you are nursing your baby on demand, you really can’t "displace" breastmilk with chamommile.  Your baby will absorb the chamommile tea quickly, her/his body won’t treat it as a food.  Just nurse the baby every time you get hunger cues and you don’t need to worry about displacing calories with tea. 

I recommend 1 to 2 ounces of chamommile tea up to 5 times a day for a fussy or congested baby.  Chewing on the teabag seems like a bad idea.  As AmyLee mentioned, the baby could break through the teabag and end up choking on the flowers.  You could soak washcloths in chamommile and let a teething baby chew on those.  

Good luck,

Mary Lou 

Thanks for the info.  The chamomile seems to really help fussiness and he likes to drink it too.  Does the strength of the brewed tea matter?

What about cinnamon tea for colds?  Someone recommended that but I didn’t know if it was ok for babies.

~jackie