| |  | | Is Chamomile Safe for Infant Colic?
Answered by: Susan Eagles
Question from: Tony Alvarado
Posted on: October 17, 2004
Coming from a Mexican background, my mother and mother-in-law have recommended using Chamomille(Manzanilla) to help my two month old daughter and her colic. I see in one of your postings that you haven’t heard of any issues with giving an infant chamomile. My concern is that chamomile may contain caffeine or some other type of stimulant that I don’t want to introduce to my child’s system just yet. Does it contain any type of stimulant? I am sure that you also would recommend fresh chamomile but do you see any issue with using the dried variety that can be purchased at the local grocery store?
Chamomile flowers do not contain caffeine or any stimulant. Chamomile is antispasmodic and a mild sedative that has been safely used for infant colic for many generations in many cultures. Please see our website at www.richters.com for possible causes of colic, tea making directions and infant doses. Choose "Q&A" from the main menu, then enter "colic" for the search. The item "Infant Colic" lists possible causes for colic.
Thomas Bartram in "Bartram’s Encyclopedia of herbal Medicine" (available at Richters), recommends Roman chamomile (Anthemis nobilis or Chamaemelum nobile) for infant colic. He also identifies this variety as the Spanish manzanilla.
I recommend that you purchase the dried flowers from a good health food store that purchases herbs from a reputable source. They should be able to assure you that their herbs are fresh and not contaminated with other plant matter or with chemical sprays.
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