How to help your baby fall asleep: the best sleep aids

Chamomile is used quite often for up to a year. This plant helps cope with inflammatory processes and colic. It has calming properties and helps strengthen the immune system. The plant can be used in the form of a decoction, tea or infusion. It is given to the child orally or added to baths when bathing. So is it possible to give chamomile to a newborn? This is discussed in detail below.

Chamomile is used quite often for up to a year.

Beneficial features

This medicinal plant includes many vitamins, organic acids, and flavonoids. It also contains essential oils and coumarins. Plant-based products have a beneficial effect on the functioning of many organs.

Chamomile decoctions and infusions can be drunk for digestive disorders, colic, increased excitability and colds.

Chamomile tea helps achieve the following effects:

• cope with spasms and colic in babies, get rid of increased gas formation;
• restore digestive functions, get rid of belching and heartburn, alleviate irritable bowel syndrome;
• normalize intestinal microflora;
• relax the child, restore normal sleep;
• relieve inflammation and eliminate cold symptoms;
• cure diseases of the respiratory system;
• reduce pain and redness during teething;
• cope with skin diseases, dermatitis, diaper rash;
• strengthen the immune system.

An important property of chamomile tea is that it copes with colic in infants. This helps make the baby calmer and eliminate discomfort.

Chamomile decoctions contain many valuable substances.

Chamomile recipes for newborns

Until a child is one year old, the functioning mechanism is poorly developed; hormone-like and enzymatic substances for digesting food are not sufficiently produced. The nature of the contractile activity of digestion in infants is very weak and at about the age of one week the child’s life, problems with the tummy arise. Colic is accompanied by bloating, increased gas production, and painful intestinal spasms. The consequence of negative factors is frequent crying of the newborn, which more often occurs at night.

You can buy ready-made chamomile tea in bags at the pharmacy.

For all children, this period passes differently, on average - about three months. It is impossible to completely get rid of this manifestation, but it is possible to alleviate the temporary adverse event and significantly reduce painful hyperthyroidism in the intestines. After consulting with a doctor, they are treated with probiotics, medications that suppress muscle spasms, light massage and approved herbs.

Pharmaceutical chamomile can be purchased in ready-made filter bags (tea bags), herbal collection of selected varieties, or collected yourself in a natural ecological zone, away from roads and dust.

Once the wound on the navel has healed, you are allowed to bathe the baby in a very weak, diluted decoction. You should constantly monitor the reaction of the skin, as well as the well-being of the child, monitoring the possible occurrence of allergic manifestations. And if this occurs, you need to immediately stop using chamomile. To exclude an allergy to chamomile grass, you need to conduct a test: moisten a cotton pad in chamomile decoction and apply it to a small area of ​​the skin, and if after half an hour a negative manifestation is not detected, then you can bathe the child in a diluted chamomile decoction.

You can brew tea from dried flowers yourself.

To brew medicinal chamomile, no special skills are required. When preparing the infusion, you need to add one and a half cups of boiling water to 50 grams of inflorescences and leave to infuse for about 30 minutes. The finished herbal medicine can be used both for drinking and bathing.

For a number of colds, chamomile infusion helps eliminate inflammation in the throat, calms breathing, and effectively helps with coughs. Used for the treatment and treatment of eye diseases in newborns. A cotton pad or swab is soaked in fresh chamomile decoction and applied to the baby's eyelid. Thermal balance must be maintained; hot or too cold decoction is not allowed.

The temperature of the water when bathing in a chamomile bath should be strictly observed; it should be 36-37 degrees Celsius and the duration of the procedure should last no more than ten minutes. Herbal chamomile baths are an effective remedy for treatment and preventive measures for diathesis, diaper rash, redness and itching on the surface of the baby’s skin. After bathing in a chamomile bath, the child is not rinsed with clean water.

At first, it is recommended to boil chamomile and use a low concentration decoction. Because infants can react acutely to the herbal component. Pour 300 milliliters of hot water into an iron bowl and add 2 tablespoons of chamomile inflorescences, leave to simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Then cool the broth and filter.

The infusion can be given to infants

Internal use of chamomile

Herbal sachets are very easy to use. This bag is poured with 200 milliliters of boiling water and covered with a lid to infuse for five to ten minutes. Ready infused tea is also diluted with water. This herbal tea is considered a good sedative and safe sleeping pill.

Medicinal chamomile tea for babies under one year of age should be diluted with water.

For infants, chamomile inflorescences for soothing purposes should be infused for about ten minutes and be sure to be diluted with water. To relieve antispasmodic syndrome and colic in newborns, they are given an infused chamomile decoction; in this case, there is no need to dilute it; a concentrated infusion is required. Sing the baby three times a day just before feeding, one tablespoon at a time. It takes not ten minutes to brew, as in the previous method, but twenty minutes.

If negative symptoms occur due to the use of chamomile, the child must be immediately taken to the pediatrician.

From this video you will learn about the healing properties of chamomile:

At what age can it be given to a child?

Opinions are divided as to whether it is possible to give chamomile to a newborn baby.

Many doctors allow the use of tea based on this plant almost from birth. It is recommended to combat colic, restore digestive functions, and normalize sleep.

However, there are many pediatricians who are sure that chamomile can cause harm. They claim that the plant is ineffective for inflammation, colic or cough, as it can cause allergies in children.

Pediatricians' opinions regarding the benefits of chamomile for children under one year of age are divided.

Therefore, young children should be given chamomile very carefully. This should be done no earlier than 1-2 months. Only at this point will the baby’s digestive system be able to adapt. Thus, the question of whether a one-month-old baby can be given chamomile should be answered in the affirmative. However, it is important to consider that the younger the child, the higher the risk of allergies.

Before giving chamomile to a young child, you should evaluate his reaction. To do this, apply a little broth to the child’s wrist or elbow. The reaction should be monitored throughout the day. If there is no itching, burning or irritation, the decoction can be used.

Chamomile should be used with great caution by nursing mothers. Biologically active components can pass into breast milk and harm infants.

Warmth against colic

Something warm will help soothe the pain in your tummy. There are three main ways to do this:

• The baby is placed on its tummy to the mother's breast. From here the baby receives the necessary portion of heat, which warms the sore spot. In addition, the baby is calmed by tactile communication with his mother - he feels the presence of a loved one.
• A salt heating pad will also help. It heats up to the optimal temperature and transfers heat to the baby. This heating pad is sold in every pharmacy.
• Warm diaper. It works on the principle of a salt heating pad. The fabric is ironed, folded and applied to the tummy.

In what cases is the decoction used?

Most often, chamomile decoction is used in the following cases:

• teething;
• intestinal cramps;
• violation of digestive functions;
• high excitability;
• colds and cough.

Colds can be easily cured with herbs. However, for complex respiratory infections, chamomile alone will not be enough.

Most often, chamomile remedies are used for the treatment and prevention of inflammatory lesions of the nasopharynx and oral cavity, which are associated with hypothermia and weakened immunity.

The decoction can be used for a runny nose, sinusitis, and laryngitis. The composition is also used for chronic tonsillitis and adenoiditis.

Chamomile is given to children for colic and colds.

Sleep and its standards

Sleep is a very important physiological process. After all, it is in their sleep that children grow. This can be explained by the fact that during sleep the body produces growth hormone - somatotropin. Its production peaks from about midnight to 3-4 am. Therefore, it is important for proper development and growth to adhere to a daily routine, which will benefit not only the child, but also rest for the parents. However, the older he gets, the less time he needs to sleep. A child aged 2 to 4 years needs 16 hours of sleep, a child aged 5 years needs 13 hours, a child aged 6-7 years needs about 12 hours, and teenagers need 9 hours of sleep.

There are a huge number of ways to quickly put your child to sleep. An important role in choosing a method suitable for your baby is played by his age.

There are a huge number of ways to quickly put your child to sleep.

First, let's look at several effective ways to put a baby to sleep.

Existing contraindications

Any herbs can provoke unwanted reactions in children. Therefore, before starting therapy, it is important to assess the baby’s sensitivity. To do this, apply a little medicinal infusion or decoction to your wrist. If a negative reaction does not appear, the composition can be used.

The main contraindications to the use of the substance include the following:

• early age;
• intolerance to plant components.

Self-medication is strictly prohibited. For children in the first year of life, chamomile-based drinks can pose a real danger and lead to the following side effects:

• vomiting - most often its appearance is due to the bitter taste of the plant;
• allergic reactions - usually occur in the form of rash, hyperemia, Quincke's edema and anaphylactic shock;
• diarrhea - due to the ability of the plant to increase the tone of the intestinal muscles.

Chamomile solutions that are prepared in cold water may contain dirt and ingredients that are dangerous for the baby.

Such products are prohibited for use on children. It is worth considering that in two-month-old infants, adverse reactions appear much more often than in children 6-8 months old.

Symptoms and causes of colic

With colic, a newborn cries, refuses to eat and presses his legs to his stomach

How can you tell if colic is the cause of your baby’s anxiety?

They can be recognized by their characteristic symptoms:

1. Loud crying. The baby, who just felt fine, suddenly begins to scream shrilly. After the tummy releases the spasm, the child calms down again.
2. The attacks begin at the same time of day and stop after 2-3 hours. If every day, say, at about 8 o’clock in the evening, the child begins to cry, and nothing can distract him, this is colic.
3. The baby refuses to eat, even if he is hungry. The baby will become capricious and nervous, and until the discomfort passes, he will not take the breast or bottle.
4. The child has bloating. The intestines, swollen with accumulated gases, will distend the newborn's tummy. Congestion can be felt if you move your palm in a circular motion over your tummy.
5. At the moment of spasm, the baby knocks and moves his legs, presses them to his stomach, and arches in pain.
6. Restless behavior is usually observed after eating.
7. Characteristic sounds are heard in the intestines, and after the gases pass, the baby calms down for a while.

Based on these characteristic signs, any, even a young and inexperienced mother, can determine that her baby is bothered by colic.

If the baby has no fever, normal bowel movements, and no rashes on the body, then everything is within normal limits. You need to try to find the cause of such severe pain and do everything to reduce its intensity.

In fact, even medical experts cannot name the obvious factors that provoke the occurrence of infant colic.

There are only hypothetical versions that can cause the disorder:

1. Lactase deficiency is a low level of lactase, which contributes to normal digestion. For this reason, a child may often burp, suffer from intestinal colic, flatulence, and bowel dysfunction.
2. Incorrect feeding - When breastfeeding, proper attachment to the breast is important. The baby must completely grasp the areola of the nipple so as not to swallow air. It is the air in the intestines that leads to pain. When bottle-feeding, you should be especially careful when choosing a bottle. For feeding, it is better to choose an anti-colic nipple, which will not allow the baby to swallow air bubbles.
3. Unsuitable baby food - if you are formula-fed, the cause of pain may be poor formula. Each organism is individual, even the smallest. Therefore, it is worth consulting with a pediatrician and replacing infant formula, for example, with one containing beneficial bacteria.
4. Mother's nutrition during breastfeeding - if the mother does not follow the diet recommended in the first months, the newborn will suffer. Mothers should not eat foods that cause gas.
5. Neuralgia - children born with hypertonicity are most often susceptible to muscle spasms, including intestines.
6. Overeating - feeding a baby every time he cries leads to a load on the gastrointestinal tract. Crying is not always caused by hunger. Maybe the baby is overheated, thirsty, or has a wet diaper. Other reasons for dissatisfaction should be ruled out.

Knowing and eliminating the causes and factors that cause intestinal flatulence in a newborn will, if not completely avoid severe suffering, then at least alleviate the condition.

Rules for using plants for children

To prepare medicinal decoctions and infusions, you need to pour boiling water over the herb. Chamomile can be bought at a pharmacy. It is sold in bulk in boxes or bags. The second option is considered more convenient. This makes it easier to maintain proportions and avoid overdose.

Raw materials need to be purchased only at the pharmacy.

Special chamomile tea in granules is considered even more harmless for children. If you follow the instructions for preparing it, you will be able to get a tasty drink that does not have a pronounced floral aroma.

However, it is important to consider that such a product contains a minimum of useful components. Another disadvantage is the presence of a sweetener in the composition.

When choosing herbal raw materials for your baby, you need to give preference to well-known brands. You should only buy herbs from a pharmacy in sealed packages. There is no point in doing this in the market.

Infants under 3 months of age are allowed to drink a maximum of a quarter glass of chamomile tea. It should be mixed in equal parts with boiled water. The dosage can be increased little by little. The amount should be increased to half a glass per day.

At 1 year old, a child can be given 1-2 glasses of the product per day. However, you should first consult with a specialist first.

Chamomile decoction must be prepared and dosed correctly.

The dosage of chamomile-based drinks may vary depending on the purpose of their use. They also affect the time of use of the product. To achieve the desired effects, you should adhere to the following rules:

• To restore your baby's sleep, he needs to be given baby tea with chamomile at night. It is best to pour the drink into a bottle. However, you can also use a spoon.
• For constipation, colic and flatulence, you should drink 1 small spoon of chamomile infusion. This must be done 20 minutes before feeding. The duration is determined by the doctor. On average it is 1-2 weeks.
• For colds, chamomile drink helps speed up recovery and significantly alleviates the condition. It should be used 2 tablespoons three times a day.
• For pain in the throat and tonsillitis, the composition is recommended for gargling. Children who do not yet know how to gargle can be given 1 small spoon of warm broth after meals.

Chamomile can also be used to combat coughs. It contains alkaloids that help combat dry coughs, clear mucus from the bronchi and soothe the nasopharynx. To do this, the composition can be used in the form of rinses and inhalations.

It is important to consider that inhalation is prohibited for children under 3 years of age. Hot water poses a great danger to them.

Chamomile for mother during lactation

The use of chamomile is recommended for various diseases. Herbal chamomile tea is often a topic of discussion among scientists about the benefits and harms of lactation. But definitely, with consultation from a specialist, chamomile helps mothers cope with some common ailments during breastfeeding:

• for colds and during lactation, most medications are prohibited and in this situation, preference is given to herbal medicine, especially chamomile;
• with increased nervous excitability and sleep disturbances, nursing mothers are advised to drink chamomile decoction before going to bed;
• When breastfeeding, mothers develop cracked nipples. A strong chamomile decoction helps speed up their healing and prevents wounds from rotting;
• if mommy has problems with the digestive tract and genitourinary system, it is also appropriate to use chamomile;
• When breastfeeding, chamomile tea affects the function of milk production. But excessive consumption of chamomile tea suppresses the mammary gland's production of breast milk. Therefore, you should adhere to the measure, it is forbidden to drink more than two cups of tea from chamomile flowers per day. Also, taking chamomile herbal tea should not exceed two weeks and the extension of the cycle should be agreed upon with the supervising doctor.

If you have problems with digestion, chamomile decoction is also useful for nursing mothers.
You should start using chamomile with a small portion, monitoring the well-being of your baby. If the baby shows the slightest reaction, then the mother should stop taking chamomile.