Marty: While it is true that fennel can be soothing, I'd side with those who say it could be risky. Giving herbs directly to baby should be likened to giving any other substance that is NOT mother's milk. A totally different story is that of homeopathic preparations, many of which are extremely dilute titrations of herbal preparations (others are from various salts, minerals, etc). I have few, if any, problems giving babies these dilute homeopathic preparations as long as they are not in an alcohol base (which most are unless you add them to warm water to evaporate the alcohol). There are some excellent colic and teething preparations out there. I used one brand H-L-N-Ds with my first son, but their products are in a lactose base and are in pill form. The company I use now (both personally and professionally) has drops that are in a non-alcoholic base and have no cow-milk products including lactose. If you want more info, please email me privately as I want to respect Lactnet's non-commerical arena. : )Chris Hafner-Eaton, PhD, MPH, CHES, IBCLC email: [log in to unmask] : ) : )HSR & Health Educational Consultant voice/fax: 541 753 7340 : ) : )LLLLLLLLLLLLL**CHANGE THE WORLD, NURTURE A CHILD!**LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL : )