One of the ingredients of gripe water seems to be sodium bicarbonate...baking
soda.  Before we had this magic mixture, families years ago would make their
own gripe water...of course now we would all rather pay $3 an ounce for this
elixir.  If you'all look on a box of baking soda it states it relieves
heartburn, indigestion, etc.  But the handy thing is you can also bake with it.  It
costs less than a $1.00 a pound and you can buy it at the grocery store.
Although there are cautions regarding its use listed on the package.

I looked at the Baby's Bliss website.  And I came away feeling very troubled
about the direction we seem to be going as a profession.  Here is a product
stating it is recommended by pediatricians and lactation consultants (which
obviously from the posts on lactnet many LC's do recommend this product).  I look
at the label with the little baby on it--how cute just like the Gerber baby.
I am stunned by how easy it is to market this product through lactation
consultants.  Yet, we would criticize the medical profession for letting the infant
formula industry do virtually the same thing.

This product states that this product can be used with newborns.  The health
benefits of exclusive breastfeeding over mixed breastfeeding are known quite
well.  The use of this product in the newborn period seems containdicted if we
want to preserve exclusivity.  (One teaspoon given to a newborn whose stomach
is the size of a walnut is quite alot)  I don't think we would encourage a
mother to mix baking soda and water to give to her baby.  Yet somehow this
product because it is labeled and marketed as an over the counter remedy confers a
high level of safety?  What studies were done on this product?

Baby's Bliss states sugar free--I guess fructose isn't a sugar?  So is this
remedy a food? a supplement? a drug?  Technically, I would think it is a food
because it is made from items we call foods.  Then the WHO Code should apply to
this product.
Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC

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