Is the gripe-water for the baby ( usual situation ) or the mother?

I have good old W*******'* gripe water ( a British brand used widely in Canada
with babies, and those with various GI complaints ) containing ( in 5 ml)
sodium bicarb 50 mg., conc. dill water 0.18 ml, ginger tincture 0.06 ml and,
notably, 4.92% alcohol.  It's labelled as useful for flatulence, digestive
discomforts esp. assoc. with teething - lists a dose for newborns. (1/2 tsp up
to 4 doses/day ) and for 1-6 mo (1 tsp. up to 4X/day .)  The alcohol in this
brand would probably "calm" the baby quite a bit!

In a number of cultures, the mother takes the herbal remedy with the idea that
it will pass through the milk to baby and have the desired effect.  I can only
marvel at the wisdom of such an approach and the difficulties that are side-
stepped.

For young babies, direct ingestion of substances that are not of human milk
introduces some degree of risk into what is a generally risk-free situation.
There needs to be a very good reason to give a baby under 6 months meds,
foods, juice, ABM, etc...Why should herbal preparations be considered
differently?  Maybe a better risk:benefit ratio than meds, maybe not.

I would suggest the mom try taking the gripe water herself rather than feeding
it to the baby.  If the mom is really intent on trying out the gripe water,
this is relatively risk-free and a logical first step - and it might just help
settle her baby.  Caraway and dill are both soothing to the GI tract, relieve
gas, etc. and probably enter breastmilk to some extent ( not that anyone has
put a number on this). Mom might see some increase in milk supply from dill
and caraway (lactogenic reputations), which she may or may not find a good
thing.

Sheila Humphrey
Minnesota - snow tonight