Jay, I'm not Hispanic either, but also work in a community where the population is roughly 60% Hispanic, the rest other. I don't know of all of the "traditional" teas; did you ask her to name it? I did recently post an inquiry on one that was given to a baby; it was called "yerba buena" (the good weed), and was given to calm and put to sleep a fussy baby. The leaf is a mint that grows wild in our area, and I am sure that each area has its own indigenous plants that women have put to similar use. My partial answer for you is based on my opinion only, and not fact: while babies need nothing other than breastmilk, if the giving of a few sips of tea is for a purpose that isn't masking a problem, and the tea has been proven effective in the their community and has brought no complaints from the medical community, then I do not object to its judicious use. To explain a little: the couple who introduced me to yerba buena had given the tea to baby at grandma's suggestion. Baby had been very fussy, crying, never settling down, and this was grandma's remedy that indeed worked: baby slept for 3 hours. The problem? This baby was fussing because he was very hungry and having breastfeeding problems, he wasn't just colicky! I would recommend that you make sure a similar problem that is more appropriately handled differently isn't going on first, and I think that the moms will be grateful for your screening, too. Even if colickyness (sp? I'm suddenly drawing a blank!) is due to allergies, I have often recommended a little chamomile tea while doing the elimination process to help mom and baby cope. (yes, I do remember the recent warnings about chamomile and ragweed.... thank you to whoever posted that!) Looking forward to hearing more on this topic! -Lisa ************************************************* Lisa Marasco, BA, LLLL, IBCLC [log in to unmask] / [log in to unmask] *************************************************