What's the local equivalent to gripe water? I know how to make a basic version, but I'd prefer the shop-bought stuff with bicarb in it. I have got a bottle coming out in the post, but it'll take a few days.
On that note, what's the German for dill and for fennel? (1 teaspoon of crushed seeds of either in 2 pints of boiling water left for 20 min and left to cool).

Fennel = Fenchel , don't know for Dill.

You can buy Fenchel Tea in any supermarket or Apotheke, our little fella still gets a daily dose.

The German word for dill is also Dill, or Gurkenkraut (but I think this word is not used in Swiss German anyway).

we had a super tough time getting gripe water - but finally got good old woodwards at the bellevue apotheke oops i realise now that u are in bern - but try at the larger apothekes there...sidroga sells fenchel tea - milupa also does...

Now I know why I dont know what this is

"In 1993, the Food and Drug Administration ordered an automatic detention of all shipments of gripe water into the U.S. on the basis of it being an unapproved drug"

I just read up on what this thing called "gripe water" is and it seems to me to be nothing other that what you would find in any apothek called Sidroga Säuglingstee. Or am I missing something?

http://www.sidroga.com/71.html?&L=4

I think the commercial brand has dill seed extract, a little sugar and a little bicarb in it. They took the alcohol out some years ago, which is why it now goes off in two weeks, despite coming in bottle that would do a baby for two months...
However, we tried the fennel tea. I only gave her two teaspoons, but bloody hell, did it work! She also seems to quite like the taste of it. A few minutes later, some small burps and she was fine.
hurrah!

Thanks!

I get my stash of gripewater from asia , where you can still get the proper stuff ... My son is 5 years old now and it still does the trick when there is a lot of gas ....

Another remedy that works for us is also rubbing Lavender oil on and around the navel . Not sure how it works but the results are very good .

Glad the baby's tummy is better! Our little chap didn't have colic very much but when he did it was terrible.

A friend of mine has a baby which was constantly windy and colicky when he was small but her midwife suggested she made formula milk up using a weak fennel baby tea instead of just water. It made the milk a bit of a weird colour but cut down the instances of colic significantly.

My 4 month old is not getting over her colic. It is driving me up the wall. We ahve tried everything from gripe water to fennel tea (By the way I get gripe water here in Geneva at my pharmacy. it is simple called gripe water Address on label is Internationale apotheke Dr.Noyer Waisenhausplatz 21, 3011 Bern).
Coming back to my kiddo, she yelps in pain specially from 5 to 11 in the evening and kind of sings /talks to herself all the time while I am rocking and cooing to her. I now think she has something else called gastro esophageal reflux? any body have any advise. My paediatric is sceptic, has changed her formaula and asked me to meet her in a weeks time. I am goind to make videos of her when she is in pain and take her to the doc next time .
Meanwhile I like the idea of making her milk in fennel tea. MAybe I will try that. Thanks.

Just need to save my sanity I am getting hardly any sleep nowadays.

Can sympathise regards colic & lack of sleep. Fennel tea in the milk is also something that we did for the first 9 months or so.
Mrs P being a nurse by profession & also rather practical, also "operated" on our little 'un with a piece of thin rubber piping. Dipped in oil & then inserted in the backside for 4cm or so, you can hear the gas gush out ... not for the fain hearted amongst us, but immediate pain relief for junior.

Another tip from our midwife was when the baby appears to be in pain with wind, sit down with him, put him belly-down over your lap (head over one side, legs over the other so the belly is on your thighs) gently rubbing his back. The unusual position can sometimes dislodge a blob of wind and, if you are successful, you get a little "parrrph" coming from the nappy regions followed by a relieved look on the baby's face and a bit of peace and quiet.

Also, don't forget that the evening time is a classic for a grizzly baby - they have the whole day's activities to process in their new little brains and sometimes this can frustrate them and make them "difficult" for a few hours. It's actually good for them to work this out of their system and de-stress, and cuddling her is the best thing you can do.

There are a few tips on here: http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/newborn/babycrying/

Also found that laying the baby down and bending the legs up and down (so they go from straight to hunched) for a few minutes often works. One of the main things is to get them to relax for even a short time as it's easier for them to burp if they're not tensed up.
Also laying the baby down and bringing the top half up to sitting and back down again works a bit.

Please also try rubbing Lavender oil around the navel area and gently massage the region . Our son had colic for a while after he was born and this was one of the ways we relieved him ....

On the subject of colic (but not gripe water...):

A baby hammock also works wonders.

See the (Swiss) Dondolo brand. You can get other cheaper models (or second-hand on Ricardo), but the Dondolo is superior in quality and smoothness of bounce (if you can say that!). They have good re-sale value when you've finished with them, too.

We bought one for our number 3, when she was around 3 months. And, it was by far the best investment we made. Only wish they had been around 9 years ago for our number 1

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I've heard this too; apparently lots of creches taking younger babies have them installed because they are so effective at calming babies.

Thanks, This sounds good. I am a doctor so am not worries about the procedure but my husband will surely ban me from doing it .

"Mrs P being a nurse by profession & also rather practical, also "operated" on our little 'un with a piece of thin rubber piping. Dipped in oil & then inserted in the backside for 4cm or so, you can hear the gas gush out ... not for the fain hearted amongst us"

Thanks. Have tried this , helps only occassionally.

"head over one side, legs over the other so the belly is on your thighs) gently rubbing his back."

Thanks, have tried this too. She lets out a lot of gas sometimes, and I can go on for hours with this, but she starts bawling again when straightened.

"Also found that laying the baby down and bending the legs up and down (so they go from straight to hunched) for a few minutes often works."

Just wanted to say that I found the Woodwards brand at the Schaffhauserplatz pharmacy. They import it directly from the UK.

The current version has no alcohol nor sugar.

Fingers crossed it works.

For Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) please check with your Pediatrician and try Aptamil Anti-reflux (AR) baby formula. It worked wonders for our baby.

Too late for Neeranjana but helpful for those currently suffering!

Just wantes to update the thread........The same product can still be purchased at the Bellevue pharmacy for CHF 20. Sadly my little man has become quite gassy at 7 weeks old