“Oh my God, why won’t my baby stop crying?” you wonder with your sleep-deprived mind. While colic has kept you and your baby up, you have become desperate to figure out how this nightmare will end. You will try anything—even onion tea. But let me warn you, that’s not a great idea.
Several mothers have claimed to cure their baby’s colic using onion water. One thing is crystal clear: there is no scientific evidence that onion water cures colicky babies. Even if, by a stroke of luck, your baby’s colic is cured through onion water, it can affect the electrolyte levels in the baby’s body. This can lead to seizures.
Why Giving Babies Too Much Water Can Cause Seizures
Babies under the age of one shouldn’t be given water. In fact, no fluid except breast milk or formula is fit for a baby’s consumption. They have small stomachs and fragile bodies which can react to excess milk.
With onion water or even regular water, one has to be even more careful. This is because they can disturb the natural electrolyte levels in the baby’s small body. While excess electrolyte levels rarely occur, when they do, they can become a cause of seizures, even leading to a coma and neural damage.
Why is Onion Water Not A Good Idea For A Colicky Baby?
Colic is constant crying for multiple hours, spread over many days. This is an uncomfortable situation for both a mother and a baby and leads to poor health for the baby. It also causes extreme gas due to swallowing excessive amounts of air while crying.
This puts a lot of stress on new mothers as they become exhausted trying to soothe their babies. In desperation, they try the remedy of onion water which isn’t perfect for multiple reasons.
When excess onion water flushes out body salts, it results in more than just dehydration. The unavailability of sodium for normal neural activity can cause permanent brain damage to your baby.
But it’s not just the brain. The baby’s tummy is also highly sensitive. You don’t want to interfere with it.
While you want to make your baby’s crying stop for their own good, you shouldn’t resort to remedies that aren’t 100% safe. Onion water has been safely used by many mothers and claimed as a lifesaver. Why won’t it work for your baby, you may ask?
Onion water indeed works wonders for babies suffering from colic and tummy aches. It is not guaranteed that your baby will be relieved of colic instantly using onion tea. Try to give him only half an ounce or a teaspoon. If there are no side effects, you can increase the quantity but not too much.
Colic is natural and will probably go away as the baby grows.
While onions are beneficial not just for babies, the onion tea remains in question. However, onions have other nutritional properties that you may want to check out below.
Nutritional Properties Of Onions
While babies under the age of one seldom eat onions, onions do have several nutritional properties for babies and adults.
Improved Digestion
A hundred diseases are linked to poor digestion. Onions are amazing for improving stomach activity. Babies eat onions if they are sweet or are in some solid foods mix prepared by their parents; they do generate a liking for them.
The best outcome of having water from raw onions or baby onions is that it combats tummy issues and supports digestion. It allows babies to pass gas. If a colicky baby is given half an ounce of onion water, he will pass gas and be at peace. No more colic.
High Vitamin C Content
Vitamin C is probably one of the most important nutrients for both babies and adults. While its deficiency can lead to scurvy and other disturbing diseases, you can replenish your body’s vitamin C with onions.
You can either increase onion content in your food or take raw onions with your meals. This will not only boost your body’s vitamin C but also provide essential nutrients to regulate a healthy immune system and maximize iron absorption in the blood.
Contains Antioxidants
Onions have antioxidant properties which help combat damaging free radicals. This helps to protect body tissues and avoid any development of sclerosis or fibrosis, meaning no permanent tissue decomposition. This also helps in keeping cholesterol levels normal and fights inflammation, keeping you jolly after a heavy meal.
With anti-inflammatory properties, onions also help maintain healthy cardiac activity and remove the risk of heart attack, hypertension, and high blood pressure.
Fibrous
Onions are a great source of fibers such as fructans. They are great for keeping your bowel movements normal. Moreover, they keep infectious bacteria at bay by eliminating toxins from the body.
Fibers are also great for reducing the chances of colon cancer and inflammation that leads to organ failure. If you have onions regularly, you have one less worry in the world.
These are only a few ways that onions help keep your body fit. Imagine the whole spectrum of benefits that can happen if you start having an onion-rich diet. You need not have separate supplements for every nutrient. It is one onion capsule packed with all the essential ingredients that you need for a strong internal system.
What Is The Best Remedy For Colic Baby?
Colicky babies have no medical cure. While your baby is your entire world, we do understand that consistent crying without any reason makes you want to pull out your hair. You are a strong mom, and you are going to get through this. Let’s try a few home remedies:
Warm Water Bath
Babies can be soothed when they are given bathes. Small babies are seldom given baths due to the fear they might catch a cold. As a result, children become irritable, especially if they are sweating excessively. They also become vulnerable to germs.
Warm water baths calm them down and relax their minds. It also helps to relieve any pain. You can try compressing the tummy with a warm, water-soaked cloth. That will help the baby in releasing gas.
Massage
Massaging your baby is a time-tested solution for colic and other baby problems. You can massage your baby with any available oil. Olive oil and coconut oil are considered the best massage oils for a baby’s growth and development.
You can massage the entire body, but keep your focus on the tummy. That is where most problems lie, as far as babies are considered.
Swaddling
You can never underestimate the power of a swaddle blanket. Swaddling allows the baby to go to sleep peacefully, and also calms him down instantly.
Similarly, rocking can help, too.
Other Natural Remedies For Colic
While you will find a ton of home remedies to try at home for colic, you need to keep in mind any food allergies that your baby might have. Remember, not every remedy is one-size-fits-all. Sometimes they can do more damage than good. Be watchful when choosing remedies and make sure they are coming from an authentic source.
If none of the above remedies work for your baby, you can try out these bonus remedies, which have been tried and tested repeatedly by new moms. You are going to love them:
Mint Tea
If your baby is above six months of age and nothing has worked to relieve his colic, try mint tea. This natural remedy provides exceptional results for a colicky baby. Offer it in small amounts as young babies are unable to digest sugars present in such teas. You will see results for yourself.
Nursing Tips
You need to be vigilant about your diet when you are breastfeeding your baby. This is because, if you are consuming something unhealthy, the side effects will be absorbed by your baby through your milk. This often leads to tummy pain and colic.
When nursing, you should avoid spicy foods. Try to maintain a fibrous diet so that your milk is healthy for the baby. You can also consume chamomile tea or herbal tea so that your baby gets no stomach distress when fed.
Gripe Water For Colic Babies
Gripe water is a medicine for many a bad time. When your baby is teething or when he is suffering from tummy cramps, mothers resort to gripe water as an easy solution.
It is no surprise that mothers try gripe water to treat colic. Since colic is mostly due to tummy pain, gripe water provides relief from that and, by extension, treats colic. The baby cries less when his tummy aches no more. It is considered a great herbal remedy.
However, there is no scientific proof that gripe water can cure colic. It may be perfect for the tummy but doesn’t work on colic for everyone, mainly because different brands offer different compositions of gripe water. Some do work while others don’t. Similarly, some ingredients may not be well suited for babies. This also varies from baby to baby.
Moreover, it is not Food and Drug Administration certified for treating colic.
What Age Do Babies Stop Suffering From Colic?
Newborn babies are easy targets of colic, and it persists for a while. But don’t get hopeless. Babies tend to grow out of colic when they are three to four months old. If your baby is extra fussy, you can expect colic to continue until he is six months old, but that rarely happens.
Colic has numerous symptoms that can make your baby sick. Excessive crying gives him gas. If not released, it makes the baby sick with fever. Fevers and high temperatures are common during colic and make you want to do anything to restore your baby’s health.
If your baby is beyond your control and excessive crying is making him miserable, it is time for you to pay a visit to your baby’s pediatrician.
You can always try the above-mentioned remedies and allow your baby to get used to the outside world. He will start sleeping more and crying less. When he sleeps on time and can pass gas, he will be more fun to be around.
Let’s Wrap It!
Treating colic is no simple task, and as a new mother, we understand your concerns. Onion water allows babies to release gas easily, but it is not certain that your baby will be cured after he passes gas. Colic is more complicated than that.
While onions have numerous nutritional properties for babies and adults, onion water may or may not work as a remedy for a colicky baby. You can try other natural remedies such as mint tea, exercise, swaddling, and even massages, but nothing is for certain. Visit your doctor if the situation becomes dire.
As there is no proper cause of colic, there is no proper remedy. Be patient; it will heal within a few months. Until then, try to relax your baby as much as you can and see which remedy works out for him.
