Report Abuse

“My slightly pre-term baby was very uncomfortable...”

written by CornyO on 30/04/2009

Good Points
Very effective.
Tastes okay.
No sugar.
No alcohol.
Happy baby. Happy mum & dad.

Bad Points
Difficult to administer.
Contains 3 E-numbers.

General Comments
My slightly pre-term baby was very uncomfortable during and after feeding. She is bottle-fed on Cow & Gate Nutriprem2 as recommended by the SCBU in the hospital. This product contains all sorts, far too long to list here, but includes Prebiotic Fibres, which I believe may cause excess gas and irritation in the (very young and underdeveloped) stomach. This, together with the air bubbles present in warm milk and the intake of air at the start of almost every feed, causes considerable discomfort to many babies, including mine. Someone suggested Gripe Water to us, which we tried. What a difference! The Woodward's Gripe Water purchased in the local supermarket does not contain alcohol or sugar, only Dill Seed Oil and Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate. This reduces bubbles in the stomach and at the same time reduces excess acid, caused by the stomach reacting to excess gas. It also contains E215, E217 & E219. (Sodium ethyl p-hydroxybenzoate , Sodium propyl p-hydroxybenzoate and Sodium methyl p-hydroxybenzoate).

My child burps beautifully halfway through, and after feeding! And the amount of gas at the other end has been reduced by about 70%! She is so much happier now and goes to sleep very easily after every feed. What a difference. The only minus point, I would say, is that 5ml (or 10ml for bigger babies) would be extremely difficult to administer, especially to a hungry or very full baby (before or after the feed). I therefore add 5ml to every milk bottle, which seems to work fine as long as she finishes the bottle. It says on the bottle you can administer it during or after the feed. Perhaps not perfect but it all ends up in the same place anyway. Hence not a perfect 10.