Tea for newborn

[tudorqueenie]

Hi all,
I am originally from Hungary and in Hungary, hospitals (and families) give "baby teas" (basically herbal teas) to newborns. They always do this when jaundice is an issue. As far as i am aware, giving tea is not suitable to babies under 6 months old. It can mess up their electrolyte & iron levels. My family keeps calling me stupid for not giving my baby tea (she has a bit of jaundice), and I keep telling them that it is unsafe. Am I right? Can someone point me to the direction of some reliable content I can show them? I'm sick of their arguments.

Speak to your midwife

Yeah that's the type of tea they're referring to for sure. I find it very confusing how it's okay to do it there when it seems to be dangerous

This is in very general terms. In the UK, medicines are rigorously tested by double blinded clinical trials which are then peer-reviewed and pass through many controlled systems before they are licensed to be used on the public.
This is the standard of medicine that people in the UK are used to and are happy with. They will also usually not support taking anything which has not been through these processes.

No-one will fund those trials for herbal medicines simply because there's no money to be made from them. Herbal medicines in use now have been proven worldwide over hundreds of years to be generally safe and effective and their usages and dosages are well-known because in countries that do use them, "everybody" uses them and that knowledge is passed down through the generations.

Personal experience, About 30 years ago when I was pregnant, I asked the GP about drinking Raspberry Leaf Tea in the last trimester, only to receive a long lecture about how herbal medicine is unregulated and dangerous and how could I possibly contemplate taking anything that was tantamount to poisoning my child.
I then asked the midwife and she said they used to brew it for their ante natal classes, and only stopped because most women didn't like the taste.

You need to do what you think is best for your baby, but at the same time you need to remember that in this country, herbal medicines, especially for babies, that are widely used in other countries are mostly treated here with disbelief and disdain that anyone could use them because they've not been tested in the same way that pharmaceutical drugs have.

@Madwomanuptheroad29

Hi, it is a cultural issue, not one of right and wrong. As previous posters said in Germany and other countries, fennel tea (and some other herbs) are recommended for newborn babies and for establishing milk flow. Tea for babies is also used in hospital. This tea has nothing to do with what used to be marketed as infant tea in the UK which was mainly sugar. The baby tea on the continent is pure herbs in a teabag. I used them on all my five when they were colicky or when it was hot and I am sure it worked. Some things that are done /seen as normal re baby care would be seen as dangerous or bonkers in Germany or Hungary. Do whatever feels right for you lending both your cultures.

What a lovely comment. Thank you!

Interestingly my GP, who is German, recommended fennel tea for my 9 week old baby's wind. Haven't tried it yet but might do, apparently it is widely used in continental Europe.

@Toddlerteaplease no, in Germany, as I said in the very next post! I did intend to add it to the original but I'm a bit sleep deprived.

OP it's clearly not dangerous, since it's advised in several places, let's be real, giving a very small amount of anything is unlikely to be harmful. The reason the NHS don't advise it is because there's no benefit in giving it and therefore the risk benefit calculation is quite clearly tipped in the direction of risk. That is not the same as something being dangerous, but since it's not going to help with the jaundice there probably isn't much sense in giving it. Just keep feeding :)

[quote BertieBotts]@Toddlerteaplease no, in Germany, as I said in the very next post! I did intend to add it to the original but I'm a bit sleep deprived.

OP it's clearly not dangerous, since it's advised in several places, let's be real, giving a very small amount of anything is unlikely to be harmful. The reason the NHS don't advise it is because there's no benefit in giving it and therefore the risk benefit calculation is quite clearly tipped in the direction of risk. That is not the same as something being dangerous, but since it's not going to help with the jaundice there probably isn't much sense in giving it. Just keep feeding :)[/quote]
That makes a lot of sense. I'm not sure why I was being so black and white about it. I still won't give any tea - but your comment helps with my own anger towards their comments. Thank you.