Pardon you!! (Woodwards Alchohol and Sugar Free Gripe Water)

Member Name: nessie3105

Product:	Woodwards Alchohol and Sugar Free Gripe Water
Date:	11/09/07 (2707 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Eases gripe and wind; nice taste

Disadvantages: Discard within 2 weeks of opening

Gripe water is one of the many products that you associate with babies and in my experience, it always seems to be the thing that people of an older generation (Mums, Aunties, Grandparents etc) suggest if your baby is grisly and upset.

I decided to buy a bottle and keep it in my baby cupboard, as this seemed to be an 'essential' item.

***** Product Information *****

The first thing that I noticed was that the company, 'Woodwards', has been trading since 1851, which immediately gave me confidence in the product. This was re-inforced by the recommendation of the product by my own and my husband's family members.

The product claims:
'Rapid relief of Wind and Gripe'.

The ingredients are:
** Terpeneless Dill Seed Oil
** Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate
** E215
** E217
** E219
Personally, I have to admit that these ingredients mean absoloutely nothing to me, but I was reassured that the gripe water was alcohol free, sugar free and colour free.

***** Dosage *****

This product should not be used on babies under 1 month of age.

1 - 6 months - One 5ml spoonful
6 - 12 months - Two 5 ml spponfuls

These doses can be given during and after each feed. The doses can be repeated up to 6 times in a 24 hour period.

***** How the gripe water works *****

The box explains a little about gripe and wind, which I found very useful.

It explains that gripe is caused when air bubbles that form in a baby's tummy cause muscle spasms and excess acid.

Apparently, when these air bubbles get trapped, the stomach thinks it is full of food, so acids are released that break down food. As these acids are not needed, the baby can get irritation, cramps and spasms.

The dill oil warms and relaxes the tummy and the sodium hydrogen carbonate neuralises the acid in the baby's tummy.

The product claims that the results are usually a 'resounding burp'.

***** My Experiences *****

Overall, I am extremely lucky as I have such a happy, easy going baby, so on the odd occasion when she is upset, it is usually because she is hungry. If she cries, however, at other times when I know she does not need feeding and at the same time, her legs are kicking frantically, this is usually when I turn to the gripe water, although I have not used it very often.

The gripe water is clear and has a mild, almost minty flavour. My daughter does not take the gripe water very well from a spoon and she does pull a slightly strange face when she is taking it. I'm not sure if this is because she dislikes the taste, or whether she is just getting herself so worked up through crying. This is another reason why it is tricky to give her the gripe water from a spoon and also because she is only 5 months old and we haven't really mastered the use of spoons yet.

Personally, I find it much easier and successful to put a spoonful of the gripe water into her bottle of milk, or to use a smaller 2.5ml spoon (I use the spoon that came with the bottle of Calpol). If it goes into her milk, she does not pull any of the strange faces and she does not seem to notice that it is there.

I can't say that I have ever noticed a 'resounding burp', as the gripe water claims to result in. I can say, however, that my baby seems to bring her wind up more quickly if she has a spoonful of gripe water in her bottle than she seems to without it, and it does seem to ease her tummy ache.

I paid about £2.35 for the 150ml bottle of gripe water, which I would say is good value, providing you are able to use the whole bottle. If like me, however, you do not need to use the gripe water very often, you will probably waste alot of it, as it has to be discarded after 2 weeks from opening it.

The gripe water does not include a medicine spoon, which would be useful, especially when out and about. As I've already mentioned, I have over-come this small problem by using the calpol spoon.

***** Would I recommend it?*****

On the few occasions that I have used the gripe water with my baby, it has definitely worked, so I would recommend it and it seems to be easy to buy, available from many supermarkets and chemists.

Be prepared, however, to have some spillages if you try the spoon method!!

Summary: Definitely worth having in the cupboard.