As a mother of a four-year-old daughter, trust me when I say that handling a gassy baby—and not just sleep deprivation—can be the toughest thing to deal with in the first year of an infant's life.
Colic is a common problem in newborns and mostly happens due to the fact that that babies swallow a lot of gas when they’re breastfeeding, having milk from bottles or just sucking on their pacifiers.
Other reasons for colic in a baby could be gassy foods that the mother might have eaten, especially difficult to digest dals such as chhole and rajma and vegetables such as cauliflower. Your mother is probably right when she asks you to omit these foods from your diet.
But even if you end up having a colicky baby, we might just have the easiest remedy for you right from your kitchen. And it has been tried and tested over the years by moms across India. I was surprised to learn that my Mallayali friend from Bangalore used it, too.
The ingredient is not something that you don’t know about. In fact, it is one thing that adds that punch to your dals and curries. Yes, we’re talking about hing (asafetida) here and its numerous medicinal powers, especially to soothe a baby’s colic, flatulence and gas. Even Ayurveda talks about its anti-flatulent properties extensively.
All you have to do is take a pinch or two of hing and make a paste of it in one teaspoon of water. Apply this mixture directly around the navel area of your baby, whenever you think that colic is troubling him. Avoid applying it to the belly button to prevent any infection. Leave it for half an hour or keep it overnight and wash off.
You’d be surprised to see your baby calm down after minutes of applying this paste. I still use it whenever my daughter complains of gas or stomach pain even though she's four now. However, if you haven't used hing ever before, consult your doctor.
Try it out and let us know if it worked for you by posting your comments. Till then happy parenting!
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