chamomile flowers & teething babies

Of Chamomile Flowers and Teething Babies

Written on September 23, 2008

I had to share a quick story on one of he herbs that has greatly assisted my teething baby! A herb such as simple Chamomile flowers has brought such comfort to my baby daughter's life–and I wish I'd remembered this herb a lot sooner!

Our third little girl is 5 months today and in the midst of a teething bout. The teething experience with my first 3 babies was far from delightful. And now that I have some understanding of how harmful vaccinations are for human beings (especially babies with their immature nervous systems), I understand that the vaccines only agitated the teething all the more. With our fourth child, we stopped vaccinating, and I delved much farther into the study of herbs attempting to utilize it in place of the children's tylenol, motrin, and whatever I had sitting in the medicine cabinet.

I coincidentally began sipping a regular infusion of chamomile tea when baby number 4 was around 4 months or so, and guess what??? I never even realized she was teething until I saw lot's of dribble pouring down her little chin, and her constantly chewing and sucking her fingers. She never displayed any discomfort going through teething. Much to my surprised it turned out to be a very pleasant experience.

Now, here I am with baby number 5, our sweet daughter Salome. She's been a pleasant little sweetheart all the while, until last week she began with this constant fussiness that I was unable to alleviate. It made study time with the children and house chores incredibly difficult, and I remember sitting clueless as to what to do. I couldn't figure out why it seemed like I hadn't experienced this with our previous baby...until over the weekend I remembered chamomile in a discussion with my husband!

So, to make a short story even shorter, I've been steeping Chamomile tea since over the weekend and I have my pleasant dribbling baby back! I was so relieved and excited at the same time. The chamomile works wonderfully, and she receives the appropriate amount through the breast milk.

I also don't want to forget to mention a protein substance called lactoferrin that is present in breastmilk. It's an iron-binding multifunctional protein, and it's also found in other bodily fluids as well. This protein is often referred to as an innate defense protein and frequently serves as the first line of defense in protection against pathogens. It has been shown to have the ability to bind iron, it's naturally anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral, and it is an antioxidant and has a host of immunomodulatory properties.
So I mention lactoferrin because it has been found in breastmilk at higher quantities in the nighttime. It works to alleviate the swelling and pain in the gums of a teething baby! I'm sure that any mother can attest to the fact that a child's illness or physical irritation always seems to intensify in the evening and nighttime hours. So again, doing things naturally always turns out better at the end of the day. It may not always convenient, most times it's not convenient, but be guaranteed it's always healthier!