SUBSCRIBE

How Asafoetida Worked Wonders for my Daughter’s Gas Problems ?

37
By Sangeetha Menon on Baby Care

How Asafoetida worked wonders for my daughter’s gas problem ?

“Did Anshika do potty today? She is crying continuously, didn’t sleep today at all, don’t know what happened “ A call from my daughter’s daycare came at around 3 PM to my mobile . I disconnected the call assuring I would reach within 5 minutes.

I reached the daycare to see Anshika lying on the daycare lady (taai’s) legs on the tummy crying. She looked at me and I felt something was wrong with her , some kind of uneasiness with her. Taayi told me that it could be gas , as her tummy has bloated and was tight . Taayi also told me that she has applied asafoetida (hing) made into a paste with water around her navel.

We also analysed what she ate , I got the culprit ; the green peas I had bought the previous day and added in her mixed vegetable soup. So we were 100% sure that the green peas played the role of villain in my daughter’s digestion that day. I took Anshika home and started boiling water with cumin as its works well against gas. To my surprise , before even giving the water , Anshika burped a lot, did potty and the bloatness in her tummy was gone. QUICK !! The asafoetida or hing has worked like magic !!

Asafoetida is also known as Hing / Kayam, used in South Indian and Maharashtrian cuisines . Let me list down the medicinal properties of Asafoetida and how it can be beneficial for babies and kids.

1.  Excellent aid in digestion

2.  Acts as an Antiflatulent as it prevents the growth of indigenous micro flora in the gut, reducing gas.

3. Hing or Asafeoetida as per Ayurveda balances the kapha and vata doshas of a human body

4. Enhances taste and appetite

5. Excellent relief for colic pain

How can Asafoetida be given to babies and kids?

1. A small pinch of hing or asafoetida mixed with plain water made into a paste can be applied around the navel of the baby (NOT on the navel) in the clockwise direction

2. Small pinch of asafoetida can be mixed with water and heated to a paste like form and apply it around the navel

3. Instead of water , hing can be mixed a small teaspoon of ghee ,heated and made into a paste like form

4. Hing can also be applied by mixing with a tsp. of olive oil and applying the same way as mentioned above

5. If your baby is 8m+ , a pinch of hing mixed in a glass of buttermilk (at room temperature) can be given for quick gas relief.

6. After using any of the steps 1, 2 ,  3 or 4 a small cotton wash cloth rubbed on a slight heated tawa can be pressed around the baby’s navel (Please check for heat by pressing on your palm first before applying on baby).

Have you used hing / asafoetida for your baby/ kid’s gas relief ? Pls share the home remedy you had used / use it for your LO.

Share.
Sangeetha Menon

Sangeetha loves balancing her personal and professional life. These days, the major chunk of her time is spent on listening to 'how to beat the Piggy from robloks'; thanks to her 8 year old daughter.

37 Comments

  1. Shabari on

    Hi Sangeetha
    My 5yr old is suffering with the same now…tried everything else…Just tried this amd crossing my fingers…hope this works..cant see our kids in pain ryte ;(

  3. Renjini on

    Sangeetha I have heard that for babies ,only paalkayam should be given and not the normal hing. any idea abt it.

  4. Tutu on

    Hi sangeeta
    I M new mom so worried about the diet routine for my 10 months old baby. What ingredients can I used in for everyday khicdhi and at what time I can feed curd n what quantity

  5. Neha on

    Hi, can you please suggest what is the earliest age we can start applying the hing paste? I have a gassy 7 week old baby. Thanks !

  6. Rupal on

    nice article, but just want to add that the hing paste works for adults as well. I don’t have kids and i’ve personally used this treatment when I had a stomach ache. My mom told me to do it and at first I thought it was really strange, but it worked and I even passed it on to my non Indian friends who use it as well. I garentee that se company like Himmalya will start selling this “ointment” on shelves at the WhooleFoods sooner or later!

  7. Vandhaana on

    Hi Sangeetha,

    My daughter is 18months old. Yesterday evening by 5.30 I gave her one full banana(Nendram) which I dint boiled. Just put a shake with milk and added nuttela in it. Seems she was feeling full and again I gave rasam rice by 8.30 and she usually refuses taking food but yesterday also the same so I forcefully gave her some. Night she pooed then early morning also she pooed more. She was feeling some uneasiness in her stomach which I thought she will be alright soon. Evening slowly she gained lite temperature and full of running nose. Not eating anything and also crying to go for urine or poo. Will this help her out.. Kindly suggest the way to feed banana.

    • Sangeetha Menon on

      Vandhaana,

      Kerala banana in itself is pretty heavy. You have added nutella and milk to it which makes it even a bigger meal. Why the need of forcefeeding again rasam and rice. You could have just given rasam. She is loaded with so much of starchy foods that she is constipated 🙁

      No need to worry. Its completely alright. Go slow with bananas. Give half a banana , its more than enough with milk for a 18 month old, no need to add nutella or any other additives. As of now give her raisins boiled water at regular intervals and stop feeding bananas for a while. Try giving her 1 to 2 tsps of papaya puree. Check if she is constipated and then start bananas.

      • Vandhaana on

        Thanks for the reply. What shall I include in her diet now. Morning gave her one idly and she had half glass milk and for lunch shall I give her rice or what to include in her diet till she feels relieved. ? Also will visit doc this evening only., even now temperature is there giving paracetemol at every six hrs interval.

  8. gooika nair on

    Thanks sangetha… actually she is exclusively breastfed baby. Why this type of colics n gas problems happens in babies? Whether my diet has any role in this? I’m not taking any gas forming foods. Still I have gas problems. Any way I applied hing mix to her tummy. She has some relief in her colics. It doesn’t occur yesterday. But gas problems still persists. Because of that she is having disturbed sleep.we used to burp her well after every feed. Once again thanks r ur immediate reply… stay blessed.

  9. gooika nair on

    Hi sangeetha, my baby also have same problem. She is severely colicky n have gas problems. She nt passing stool n while straining against stool she cry alot n may pass flatulence.. she refuses to feed while having colics. How often we can do this tip in a day? Pls reply fast…

  10. gooika nair on

    Thanks sangeetha… how many time we can do this to a 2 month old baby? My baby is severely colicy and she has gas problems too. She is not passing stool. Dr adviced me to give dulcolax 5mg suppository in 3 days.. plz help

    • Sangeetha Menon on

      Gooika,

      Is she breastfed or formula fed? If she is breastfed you need not worry about her not pooping for even 7 days. However you can apply this hing powder around her navel which is supposed to work against flatulence and gas. Burp well after every feeds.

  11. vandana on

    I have never heard about this. Will keep this in mind. I do remember the day 3 after childbirth though. I had a c-section and had started drinking fluids after being removed from IV. I had a weird tummy pain that won’t go away. Bless my MIL, she asked me to drink buttermilk with asafoetida. As I was drinking it, the gas passed and I was back to normal!

  13. Pingback: Should you be Worried about Cradle Cap in Babies? -Bumps n Baby

  14. meera on

    Amazing hing!
    At first when I heard of this home remedy by MIL I gave a doubtful look but when I saw my little one (3 months)crying n touching his tummy I had to try this. ( it.was almost 3 days he had no bowel movement n only gas pass)
    Within five minutes of applying hing water near his.navel area I.saw the difference n another five minutes he ws fast asleep as the problem got.solved! He poooooed 🙂

    Thanks Sangeetha for this wonderful site!

  15. priya on

    hi thanks a lot for sharing valuable remedie, Asafoetida works wonder to my 6 weeks baby as well after following u r remedie. i have a doubt can i use Asafoetida every day as my baby suffering with colic and reflux problem.
    please share any other remedies if you know related to gas and reflux problem in 6th week baby.
    don’t stop sharing your valuable experience and remedies being a mom as it will help so many like me. thanks a lot looking forward to hear from you.

  16. MumLee on

    Great idea! Have heard of this but never tried. I have had a feeling that Hing is not good on babies or on us. Anyways, will try this next time. 🙂

    When L was on 8 months to 2, I always added a pinch of homemade turmeric powder in her meals which tend to reduce gas formation on tummy. Have tried cumin water as well.

  17. Anjana Jins on

    Hey Sangee,
    I have got a suggestion – Why don’t you open a section called something like “Daily Report” under a “Health forum” wherein we all can write about our daily schedule – right from our Baby’s food to our food, routine activities etc. This will help to monitor our baby’s health chart as well as our activities and nutrition intake.