Keeping The Faith With Asafoetida and Carom Seeds

I was saved by The Asafoetida.… yeah… do not wonder too much of what my post started with…. I will spare you the wondering…. here’s what I meant 🙂

When Moina was just about a week old and came home, she would wake up wailing in the night… usually due to a BURRP that got stuck in the middle somewhere and refused to get out of her system… or may be some thing that I had eaten and that had caused a gas issue with the little girl. She wouldn’t stop crying… rather bawling and my heart would just wring in complete helplessness and guilt for not being able to help her….

And that’s when Asafoetida or Hing came to the rescue. My mother suggested a simple home remedy or ‘Totka’ as we call it and it worked like a miracle… all the while that my husband and me kept being a bother to my Mother by asking her a truckload of inane questions about the totka….

Well, I will share it with you and trust me it works… and it works with adults too!

You know a baby is writhing in pain inflicted by gas when he or she pulls up her legs to her tummy and is restless… you know she is tossing and turning and crying incessantly with no assurance whatsoever that seems to work… not ready to be breastfed and a mind numbing bawl…run to the kitchen and take a teaspoon of Asafoetida or hing in a small steel utensil and add about four teaspoons of water.

Image courtesy: genuinetrader.net

Put it on the stove and heat it stirring continuously till it forms a paste. Now bring it near the baby and dab a bit of that paste with your fingertips (it should be warm but not scorch the baby) around and not inside the baby’s navel. Now cover the baby’s tummy with her dress and lightly press her tummy with a warm cloth (you can use an iron to warm a towel napkin and place it on her tummy over her dress and never directly on her skin). Keep placing the warm pad over her tummy and hold her snug over your shoulders. She will pass gas soon enough and drift into a calm and peaceful sleep. 

It’s worked every time with Moina and it doesn’t hurt to try this remedy since you are not getting the baby to consume anything. Everything is external…

Ask your Mum or Grandmum and they will know about this remedy.

What will also help the infant is if you are eating right – the Mother. After delivery and till you are breastfeeding, get someone to boil you a jug of water with Ajwain or Carom Seeds. Drink that water after every meal and it will help in your digestion which in turn will prevent gas issues and colic with the baby….not the tastiest drink but just a few glasses a day won’t harm, yeah!

Worked with me every time… so couldn’t help sharing. 

Cheers