An advertisement in the October 16, 1939, "The Straits Times" referred to early labels on bottles of Woodward's Gripe Water that depicted a plump infant Hercules, holding a serpent by the neck in each hand, as the "famous baby trade mark" and urged mothers to look for the herculean infant when buying genuine Woodward's Gripe Water for their "windy" babies. Modern parents still purchase Woodward's Gripe Water to ease minor stomach upsets for their children.
History
William Woodward, a 19th-century pharmacist, developed his famous gripe water formula after witnessing the successful treatment of malaria in children who lived in the fen regions --- marshy areas with stagnant water perfect for breeding mosquitoes --- of eastern England. A group of Nottingham doctors treated malaria-infected children with a special formula that not only had positive effects on children with malaria, but also on babies with stomach or intestinal problems. When Woodward registered his gripe-water formula in 1876, he proudly marketed it as free of morphine, laudanum or opium --- substances used at the time to quiet fussy babies, Levin said. The ingredients in Woodward's Gripe Water have changed over the years to meet standards that are more modern.
Ingredients
The Electronic Medicines Compendium website lists the active ingredients in Woodward's Gripe Water as terpeneless dill seed oil and sodium hydrogen carbonate. The original product contained at least 3.6 percent alcohol and caused occasional addiction to gripe water in both infants and adults. Woodward's Gripe Water has been alcohol-free since 1992.
Product Claims and Dosage
According to the Electronic Medicines Compendium website, dill seed oil can reduce and break up flatulence, or gas, and may have a calming, carminative effect on babies who are "windy," or gassy. Sodium hydrogen carbonate has antacid properties that might relieve minor stomach upsets in babies and children.
The product website recommends a dosage of 1 teaspoonful for babies up to 6 months, and 2 teaspoonfuls for babies over 6 months, up to four times a day. The dosage increases to 2 to 3 teaspoonfuls for children 2 years and above.
Considerations
The use of Woodward's Gripe Water is widespread throughout Britain, and many parents throughout the world swear by its efficacy. The "Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine," however, says that colicky babies actually derive most of the soothing benefit from the sugary taste of gripe water. Even though modern Woodward's Gripe Water does not contain sugar, it is sweetened with Lycasin, which still provides the pain-killing effect. Some children who have sensitivity to sodium bicarbonate or dill seed oil should not be given gripe water, notes the Electronic Medicines Compendium website.
Food and Drug Administration Status
The FDA monitors and regulates gripe waters sold in the United States, considering it a medicine or drug. However, this particular brand of gripe water, as well as others, is sold elsewhere in the world and may contain other ingredients, such as alcohol and sucrose, according to the "Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine," that may not meet the approval of the FDA.
References
- Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine: The Gripe Water Story
- Griper Water Guide: Woodward's Gripe Water
- Woodward's: Products --- Gripe Water
- Electronic Medicines Compendium: Woodward's Gripe Water
- The National Library Singapore: The Straits Times, 16 October, 1939; Page 12
- South African Medical Journal: Gripe Water
