Why I loved Gerber for Two Whole Weeks (Premium)
That’s right. I loved Gerber—the mega baby food company, the subsidiary of artificial-additives-candy-making-Nestlé. Gerber, the company that’s been slow to switch to safer baby and toddler food products. Public demand has resulted in improvements, but the push from the public isn’t over.
Yup! That’s the company I loved for 14 days and nights. Why? Because one of their products helped me get a good night’s sleep and made the days more peaceful.
If you’re dealing with an infant, maybe it could help you too.
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My love affair with Gerber started in early August. One of my out-of-town relatives was due to have a baby, and I offered to come help out. Due to delivery complications, the mom (and hence baby) received two rounds of IV antibiotics before and during delivery. All went well, but we knew the digestive tract would be out of whack, that probiotics would be needed to restore the intestinal flora.
Mom upped her probiotics in hopes that her breast milk would carry some of them to her nursing son. Meanwhile colic started up right away. Fortunately, it wasn’t a nightmare scenario as some parents experience. But he was clearly gassy, irritable, and in pain periodically, day and night—enough that it made for major sleep deprivation for the family and me.
What to do? I’d had my last baby 35 years before and I was out of touch. Exhausted (I’m getting too old for this stuff) I did some quick internet searches. I learned that a probiotic made from some strains of Lactobacillus reuteri was shown in studies to reduce colic by up to 50%. A Swiss company, BioGaia, makes several related products with a number of proven benefits.
What!? Why didn’t I know about L reuteri before?
I took a trip to the local drugstore. There on the shelf was a Gerber product called Soothe. It was made by BioGaia; they had apparently sold it to be marketed by Gerber. These were infant drops. Not cheap at $30 for about 25 days of product, but they seemed well worth a try.
And that’s when the love affair began. Within a couple of days, a recommended daily administration of 5 drops of Soothe let this baby make it through days and nights with very little crying. Nights were reduced to a regular nursing pattern and then the baby was back to sleep. I’d awaken in the morning and realize Mom hadn’t roused me to pace the floors and rock the wee one all night long. Ah-h-h-h.
What I’ve learned since then is that other companies also sell L reuteri based products.
Today, when I went to the Gerber website to see what they say about Soothe it is not even listed as an available product! That’s strange. (I could feel my love affair start going south.) In any event, you can buy Soothe on Amazon.
And meanwhile, please tell Gerber to keep reducing the foods it markets that contain GMOs and up their organic offerings. They seem to listen to the public, because nowadays companies eventually have to.
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I love these Gerber Soothe drops! Although the bottle design is not great, I manage to shake out 5 drops on a tiny little espresso spoon and put them right into my baby’s mouth. They are tasteless, and he swallows the tiny amount with no problems. If you’re bottle feeding, the drops could just go in the bottle, too.
I’ve been keeping track of my feedings, what I’m eating and also any notable irritability or fussing to see if my diet is affecting my baby’s belly. So far, so good! He’ll eat twice in the night, which is expected for a newborn. But go right back to sleep, which is great! Aside from fussing when he’s hungry, tired, or needs changing, there’s no more inconsolable crying! I’ll compare prices between my local drugstore and online retailers for the next batch! I feel good knowing I’m helping restore some healthy bacteria for my baby’s digestive system and I love getting a little more rest, too!