Don't Give Herbal Supplements to Infants

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Botanical supplements and teas are being given to nine percent of U.S. infants, according to a recent study. The most frequent reasons given by the mothers were to treat fussiness, as an aid to digestion, and to treat colic. The most common supplements and teas were gripe water, chamomile, and teething tablets.

Some of these infants were only one month old, yet the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children be fed only with breast milk or formula until at least four to six months of age. Children have developed seizures and infections from herbal teas and remedies, lead poisoning and mercury poisoning from traditional remedies, and liver damage from dietary supplements.

There are many potential problems with giving dietary herbs and teas to infants.

• Infants may respond differently from older children and adults because of their small body weight and immature gastrointestinal, nervous, and immune systems. Even botanical preparations with a long history of traditional use can be contaminated with heavy metals or bacteria. Some traditional preparations, for example some Ayurvedic preparations, contain lead, mercury, and arsenic as intended ingredients.
• Giving botanical preparations to young children may cause allergic reactions. For example, chamomile cross-reacts with other members of the chrysanthemum family.
• There can be interactions with drugs the children are prescribed.
• In the U.S. (unlike in Europe), botanical preparations and dietary supplements are not regulated by the government. There is no assurance that products with the same label actually contain the same ingredients in the same amounts.
• There are few studies of the effectiveness and safety of many of these preparations in infants, including breast-feeding infants whose mothers take them.

Check with your child's health care provider before giving a botanical preparation or tea, or any dietary supplement. Even if the preparation is labeled "for children", there could be reasons an individual child should not receive it. When providing a list of medicines to your health care provider, be sure to list all dietary supplements and teas that you've given the child. If you are breast-feeding, include any dietary supplements and teas that you are taking, also.

Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 if you have a question about particular herbs or supplements. Use the webPOISONCONTROL^® online tool for guidance or call 1-800-222-1222 if you think someone has taken too much. webPOISONCONTROL and poison specialists are available to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Rose Ann Gould Soloway, RN, BSN, MSEd, DABAT emerita
Clinical Toxicologist