Slippery Elm Bark Benefits
WHAT IS SLIPPERY ELM?
Slippery elm (Ulmas Rubra) is a species of the elm tree family. Slippery elm is widely found in the Appalachian Mountains. It was used by Native Americans for a variety of uses, including internal and external healing. The leaves of the slippery elm were even used in the early days of America to heal gunshot wounds. It has been used for centuries and is still used today.
HOW IS COLIC DEFINED?
Colic is defined by frequent, prolonged and intense crying or fussiness in an overall healthy infant. Colic usually peaks around 6 weeks of age and declines around 3 to 4 months. Episodes of colic usually occur most often at night. This makes managing a crying infant even tougher. While most information on colic states that a baby can also be gassy and colic-y, with the prolonged crying be the reason air is entering the system, we believe that there can be other reasons as to why air is entering baby’s system. The biggest reason being improper latch (on breast or bottle). The improper latch can come from a myriad of issues including but not limited to, head shape, breast/nipple shape and position, oral ties and much more.
DOES MY BABY SUFFER FROM COLIC?
We believe that colic is a dismissal diagnosis from pediatricians in most cases because infants do not typically cry for hours for no apparent reason. There is almost always an underlying cause that is causing the infant discomfort. Pediatricians are overwhelmed by sick children, so if the baby seems overall healthy, then they typically diagnose the baby with colic and send the parents’ home with well wishes and a pamphlet on how to cope. From our experience of working with mamas and babies who have infants who cry for hours at a time, “colic”, we have seen that this is usually caused by gas and irritation of the gut. The gas can be shown by continual spit up/reflux, baby pulling their legs to their chest or arching their back in pain.
HOW DOES OUR SLIPPERY ELM HELP BABIES WHO SUFFER FROM COLIC SYMPTOMS?
When our organic slippery elm bark powder is mixed with liquid (we prefer breast milk), it creates a demulcent which is then given to the infant orally so it can coat the intestines which are causing the discomfort in the infant. Our product is also organic and has no additives or fillers that most products on the shelf contain. We take pride in knowing our product is completely natural. Our bodies are exposed to enough chemicals so, avoiding these, especially for infants, is crucial to overall health.
QUOTES FROM MAMAS WHO HAVE SEEN SUCCESS WITH OUR PRODUCT:
“We had gone through the list of things to do when our little was suffering from intense reflux. We had tried the reflux medication, which caused more issues than it solved, we had tried different feeding methods, and so much more. When we started our little one on slippery elm, we were certainly hesitant on if it would prove to be effective because all the other things failed. However, it ended up being a huge cause of relief for our guy. He stopped waking up screaming in the middle of the night from discomfort and he stopped the massive amounts of spit up. We still had a long road to travel, but slippery elm was certainly the first step for our guy!”
– Kelsey D.
“My 3 month old used to scream constantly, while arching his back. There was also LOTS of spit up and onesie changes. I've been giving him slippery elm for awhile now, and it’s helped so much! He doesn’t seem like he’s in pain anymore. I’m so grateful to have something that actually works, without any side effects.”
- Katherine R.