can a new born be given very very small amount of honey to sooth him once he is crying a lot?(he's not hungry)

Answer 1

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Honey is the #1 thing babies under 1 have to stay away from.

Feeding honey to your baby could be harmful if he or she is younger than 12 months of age. Honey could be the cause of a rare type of food poisoning called infant botulism--a serious, even deadly, illness. Honey is the food most commonly found to contain the bacteria causing botulism. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that honey should not be added to the food, water, or formula that is fed to infants younger than 12 months of age. This recommendation includes foods processed with honey.

Honey is a known source of bacterial spores called Clostridium botulinum that produce a toxin which can cause infant botulism. These spores can also be found in soil, water, uncooked food, and even household dust. Infant botulism can occur from breathing in vacuum cleaner dust, but eating honey is the number one preventable cause. While honey is safe for infants over 12 months of age, infants under 12 months of age have not yet developed beneficial bacteria in their digestive tracts that can control botulism spores. Therefore, do not add honey to baby food, water, formula, or medicine. Do not dip a baby's pacifier in honey. Even the honey in some processed foods can cause this problem. After an infant eats the spores of this bacteria, the disease can occur within a few hours or up to a week after the exposure.

Symptoms of infant botulism include weakness in the neck, arms, or legs; inability to suck or cry normally; inability to feed or swallow; and persistent constipation. The first symptom is constipation, which can appear three to 30 days following ingestion of honey. The next symptoms observed are listlessness, decreased appetite, and a weakened cry over the next several days. Gagging and sucking reflexes diminish and the child moves less and less. Infant botulism frequently causes an infant to have an unusual breathing pattern, which often requires putting the infant on a ventilator to help with breathing.

Most infants recover from botulism with hospital care. However, if infant botulism is not treated immediately, it could result in death. Hospital care is necessary. Identifying the botulism toxin in the stool is needed for proper diagnosis. This toxin can cause nerve damage for weeks or even months. Neither antibiotics nor antitoxin have proven beneficial in treating infant botulism and may even make the illness worse. There is also a link between infant botulism and SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), because breathing is affected in the most severe stages of the illness. It is believed to be the cause of death in 10% of SIDS cases. As children get older, the stomach acid, bacteria, and the intestinal tract mature to make them less susceptible to the toxins that botulism spores produce. The single most effective way to prevent infant botulism is to avoid giving honey to infants younger than 12 months of age.

Answer 2

My baby is now 10 weeks old and for the first 6 weeks I used the movie called, "The Happiest Baby on the Block". It worked every time to calm my baby and people were amazed and said that I had an easy baby but it was just really that I learned how to soothe my baby.

Dr. Harvey's method has the 5 S's which are shhhing, swaddling, swinging, sucking, and side-laying position or stomach. I've attached a movie clip I found on it. Use it! It works wonders! If you could get the movie later it really does help. If you go to the main website I gave you there is a little movie clip that starts running automatically that shows you the shhhhing method. This is the easiest one to use and it works the best! Basically you just get close to their ear and do the noise shhh... as loud as they are crying, if it doesn't work swaddle them first then do it again. You could also put the baby on it's side and give it a pacifer. This is our first baby and these methods have helped tremendously!!!

Good Luck and Congrats!

P.S. Just because a baby cries doesn't mean it's hungry. Try these other things first and then feed or change the baby if it doesn't work. It could also be gas.

Answer 3

No!! Honey is to NEVER be given to an infant.
Honey contains botulism spores which an infant cannot tolerate. Due to immature digestive systems they can develop food poisoning that may result in death.
It's also best not to try maple syrup, as this contains a small amount of botulism as well.

Your baby may have gas, stomach pain, or acid reflux. These symptoms are most commonly what make up the diagnosis "cholic." What I have always given my kids is gripe water. It is made of ginger and fennal which soothe the stomach and prevent gas. This usually works almost immediately-----absolutely wonderful! It can purchased at the best price through www.drugstore.com You may find it at some pharmacies or health food stores as well. The most common brand is Baby's Bliss.
If baby is spitting up a lot, mention this at his next well check. You may need to switch formulas or start him on some medication for acid reflux.

Answer 4

It can actually be pretty dangerous to give a newborn honey. Because of the bacteria in honey it can cause infant botulism. I found a website that has a really good article about this, it is www.drgreene.com
This was a really good question though!! I didn't know the exact answer so I looked it up. It's always great to learn new things, so thanks for making me think!!

Answer 5

never give a baby under 12 honey.

Infants younger than 12 months are at risk of infant botulism from eating honey. Infant botulism is a rare but serious form of food poisoning.

Honey is a known source of bacterial spores that produce Clostridium botulinum bacteria. These bacteria are typically harmless to older children and adults. But when ingested by an infant, these bacteria make a toxin that can cause infant botulism. It's unclear why this occurs in infants and not in older children or adults.

Infant botulism affects a baby's nervous system and can result in death. Signs and symptoms of infant botulism include:

Answer 6

Know what's off-limits

Don't offer cow's milk, eggs, citrus or honey before age 1, and don't offer peanuts (including smooth peanut butter), fish or shellfish until age 3. Cow's milk, eggs, peanuts and seafood may trigger an allergic reaction if they're given too soon. Citrus can cause a painful diaper rash, and honey may contain spores that can grow in a baby's intestinal tract and cause botulism.

Don't offer your baby foods that pose a choking hazard, including:

* Small, slippery foods, such as whole grapes, hot dogs and hard candy
* Dry foods that are hard to chew, such as popcorn, raw carrots and nuts
* Sticky or tough foods, such as peanut butter and large pieces of meat
* Foods that may clump together, such as raisins

Also avoid home-prepared spinach, beets, turnips and collard greens, which may contain high levels of potentially harmful compounds from soil (nitrates).

Answer 7

I wouldn't risk it. Babies aren't supposed to have honey because their immune systems are not strong enough for it.

There are lots of ways to soothe a baby, I would try anything else first, and if you really think that honey will help, talk to your doctor first.

Answer 8

no, it says on the label of honey not to give to a baby under 12 months of age.

Answer 9

read the back of the honey bottle. it says not to give honey to a baby under 1 year. try holding a peppermint in his mouth to suck on, my mom did that with my nephew and my brother when they had cholic. if you don't want to do that because you think he is too young, but you think it might be cholic (gas) you can go to walmart and get cholic tablets made by "Hylander's." they have teething tablets as well, and you'll be needing those before you know it.

Answer 10

no. not until at least a year old. it can cause botulism which is not nice for newborn babies.
my father-in-law said he would give his daughter (my sister-in-law) a soother with honey on it when she was upset at around a month old....i guess it was okay in the 70's.