"Unfortunately, Colic Water is not a thing of the past in my culture.
When my brother, his wife, and their 5-month-old were visiting a few
weeks ago, my SIL was complaining that "gripe water" (as it's called
in Jamaica) can't be found in the U.S. -- she has to depend on people
to send it to her from Jamaica. She told me that the baby is so much
crankier on days when she doesn't get her gripe water. I took a look at
the label and was surprised to see that the stuff is 90-proof alcohol --
no wonder the baby seems calmer after a dose! I tried to tell her that it
wasn't good for the baby, but she insisted that it couldn't be bad since
we were all raised on it. I knew that she wouldn't listen to her
childless, overeducated sister-in-law, so I said no more. But I'm really
worried about my niece being given a daily dose of alcohol. Should I
just leave it alone and continue to keep my mouth shut? "
I copied this from an unrelated news group. I had related an anecdote
about a women who was confounded to be diagnosed as an alcoholic
because she didn't drink alcohol. She just drank several bottle
of Gripe Water a day for a chronically upset stomach. I had mentioned
that in Britain many years ago, alcohol was eliminated from the contents.
Hence the above quote. Are our wonderfully ethical, humane producers
of Gripe Water exporting a product banned in the UK?
Rayner
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