Fennel Tea for Breastfeeding Mums: Can It Really Help with Colic?

Mum & baby yoga class break time with fennel tea

Hey lovely, I see you.

If you’re reading this, it’s probably the middle of the night. Your little one is crying, wriggling, clearly uncomfortable—and you’ve found yourself frantically Googling for something, anything, that might help. I’ve been right where you are. My baby didn’t have colic exactly, but she had tummy troubles that left both of us exhausted, overwhelmed and desperate for answers. And in my role as Nanny, Maternity Nurse & Baby Massage instructor i’ve worked with many families suffering from colic.

So let’s talk about one of the most-searched natural remedies for baby tummy discomfort: fennel tea.

Why Fennel Tea?

Fennel has been used for centuries to support digestion, relieve wind, and soothe cramping—symptoms that many of us associate with colic. It’s a caffeine-free, gentle herbal tea with a mild aniseed taste that many mums (myself included) actually grow to love.

I always say: we’ll try just about anything if we think it’ll help our baby feel better. And for some, fennel tea has been that gentle magic.

What Is Colic Anyway?

You’ve likely heard the word tossed around a lot since becoming a parent. Colic is often defined by:

• Intense, often inconsolable crying

• Happening around the same time every day (typically evenings)

• Lasting more than 3 hours, at least 3 days a week, for 3+ weeks

It’s heartbreaking. And while the exact causes of colic are still debated, many agree that trapped wind, immature digestion, a developing nervous system and overstimulation could all play a role.

How Does Fennel Tea Help?

Fennel is thought to work by relaxing the muscles of the digestive tract—anti-spasmodic and carminative properties that may reduce cramping and help trapped gas move through. For mums, drinking fennel tea can:

• Soothe post-birth digestion

• Calm bloating and gas

• Support milk flow

Even more amazing: the beneficial properties of fennel may pass into your breast milk and reach your baby within 2–6 hours.

Breastfeeding? Here’s How to Use It

If your baby is under 6 months and exclusively breastfed, you drinking the tea is the safest and simplest route. For example, I’d drink a cup before bed, and by the 1/2am feed, it would already be in my milk. Her 3am discomfort started to ease soon after. Try this timing trick based on your baby's fussy period:

When Baby Struggles When You Should Drink Fennel Tea

Late evening (6–9pm) Around lunchtime

Early morning (3–6am) Before bedtime (9–10pm)

The time it takes for the fennel to reach your breast milk varies from person to peson so you may want to play around with these timings, alternatively you could sip on the tea throughout the day. It is good both hot and cold.

Formula Feeding or Not Breastfeeding?

Current UK guidelines recommend only milk before 6 months unless otherwise advised. That said, many parents use fennel tea in tiny amounts under healthcare guidance. There are even baby-specific fennel teas on the market.

Tips if you choose to try it:

• Choose organic loose fennel seeds, this is better than using tea bags which are often bleached

• Steep 1 tsp crushed seeds in boiling water for 10 mins

• Let it cool completely

• Offer just a teaspoon via spoon, syringe, or in a bottle

• Observe and adjust—never replace a feed as baby needs all the nutrients they get from milk so only offer very small amounts at a time so they have enough space in their tummy for milk.

Not Sure Where to Start?

Here are some fennel tea options:

• Green Apotheke Loose Seeds

• Mummy’s Organic Baby Fennel Tea

• Hipp Organic Baby Tea

(These are affiliate links—same price for you, small thank you commission for me.)

My Honest Experience

I didn’t love the taste of fennel at first, but like many mums in my baby massage classes, I stuck with it—and now I genuinely enjoy it. Herbal teas have the added bonus of being drinkable lukewarm or cold, which is perfect when you’re constantly putting your cuppa down to deal with a baby!

Many parents in our classes reported noticeable improvements in their baby’s tummy troubles after drinking the tea in our baby massage and yoga classes and then went on to regularly drink fennel tea outside of class.

Combine It With Baby Massage

Fennel tea is just one piece of the puzzle. I truly believe in combining it with gentle baby massage, especially around the tummy & feet helps move wind and ease cramps—plus, it’s a beautiful bonding ritual.

💛 Join my online Baby Massage Course here and learn soothing, natural techniques you can use at home today. I have a short course specific for tummy troubles called Tummy Ease.

Final Thoughts

Is fennel tea a miracle cure? Maybe not. But when combined with a nurturing routine, gut-friendly food for you, and practical tools like massage, it can make a real difference.

Colic can be incredibly hard. If you're here, you're doing your best—and that’s more than enough. Please don’t forget to check latch, position & winding, speak to a feeding consultant, and investigate other possible causes (allergies, tongue tie, gastrointestinal disorders etc) as well as having it confirmed it is colic, which can be confused with reflux. If you’re worried, always consult a healthcare provider.

But also: trust your intuition. You know your baby better than anyone.

You’re not alone. It does get better.

With love,

Casey x

Mum to Olive, Baby Massage & Yoga Instructor, Infant Feeding Specialist, and Co-Founder of The Colic Clinic.

Disclaimer: Always speak to your GP or health visitor if you're concerned about your baby’s health. This blog is for educational purposes only and not intended to replace medical advice.

Interview With a Mother - The Benefits of Baby Massage and How it Changed This Family's Life

Knowing your baby is in pain is a stressful and heart-wrenching situation that all parents find themselves in at some point. Having the tools to identify what is wrong and how to help, through baby massage, for example, is so powerful, as Anna discovered when her newborn suffered from the excruciating wind.

I love to teach baby massage; I especially love when I see first-hand how families benefit from practising massage regularly. Now it isn’t all butterflies and fairies in class and there are often times when the babies are particularly unsettled and prone to tears. One family who experienced this first-hand but managed to come out much better on the other side shared their story with me.

Anna and Nhyira’s Baby Massage Journey

Here’s a little background detail. Anna and her baby Nhyira (pronounced En-Shra) started coming to baby massage in January 2018. Anna was desperate to find a solution to Nhyira’s agonising wind. She did one public class and then dropped out of the 5-week course. Nhyira seemed very uncomfortable with her wind and began to cry halfway through the class.

Overwhelmed with emotions as a first-time mother the pressure became too much for Anna in the group environment. I invited them to come back for the following term and advised them to practise little and often at home between the courses. I interviewed them a few months after they completed their second five-week course with me and the transformation was incredible!

I thought it was definitely worth sharing this interview to help others discover the benefits of baby massage.

Ten questions with a sleep-deprived, anxious mother about her baby massage experience

What made you want to try baby massage?

‘When we first brought her home from hospital she was all scrunched up in a little ball all the time and looked red. I couldn’t work out what was wrong. I noticed she would be this way especially when she needed the toilet, so I looked online for solutions. I didn’t want to give her medicine and much preferred the idea of helping naturally. Then I found baby massage and it seemed like a really good way to do that as well as bonding. I hadn’t heard of it before I looked online.’

How old was your baby at the time?

‘She must have been just about five or six weeks at the time I started the first course. Then when we started again she was around ten weeks.’

Did you have any expectations for the course?

‘More just HOPE rather than expectations that it would help her a little bit.’

Did it meet your expectations?

‘Far excelled not only with her gas, which was a nice by-product but also (baby massage) became such a big thing of what we do together now. Massage has given her body awareness. If she has a tummy ache, she will now rub her tummy so I know it is hurting and it is generally less red these days.

It’s been amazing for both connections, the way she looks at me melts my heart. It’s also really built my confidence. You would think it would be instinctual how to help or touch your baby but it didn’t come naturally to me. The love part was but the practical touching wasn’t. I was so scared I would break her. After seeing in class what you do (how you can move your baby) you realise you won’t break them. She is now more confident with me touching her.’

What did you enjoy the most?

‘As soon as I had done it, it removed the panic from me when she was hurting, it gave me something I could do to make her feel better, she became a different child, it was magical really. I went from having a really unhappy baby where nothing I was doing could make it better and suddenly I did!

When unhappy she wouldn’t rest, she kept waking and would only sleep on me or her dad, which meant that we weren’t functioning properly.

It wasn’t instantaneous but after a few hours later. She’s so much better now. Sleeps for longer, all gas out.’

Do you know what would give her an upset stomach?

‘She’s greedy, she would guzzle and make a funny little piggy sound as she drank, wanting to eat so quickly. She didn’t eat well at first so once she learned how to latch, she guzzled.

If I don’t massage each night or not properly, or if dad does it and misses a bit out, she won’t sleep so well. The gas will wake her up. She has around a 30-minute massage every night.

I used to wake at 3am every morning to give her a massage in anticipation of her strain. I don’t need to do it now as her stomach is good enough with one before bed.

When we do massage she will fart A LOT. When I turn her around to do her back it all comes out like clockwork. Before massage, it could have been days before she could pass wind or poo.’

Who would you say the course is for (people who want to make friends, want to learn a skill, those with a poorly baby, sleep troubles)?

‘If you haven’t heard of baby massage before and think it sounds all airy-fairy and silly, with a bunch of hippies lighting candles, in reality, it is not. We’ve had so much fun and it’s been great for our bonding. I’d recommend, even if you’re sceptical it is worth giving it a go as you can get so much out of the classes.’

When was the best time of day for you to massage?

‘We always do it as part of the bedtime routine because of her wind and constipation. It was two a day for a while (7pm and 3am).’

How often would you do it?

‘Every night.’

Do you still massage now?

‘YES!’

What do you rate the course?

‘5 out of 5. If I could start over and do it again, without a doubt I would. I wouldn’t have stopped the first time either. I felt uncomfortable as she was upset and in pain.’

Casey - ‘maybe it was okay to wait because she may have been so bunged up and congested with poop that it would have made you feel more anxious each time you were in class trying to massage, uncertain if she would become upset again. It’s great that you kept up practising at home in her happy and safe space and did it little and often until she felt well enough to have more of a massage.

It is better to do one minute of massage with a baby when they’re happy and want to be massaged than the whole routine with a baby that is too uncomfortable or has other needs that they need to be met at that time. You know your baby best and you made the right decision for you both. I am so pleased you kept at it and what a beautiful result you have had!’

The Benefits of Baby Massage

It was so amazing to see how, in such a short time, Anna could help ease her baby’s wind and constipation without the need for medicine. However, she got so much more out of the course than just helping Nhyia’s tummy. If your little one suffers from tummy upsets and you’d like to try massage, make sure you contact me today to discuss your needs.

What Is Colic? What Causes It? And How Can Baby Massage And Baby Yoga Help?

What Is Colic?

Colic is the name given to the reasons behind a normally healthy baby crying and fussing over an extended period of time. One standard given by many experts is that if they cry for more than three hours a day, three days a week until the baby is around three-months-old, they are said to have colic. The exact cause of colic is unknown, but there are a number of theories as to what is behind it, such as wind, overstimulation, immature digestive system.

The good news is that there are ways to manage colic and reduce the symptoms. Both baby massage and baby yoga can relax both parent and child, release wind, help develop the digestive system and stimulate happy hormones that relieve colic as much as possible.

This infographic provides more information about colic, its causes and the ways that baby massage and baby yoga help with colic. Contact me today to learn more about both of these activities that could make life happier for you and for baby.

Suggestions for Causes of Colic:

• Baby might have an immature digestive system.

• Overstimulation may have excess wind that is causing discomfort – perhaps swallowed during feeding or crying.

• Baby Is over stimulated.

• Baby has a cows milk protein allergy.

• Baby’s Vagal nerve has impinged which can happen during delivery especially assisted delivery

Symptoms of Colic - Baby doesn’t have to display all of these signs to have colic.

• Baby’s knees are bent up to their tummy.

• They have a firm tummy.

• You can hear or feel windy bubbles in their tummy.

• The baby passes wind as they cry.

• They cry excessively.

• It is difficult to settle the baby.

• Evenings are usually the most difficult.

• They have a red or flushed face.

• Lips are blue.

• They clench their fists a lot.

How Baby Massage and Baby Yoga Helps

• Stroking, hugging and holding increases oxytocin, the love hormone.

• Higher levels of oxytocin reduce stress cortisol.

• Replicating… peristalsis, the body’s natural function to move food and wind to the lower part of the bowel.

• Relaxation encourages effective digestion.

• Massage strokes can help relieve trapped wind by replicating the body’s natural functions.

• Builds trust between baby and parent by demonstrating that you are listening to them and trying to help.

• Stimulates and develops systems within the baby’s body.