Some of the health benefits of rooibos tea for babies include promoting healthy digestion. It is also helps your baby sleep peacefully. Rooibos tea is rich in Vitamin C and  antioxidants that help fight free radicals in your baby’s body. It is anti-allergic. It is a store house of essential minerals for your baby. These are needed for healthy growth and development.

What is Rooibos Tea?

Rooibos is a lovely fragrant herbal tea. It is red in color. The tea is naturally sweet in taste. It also has a pleasing floral smell. It grows exclusively in South Africa in the Ceder berg Mountains. The bush looks nothing like a traditional tea plant.

The leaves of the rooibos plant are dried and naturally fermented. This gives them the vibrant red color. A herbal tea made with the dried leaves has numerous health benefits for your baby. It reduces the intake of artificial sweeteners by your baby.

Read More: Rooibos Tea During Pregnancy: Benefits and Side Effects

How Can I Introduce Rooibos Tea to My Baby?

It is very safe to give to infants. You can start once your baby is 4 – 6 months old. Before this breast-milk is the best for your baby. It is a healthy beverage that you can give your baby alternately with water.

You can give your child herbal rooibos tea. You can also serve it as an iced tea or iced lolly. It acts as a good pacifier for babies suffering from colic. There is no need to add sugar as the tea is naturally sweet.

Health Benefits of Rooibos Tea for Babies

There are amazing health benefits of this herbal tea for your baby. Here we will look at 11 top health benefits of rooibos tea.

High Mineral Content

Rooibos tea is rich in several minerals These are essential to your baby’s health. They are needed for proper growth and development. It is a rich source of magnesium. This mineral is needed for proper development of your baby’s central nervous system.

It is also a good source of manganese and calcium. These minerals are essential for strong teeth and bones. It contains iron. This helps in proper transport of oxygen in the body. There is also high content of zinc. Zinc is important for your baby’s metabolism.

Good For Baby’s Digestion

This tea is rich in antispasmodic agents. These help in calming your baby’s digestion. It is very effective in treating diarrhoea, nausea, and vomiting in your baby. This is due to the presence of high amounts of flavonoids present.

Helps Relieve Colic Pains

Rooibos tea is a safe and natural remedy for treating colic in babies. There are no side effects to using this herbal tea. The antispasmodic agents present in the tea helps calm your baby’s stomach. It is also very good at getting rid of stomach cramps. Letting your baby have the tea regularly can go a long way in treating colic pains. It also allows your baby to sleep peacefully by providing relief.

Caffeine Free

This tea has no caffeine component. This makes it free of the side effects that are present in drinks which contain caffeine. It is perfectly safe option for an alternate beverage for your infants. The absence of caffeine in the tea makes it absolutely safe for consumption by your little one. Absence of caffeine also reduces the risk of chemical treatments needed to remove it.

Powerful Antioxidant Properties

Rooibos tea is a rich source of antioxidants. These help protect your little one’s body. The antioxidants present in rooibos tea help fight the harmful free radicals in your baby’s body. Free radicals attack the healthy cells in your child’s body. These can result in serious health concerns, including heart diseases.

Improves Circulation

Chysoeriol is an antioxidant present in rooibos tea. This is a very potent antioxidant. It is very helpful in improving your baby’s circulation. This is done by preventing activities of enzymes that may be harmful to your little one’s heart. Giving your baby this tea regularly can also help prevent the building up of cholesterol.

Helps in Treating Allergies

Rooibos tea is very effective in treating allergies. It has been used by doctors in South Africa to treat cases of eczema and allergy related bronchitis. It is also used in treating hay fever in children. The lack of harmful chemicals in this herbal remedy makes it a safe choice for young children. It is also used in treating asthma in children. It can also be applied topically to treat skin allergies. This is due to its powerful anti-inflammatory properties.

Read More: The Ultimate Guide To Baby Allergies

Improves Bone Health

Rooibos tea has a high content of minerals that are essential for healthy bones in your baby. These include calcium, magnesium, and fluoride. You can find the use of fluoride in almost all toothpastes available in the market today. That is because this mineral in essential for healthy and strong teeth. Feeding this tea to your baby is a good way to ensure healthy teeth and bones.

Anti-inflammatory

This herbal tea is also great for topical application It is used for its anti-inflammatory properties to provide relief from irritated skin conditions in your baby. These can include diaper rash, sunburn, and eczema. It helps relieve your baby’s skin from itchiness. This is a far safer option for your little one as there are no harmful chemicals to worry about.

Low in Tannin’s

High levels of tannin’s in your baby’s body can be harmful. This causes reduced absorption of iron in his or her body. Rooibos tea is low in tannin’s. This helps boost the absorption of iron in the body. Unlike other black teas available in the market, rooibos tea has a much lower content of tannin’s. This makes it a better option for your baby. It helps prevent anemia in your baby.

Regulates Sugar Intake in Your Baby

Rooibos tea is naturally sweet. There is no need to added artificial sweeteners. This is great news for mothers who worry about the amount of sugar ingested by their baby. It is also less acidic than processed fruit juices which makes it a healthy and tasty alternative beverage for your baby.

Caution For Usage:

Generally speaking rooibos tea is very safe. Although there are certain side effects they are very rare. You should still be careful about the amount consumed by your baby.

Be sure to consult your doctor before you introduce this or any other new item of food in your child’s diet. Remember to wait three days between any two new items in your child’s diet. This way in case there is an allergic reaction you will know which item caused it.

Sources:

• Effects of Consumption of Rooibos 
• Rooibos Tea: Research into Antioxidant and Antimutagenic Properties