Anthea Thomas's children were six-months-old when she started giving them herbal remedies to soothe them when they were distressed.

She says chamomile tea alleviated their discomfort when they were teething, and homeopathic remedies fought off bugs and viruses.

Earlier this month, the Australian Medical Association warned parents against giving herbal remedies to infants after an international study revealed almost ten per cent of American mothers had given their babies herbal products for problems such as colic and teething.

The US Food and Drug Administration surveyed more than 2,600 mothers and found herbal supplements are not fully regulated and may contain contaminants, such as heavy metals, that are potentially harmful to infants.

The AMA's WA president David Mountain says parents should consult GPs.

"I think they should treat herbal remedies as though they might be significant medications, and discuss it with their doctor before they give it to their child," he said.

Reactions

A national body of naturopaths, the Australian Birth and Parenting Network, says many mothers are seeking the benefits of natural remedies for their children.

One of the network's directors Amanda Trieger says herbal medicine has been used for thousands of years.

She says believes there's no harm in giving babies a herbal product as long as it has been prescribed by a qualified naturopath.

"It's a really difficult area to just say no, don't give your children any herbal remedies because herbal medicine is one of the number one methods used in worldwide care for everybody from the age of birth all the way up to adulthood," she says.

The FDA report revealed that in rare cases, studies have associated herbal remedies with seizures and even deaths among infants, as they are often prone to unexpected reactions from the remedies because of their small size.

The study also showed that new mothers were three times more likely to give herbal supplements to their babies if they themselves used the products.

Dr Mountain says experts typically recommend babies only receive breast milk or a medically-approved equivalent, in the first six months after birth as other liquids typically reduce their interest in milk.

And, he says there's little evidence the products have any benefit with some people suffering side effects.

"Some herbs themselves can actually have problems in that we've had people with serious problems from supposedly just herbal remedies," he said.

Regulations

The AMA says herbal remedies are poorly regulated in Australia because they're classified as a food product, rather than a drug.

"There are real concerns that this is an unregulated industry to a large degree, and many of these products can contain things other than the herb they talk about," Dr Mountain said.

Ms Trieger says the danger lies with parents medicating their children without seeking advice.

"You really do need to make sure that you're going to someone that's a qualified specialist, as there can be some contraindications with medications," she said.

"You really need to make sure you're not self-medicating with herbal medicine, and are seeing a qualified practitioner."

Ms Trieger says the network's main objective is to register practitioners in the field of pre-natal pregnancy and early parenting, to ensure parents are seeking help from credible sources.

Ms Thomas says as well as seeking advice from a specialist, parents should always think about what they give their children.

"I think we should be getting back to nature, instead of pumping our kids with unecessary medicines," she says.

Dr Mountain has a very different point of view and says parents should not be giving herbal remedies to infants.

He says the AMA has consistently tried to push the Federal Government for stronger regulation of the industry.

Its main aim is for the remedies to be classified as medical products so they're subject to the same laws as conventional medicine.

"I don't think there's any place for this, certainly in very young children, these things are not proven and many are not tested properly so you don't know what's added to them," he said.