Best Teething Gels for Baby
Having children is about a lot of different events. Some of these are exciting, others not so much, and some others an uproar of mixed emotions. Take teething for instance. It is one of the milestones that every parent and caregiver expects to see in their children. But with this excitement comes some pains both for the baby and parents.
Think about it – the teeth erupt or break out through the gums – a painful process that can have your little ones in a notable level of discomfort. It is awful seeing your little one in such natural pain, but be that as it may, you can do something to help relieve this stress, and that is to invest in the best teething gels for baby you can find. Before you run off and buy any of those, we implore you to take a few minutes and read through this carefully researched content to help you make better decisions.
How Did We Pick the Best Teething Gels for Baby?
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Best Overall
Baby Orajel Non-Medicated Cooling Gels for Teething
Key Features
- No artificial flavors
- For babies that are three months plus
- Safe ingredients – benzocaine free
- Non-medicated
- Cooling effect
Why It is Better?
- Safe and organic
- Convenient sensation
- Easy to use
- Can be used at any time of day
- Why Do You Need Teething Gels for Baby?
- How to Pick Right Baby Teething Gel
- Top 3 Best Teething Gels for Baby
- 1. Baby Orajel Non-Medicated Cooling Gels for Teething
- 2. BOIRON Camilia Baby Teething
- 3. Dr. Talbot’s Natural Soothing Gel for Sore Gums
- Are Teething Gels for Baby Safe?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
Why Do You Need Teething Gels for Baby?
So, what exactly is a teething gel and why do you need it for your little baby? It is simply a thick and slightly sticky substance rubbed into the gums of teething babies to relieve the pain of the process. The effectiveness of this substance is seen in its ability to numb the area where it is applied, in this case, the gums.
The numbing reduces the pains of having a solid object slowly but forcefully breaking through their tender gums. It makes it easier for them to carry on with other things, especially feeding, without going through as much stress.
Using this gel is one of the most popular ways of resolving most of the stressful symptoms of teething. It reduces irritability in babies as a result of teething, which may cause them to cry for more than three hours every day. This crying on end is known as colic and can cause your baby to develop other complications such as fevers and even colds.
Aside from calming their irritable nerves, this product also works well when it comes to reducing inflammation. Again, having a solid object shoot through your flesh is not just painful, it also causes the affected area to get swollen, bringing with it a level of discomfort for your poor little baby. With the help of the gel, the inflammation can be dealt with and you and your baby can live stress-free and happy.
How to Pick Right Baby Teething Gel
Though we recommend the use of teething gels for baby, we need you to always remember that there are a lot of substandard products with some hidden dangerous contents in them. It would be in the best interest of you and your baby if you take the time to do some research work and read through publications like this one to help you make an informed decision.
We took some points into consideration in the course of our research, and they include:
- Brands: There are different brands on the market producing these gels, but a lot of them are not to be trusted. Be sure to purchase only from verifiable brands with trusted reviews. It also helps if the brand has been around for a while. That way, you can consult other people who might have used such brands before to get more informed before making your decision. Some of the brands we recommend include Nuby, Orajel, and Boiron. They carry great products that are both effective and safe.
- Ingredients: It is crucial that you understand what you are putting in your baby’s body and apply great caution. Unlike the body of an adult, a baby’s body is quite tender with an immune system that is still in development. One of the ingredients that you should be cautious about is benzocaine. This substance has been flagged by health authorities and a lot of companies are beginning to exclude it from their list of ingredients.
- Age factor: There are different gels for babies of different ages, and it is important to take that into consideration for maximum effectiveness. When you get a product for babies younger than yours, you may not see any active results at the end. Also, if you get a product that is meant for babies older than yours, your baby might suffer from overdose and other complications. So, it is important to stick to the correct age range.
- Effectiveness: You want a product that is safe and effective for your little one, not something that would bring few results or nothing at all. In that case, you have to follow verified recommendations in hopes that they will work for you as they did for others. An effective baby teething gel should help the baby’s pain go away to a reasonable extent. Teething makes children lose appetite and develop some inflammation and drooling. A product that can alleviate these effects and help the teeth push through can be said to be effective.
- Ease of use: It may not sound like a lot, but the design of the container of the gel is quite important, not just for aesthetic purposes, but for ease of use. You do not want to get a product that requires a lot of time to open, close, or to apply to your baby’s gums.
- Ease of use: It may not sound like a lot, but the design of the container of the gel is quite important, not just for aesthetic purposes, but for ease of use. You do not want to get a product that requires a lot of time to open, close, or to apply to your baby’s gums.
Top 3 Best Teething Gels for Baby
After extensive research, we discovered that the following products are good and would be a great recommendation to our readers who are looking for the best teething gels for baby. They have all of the qualities that we described above and even more.
Before we jump right into the list, we would also like to point out that our list is a rather short list of just three products. These products were the few that we are sure of. We understand that health authorities are trying to stop people from selling most of the gels in that market, and quite frankly, we do not blame them for doing so. A lot of these gels, even though they are effective, have harmful substances in them. So, here are the few that are safe for your little one. So, onto our short list.
1. Baby Orajel Non-Medicated Cooling Gels for Teething Review
Key Features
- No artificial flavors
- For babies that are three months plus
- Safe ingredients – benzocaine free
- Non-medicated
- Cooling effect
We Like
- Safe and organic
- Convenient sensation
- Easy to use
- Can be used at any time of day
We Don’t Like
- Might cause baby to drool
This is one of the products without any artificial flavors that can be described as the best natural teething gel you can use for your baby. It is safe in the sense that it does not contain even artificial flavors. More importantly, it does not contain benzocaine. This is the complete package, and health authorities would not have bothered flagging teething gels if they were all this good or even close.
This product is specifically meant for babies that are at least three months old, which is ideal considering that most kids start teething from that age and above. It is non-medicated, so you do not have to be bothered about the harmful effects that medications usually have on the human body.
When applied to the gums, it leaves the baby with a cooling effect, bringing them some level of convenience. Aside from the feeling and convenience, it also works effectively in reducing teething symptoms like inflammation, soreness, and so on. It comes in a well-designed tube that is easy to use and does not cost much.
2. BOIRON Camilia Baby Teething Review
Key Features
- For babies who are one month plus
- Free of preservatives
- Benzocaine-free
- Active ingredients include Chamomilla 9C HPUS, Phytolacca decondra 5C HPUS, and Rheum 5C HPUS
We Like
- Does not interact with any known health conditions
- Effective in reducing pain
- Can be used at any time of day
- Easy oral usage
We Don’t Like
- Is a bit pricey
If your child is an early teether, the Camilia Boiron teething gel is the product for you. It was designed with smaller babies of a month plus in mind taking into consideration their tender age and body chemistry. It does not contain any preservatives or benzocaine, so it is 100% safe for your little one.
One interesting thing about this gel is its level of effectiveness and the fact that it does not have side effects. The active ingredients were carefully selected, not just to soothe the pains of teething, but also to take care of other symptoms that come with it. Chamomilla 9C HPUS relieves soreness and irritability, Phytolacca decondra 5C HPUS addresses painful gums, and Rheum 5C HPUS is great for minor digestive disorders associated with teething.
Other interesting benefits of this product include its convenience – it comes in a 15, 30, or 40 pack containing single-use pouches that you can pop open, administer to your baby’s gums, and then throw out. It does not affect any known medical conditions, it is cost-effective, and can be used at any time of day.
3. Dr. Talbot’s Natural Soothing Gel for Sore Gums Review
Key Features
- Available in two packs
- Tube-like design
- Free of benzocaine and other harmful substances
- Suitable for zero plus
We Like
- Safe contents
- Fast relief
- Approved by health authorities
- Comes in an interesting tube design
- Bonus massaging brush and gum-eez teether
We Don’t Like
- Works differently for different users
- May be too mild or ineffective for some babies
If you are looking for a way to help your baby to develop good dental practices, then this product would be a great fit for you. We are pretty sure that all parents want their little ones to understand and apply healthy dental practices, and this product comes in handy. It comes in a tubular form similar to toothpaste, which is convenient to a great extent. It also comes with some bonus extras like the massaging brush and gum-eez teether.
It can be used at any time of the day conveniently, it is cost-effective, and it does not contain any harmful substances like benzocaine and preservatives.
There are a lot of great reviews online about this product, but there are also some others that are not so great. Let us quickly add at this juncture that this product is designed to be as mild as possible seeing that it is meant for the earliest teethers. On that note, it may not work quite as well for older babies and may be too mild to the point of ineffectiveness.
Are Teething Gels for Baby Safe?
Like we mentioned earlier, the FDA – Food and Drug Administration – is trying to discourage the use of these products because they may contain harmful substances, especially benzocaine. According to the FDA, using this substance on children that are less than two years of age can result in methemoglobinemia.
What is methemoglobinemia, you may ask? It is a health condition where the amount of oxygen in the body is greatly reduced when there is an excess of a hemoglobin, known as methemoglobin, in the body. It can result in side effects such as:
- Dizziness
- Rapid heart rate
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue
- Skin discoloration
This hemoglobin, which functions as an anesthetic, can be used in other products used by people above two years of age. Example include:
- Bug bite treatments
- Sexual enhancers
- Boil treatments
- Sore throat treatments
It may not be as risky when used by adults or children above two years, but that much cannot be said for younger kids. Their immune system is still developing and is not strong enough to handle such a substance. Aside from the symptoms mentioned above, this substance can result in more fatal situations and even death when used in underaged kids.
Other substances found in a lot of teething gels that are not recommended by the FDA include viscous lidocaine and homeopathic-labeled products. To be on the safe side, the best thing to do is consult your doctor before using any of these gels on your baby.
Finally, to answer the question, “Are teething gels safe for babies?” We would say yes, as long as they do not contain any risky substances like viscous lidocaine, benzocaine, or are homeopathic-labeled – which is what we have on our list above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Every brand of teething gels for baby used to be safe for little ones up until some health authorities started researching and found out that most of them contain benzocaine and other substances that are unsafe for kids, especially below the age of two. People are naturally going to want to ask a lot of questions and we have tried our best to answer them in the most comprehensive way possible.
Not all of the products out there are purely organic. This does not mean that they are not safe for your babies, but it is understandable if you wish to go for all-natural products just to be absolutely sure of what you are administering to your baby. All of the products on our list are purely organic and can guarantee your baby’s safety, relief, and convenience. Keep in mind that the all-natural gels require a more frequent application, which you have to keep up with consistently if you wish to see results.
For a more effective application, you can apply the gel on your baby’s teething toys like pacifiers, or on the teat of her feeding bottle, preferable after feeding with it when and there is nothing left in the bottle. This method of application may cause the product to get all over the affected area and might reduce the dosage required.
Nuby, Boiron, and Orajel, and the brands that we recommend. To the best of our knowledge, they fit the standard of FDA and have received multiple reviews from customers talking about how great their products are. If you must try any other brand, take the time to talk to your healthcare expert about it before using it.
Nope, baby gel products do not contain alcohol. It is a dangerously poisonous substance that should not be used in baby products. It can suppress the central nervous system and cause seizures, coma, low blood sugar, and in rare cases, death.
Conclusion
From what we have said about teething gels for baby, it is obvious that one has to be extremely cautious in purchasing them to ensure that you do not buy a product that is unsafe for your little one. Experts recommend buying only safe products, and we have heeded to that recommendation by reviewing nothing but the safest baby gels out there, even if there are only three.
Always talk to your doctor if you must use these products, not just to confirm their safety, but to also understand what they are all about and the best ways to use them for more effective results. Ensure that you find out is how often it can be applied and make sure that you follow the instructions consistently.
We already mentioned some of the side effects of using unsafe baby gels. If you notice any abnormality in breathing, skin discoloration, or any other strange occurrences, do not hesitate to report it to your doctor immediately.