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Affordable, fast, safe teething remedy to try as an alternative to toxic “drug-free” baby teething gels available over-the-counter.
When my kids were babies, teething gels contained the chemical benzocaine as the active ingredient.
The FDA has issued repeated warnings about benzocaine over the years, finally taking action in 2018 to remove it from the market in products like Anbesol and Baby Orajel. (1)
Under certain conditions, benzocaine can trigger a rare and sometimes fatal blood condition called methemoglobinemia which causes dangerously low oxygen levels in the blood with resulting symptoms of ashen, gray, or blue-colored skin, lips and fingernail beds, shortness of breath, headache, light-headedness and rapid heart rate possible.
The scary symptoms triggered by benzocaine in baby teething gels can occur within minutes or even hours. Methemoglobinemia can occur the first time the product is used or much later after several uses even when the child appeared fine previously.
Non-Medicated Teething Gels Are Toxic
Unfortunately, the benzocaine-free teething gels that are newer on the market are not much better!
They are still highly toxic with numerous undesirable and dangerous ingredients.
Check out the label below for the popular brand Orajel’s Daytime and Nighttime baby teething gels.
I mean, SERIOUSLY?
Starting with a sketchy first ingredient…chlorinated and likely fluoridated tap water…barely a single thing in this list is safe, especially for a baby who has no developed blood-brain barrier protection yet.
From the carcinogenic saccharin sweetener to propylene glycol (edible antifreeze which causes loose bowels already a problem for a teething baby), GMO citric acid, and artificial flavor….this stuff is a nightmare!
Other Teething Remedies
While a chilled teething ring as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics may seem safer, I personally didn’t want my children chomping on plastic.
Chewing on a synthetic substance might introduce another chemical danger to their vulnerable little bodies.
Swapping one chemical cocktail (teething gels) for another (plastic) doesn’t seem like a good idea at least to me.
I never tried an amber necklace, as they seemed to be a possible choking or strangulation hazard. The FDA issued a formal warning about them in 2018. (2)
Massaging the gums does help but is not always practical.
For example, if you are trying to get baby to sleep and she won’t lie still due to teething discomfort, this approach is probably not going to work!
Homeopathy for Teething
In cases where you need help with teething pain right away, I suggest trying these homeopathic baby oral relief tablets.
The tiny white pills that dissolve under the tongue are sweetened with lactose, a natural sugar abundant in breastmilk.
No white sugar or artificial anything is added.
Since they dissolve with no chewing, even babies with no teeth can easily take them.
As a bonus, homeopathic teething pills are quite inexpensive like many homeopathic remedies I’ve used.
I can’t tell you how many times I had a crying, fussy child in discomfort from teething pain who calmed down and went to sleep within minutes of having a couple of these tiny homeopathic pills placed under the tongue!
My husband and I used to call this homeopathic teething remedy “magic pills” because of how amazingly fast and effective they were with all three of our children.
For any homeopathy doubters out there, the effect is not a placebo effect either. A baby who is still nonverbal wouldn’t even know what this meant anyway.
My suggestion is to skip the dangerous, over-the-counter gels and other teething remedies containing toxic chemicals to soothe your irritable child.
Give homeopathy a try! Hopefully, you will be as delighted as we were with the nontoxic, effective results!
It’s certainly worth a shot given how affordable they are and no doctor visit is required to obtain them!
(1) FDA Takes Action on Benzocaine teething products
(2) FDA warns about safety risks of teething necklaces, bracelets to relieve teething pain or to provide sensory stimulation
More Information
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What is the True Cause of Crooked Teeth?
10 Signs Your Dentist Is Truly Holistic
Avoiding Root Canals with Diet Alone
I just nursed my daughter more when she was teething and didn’t really need much else. Good to know about the pulls though for when other Moms ask for advice 🙂
i used teething tablets with both my children. They are amazing!
My 2 y.o. has teethed without problems so far, but he’s got 4 more molars to go, so I’ll keep Hyland’s in mind just in case. Thanks for the great article! =)
Hylands teething tablets are a great product! We used them with our babies. But we also had an opportunity to get some feedback from our older son, who took some for teething pain around age 6 or so! He reported that they did indeed help with the pain, and he asked for more whenever his teeth hurt again.
Is the recall/stop in production on these teething tablets over? If so, hooray! I used them with my daughter, but just as she was getting molars there was a massive recall and they stopped making them. I remember there being valid safety concerns with Hyland’s equipment not measuring the tablet’s ingredients accurately. I hope they have gotten their issues remedied (since belladonna is not something you want your child having in more than homeopathic quantities). I felt these were the safest alternative for my baby and they worked well too.
I just checked the Hyland’s website, and the stop in production IS over! I guess it is safe for me to have another baby now;-) I am only patially kidding–my daughter had a horrible time with teething. Thanks for letting me know, Sarah!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/loveamber/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686
Amber Necklaces and anklets / bracelets available here
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/loveamber/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686
I have recently introduced raw milk products into my family’s diet about a week ago. Everything has been going good until last night. My 2 and a half year old son vomited in the middle of the night out of nowhere and really scared my husband and I. We have been eating raw cheese, butter, milk, cream, and kefir. I made my own home made sour cream two days ago. I used the oven as a warm spot with the oven light on. I had to use the oven for dinner but I tried to make sure the oven was cooled down enough to put the sour cream back in. After I let the cream cool in the fridge, I ate it and I thought it tasted a little funny but my husband ate it and he thought it tasted fine. I thought maybe it was because it was my 1st time making and I needed to get used to it or something. My entire family ate the cream yesterday and by night time my husband had a little diarrhea and then my son vomited. I just don’t know what happened or what’s going on? You think maybe the oven was too warm and it killed the good bacteria and let the bad bacteria grow? I don’t want to stop using the raw milk products at all. Since going on the GAPS diet my husband has lost 25 pounds without even trying to lose weight and his energy levels have skyrocketed. My son’s face which had a little eczema is almost gone. Please let me know what you think. My son is acting totally normal and hasnt vomited today at all. A little fever though at 100.0. Me and my youngest, hes 1, we’re both fine. No diarrhea or anything. I know you’re not a doctor but you are knowledgeable in this area so I’d really like your opinion. Thank you.
Sarah, thank you so much for posting this! My family has used these and I recommend them to my patients all the time (I’m a chiropractor). The same wonderful results I get from my little patients as you described here and many parents who now have a better night’s sleep. On a side note–we love your site and recommend it daily. We became WAP chapter leaders in January and so many people in our community are learning the benefits of traditional food preparation and eating. It’s wonderful to see the transformation!
We use Hylands with our 3rd just as we had the first 2 and they work great. When I researched the voluntary pulling them off the shelf, it was due to process controls, not anyone actually being affected. But a couple months ago when my wife bought them at the local Hy-Vee, they told her she had to wait to talk to the pharmacist first. So he comes out and warns her how dangerous they are because they have poison in them, and do we really want our kids ingesting poison? She was so caught off guard, she didn’t know what to say. I would have loved to ask if he makes the same warning to everyone buying toothpaste with fluoride or warn people not to take their meds with tap water filled with chlorine and/or fluoride. Needless to say, we are using them especially since my 13 month old has 4 molars coming in 🙁