The safest and most effective teething remedies are also the simplest: a chilled teething ring, gentle gum pressure with a clean finger, or a cold washcloth for your baby to gnaw on. These low-tech approaches work by combining mild pressure and cool temperature to reduce gum inflammation, and they carry virtually no risk. Beyond these, age-appropriate doses of common pain relievers can help on rough nights, though the bar for reaching into the medicine cabinet should be higher than most parents assume. What matters just as much as knowing what works is knowing what to avoid, because several popular teething products have drawn serious safety warnings from regulators.
Why Chilled Pressure Works
When a tooth pushes through the gum tissue, it creates localized swelling and tenderness. Biting down on something firm applies counter-pressure that temporarily dulls the sensation, and cold narrows blood vessels in the area, which reduces inflammation. That two-pronged mechanism is the reason chilled teething rings, cold spoons, and even a clean wet finger rubbed along the gums have remained go-to remedies for generations.
A systematic review of teething treatments found that teething rings were among the most effective non-drug options, with parents reporting improvements in drooling, gum irritation, crying, and sleep difficulties when rings were used consistently.1Braz. oral. res. Efficacy of treatments used to relieve signs and symptoms associated with teething: a systematic review A few practical tips make these remedies safer:
- Refrigerate, don’t freeze: Liquid-filled teething rings should go in the fridge, not the freezer. A frozen ring can be hard enough to bruise tender gums and cold enough to cause discomfort rather than relief.
- Skip the boiling water: Don’t sterilize teething rings in boiling water or a dishwasher unless the manufacturer specifically says it’s safe. High heat can degrade the material or cause liquid-filled rings to leak.
- Attach to clothing, never the neck: If you clip a teething ring to your baby’s outfit to keep it within reach, make sure there’s no cord long enough to wrap around the neck.
- A cold washcloth works too: Dampen a clean washcloth, chill it in the fridge for about 15 minutes, and let your baby chew on it. The texture provides extra friction against the gums.
Applying gentle pressure with a clean finger, optionally wrapped in damp gauze, is another time-tested approach. Some babies prefer this over a ring because they can feel the warmth and responsiveness of a parent’s hand, and you can direct the pressure exactly where it’s needed.2Pediatric Oncall Journal. Problems with Teething in Children Many teething babies also find comfort in a pacifier, chewing the teat for the same pressure-based relief.
When Pain Relievers Make Sense
For most teething episodes, a chilled ring or finger massage is enough. But there are nights when nothing seems to settle your baby and the discomfort is clearly interfering with sleep or feeding. In those moments, an age-appropriate dose of acetaminophen (for babies two months and older, per most pediatric guidelines) or ibuprofen (for babies six months and older) is a reasonable step. These are well-studied, widely used medications that reduce pain and any low-grade inflammation around the erupting tooth.
The key is to treat pain relievers as a backup, not a nightly routine. Teething is intermittent; the worst discomfort tends to cluster around the few days right before a tooth breaks through, not the entire months-long process. If you find yourself reaching for acetaminophen or ibuprofen every day for more than two or three days running, it’s worth checking with your pediatrician to make sure you’re actually dealing with teething and not something else. Always follow the dosing instructions on the package or from your doctor, since infant doses are weight-based and easy to miscalculate.
Products That Regulators Have Warned Against
Some of the most heavily marketed teething products are the ones with the most serious safety concerns. Three categories deserve particular attention.
Topical Benzocaine Gels
Over-the-counter gels and liquids containing benzocaine (sold under brand names like Orajel and others) were once widely used to numb teething pain. In 2011, the FDA issued a safety communication warning that benzocaine products can cause methemoglobinemia, a condition where the blood’s ability to carry oxygen drops sharply.3PubMed Central. Pediatric Exposures to Topical Benzocaine Preparations Reported to a Statewide Poison Control System In young children, this can become life-threatening quickly. The FDA later strengthened its guidance, and benzocaine products intended for children under two are no longer sold in the U.S. If you still have a tube in the medicine cabinet from an older child, don’t use it on your teething baby.
Beyond the methemoglobinemia risk, topical numbing gels have a practical problem: saliva washes them away within minutes, so any relief is extremely short-lived. And because the gel doesn’t stay put, it can numb the back of the throat, potentially interfering with the gag reflex.
Homeopathic Teething Tablets
The FDA found that certain homeopathic teething tablets contained inconsistent and sometimes dangerously high amounts of belladonna, a toxic plant extract. In some batches, belladonna levels far exceeded what was claimed on the label.4The Brown University Child & Adolescent Psychopharmacology Update. Belladonna found in certain homeopathic teething tablets The agency urged consumers not to use these products at all. This is a case where “natural” labeling gives a false sense of safety. Homeopathic preparations are not subject to the same manufacturing standards as conventional drugs, and the belladonna inconsistency illustrates why that gap matters for an infant who weighs only a few kilograms.
Amber Teething Necklaces
Amber necklaces are marketed with the claim that body heat releases succinic acid from the beads, which then absorbs through the skin and reduces inflammation. Laboratory testing has found no evidence that succinic acid is actually released from amber beads at skin temperature, and no evidence that succinic acid has anti-inflammatory effects even if it were absorbed.5PubMed Central. Baltic amber teething necklaces: could succinic acid leaching from beads provide anti-inflammatory effects? A separate review reached the same conclusion, noting that the heat required to release succinic acid from amber far exceeds what a child’s body produces.6PubMed Central. Use of the amber teething necklace by the child population: risks versus benefits Meanwhile, the necklaces create real choking and strangulation hazards. A bead that breaks loose is the perfect size to obstruct a small airway, and any cord around a baby’s neck during sleep is dangerous.
Teething Symptoms That Are Real and Ones That Aren’t
Sorting genuine teething symptoms from illness is one of the trickiest parts of early parenthood. Studies consistently find that about three-quarters of parents attribute fever, diarrhea, and sleep disturbances to teething.7PubMed. Challenging parents’ myths regarding their children’s teething The problem is that some of these attributions are wrong, and the misattribution can delay diagnosis and treatment of genuine illness.8Journal of Comprehensive Pediatrics. Infants Teething Problems and Mothers’ Beliefs in South East of Iran
Symptoms that are well-supported as teething-related include increased drooling, gum swelling or redness over the erupting tooth, irritability, and a desire to chew on things. A very mild rise in temperature (often described as “warm” rather than truly febrile) has some support in the literature but remains debated. What the evidence does not support is the idea that teething causes high fever, significant diarrhea, rashes on the body, or vomiting. If your baby has a rectal temperature above 100.4°F (38°C), that warrants a call to the pediatrician rather than a shrug and a teething ring.
The timing contributes to the confusion. The most common first tooth to appear is the lower central incisor, typically arriving around six to ten months of age.9PubMed Central. Eruption Timing and Sequence of Primary Teeth in a Sample of Romanian Children That window overlaps exactly with the period when maternal antibodies passed during pregnancy are waning and babies are increasingly exposed to new germs through crawling and mouthing objects. Fevers and stomach bugs become more common for immunological reasons that have nothing to do with teeth, but because a tooth happens to show up at the same time, teething gets the blame.
Does Teething Actually Wreck Sleep?
Ask any parent and they’ll tell you teething ruined a stretch of nights. The perception is nearly universal, yet objective data tells a different story. A longitudinal study that used video-based sleep monitoring found no significant differences in sleep metrics between teething nights and non-teething nights, even though more than half of the participating parents reported sleep disturbances during teething episodes.10PubMed. Does Teething Disrupt Infant Sleep? A Longitudinal Auto-Videosomnography Study
That doesn’t mean parents are imagining things. It may mean that the disruption is real but brief enough or mild enough that it doesn’t move the averages when you look at entire nights of sleep data. It might also mean that parents are more attuned to every waking and fuss during a period when they already believe teething is the culprit, a kind of confirmation bias. Either way, the takeaway is reassuring: teething is unlikely to cause prolonged, severe sleep disruption on its own. If your baby’s sleep falls apart for more than a few nights, teething alone may not be the explanation.
Managing Drool Rash
One of the most visible side effects of teething isn’t in the mouth at all. The increase in saliva production can lead to drool rash, the reddened, slightly bumpy skin you see around the chin, lower cheeks, and neck folds where moisture sits against the skin. This is a form of irritant contact dermatitis, not an infection, and it responds well to simple care.
Gently pat the area dry throughout the day rather than wiping, which can irritate already-raw skin. A thin layer of petroleum jelly or a fragrance-free barrier cream on the chin and neck creates a moisture shield. Keep bibs handy and change them when they get soaked, since a wet bib pressed against the neck just extends the contact. If the rash looks cracked, oozy, or is spreading beyond the drool zone, check with your pediatrician to rule out a secondary infection or eczema flare.
Remedies That Persist Around the World Despite No Evidence
The urge to do something for a miserable baby is powerful, and cultures around the world have developed their own teething traditions. A study of mothers in southwest Ethiopia documented practices including rubbing the gums with garlic, applying herbs, rinsing with salt water, and even extracting the unerupted teeth, a practice that risks infection and damage to the developing permanent tooth underneath.11PubMed Central. Misconceptions and traditional practices towards infant teething symptoms among mothers in Southwest Ethiopia Historical records from Europe and elsewhere include lancing the gums with a blade, applying leeches, and giving infants compounds containing lead, mercury, or opium.12PubMed Central. Exploring Parental Knowledge and Indigenous Practices for Infant Teething in Indian Population: A Cross-sectional Study
These examples aren’t meant as curiosities. They illustrate something important about the psychology of teething: because the process is so common and because babies can’t articulate what they’re feeling, it becomes a magnet for folk remedies. The pattern repeats in every era and every culture. The modern equivalents, amber necklaces and unregulated homeopathic tablets, are less gruesome than gum lancing, but the underlying dynamic is the same. The best defense against ineffective or harmful remedies is knowing that the most effective options are also the most boring ones.
What the Teething Timeline Actually Looks Like
Teething isn’t one event; it’s a process that stretches over roughly two years. Most babies get their first tooth somewhere between six and twelve months, though some arrive earlier and a few don’t see a tooth until after their first birthday. The typical sequence starts with the lower central incisors, followed by the upper central incisors, then the upper lateral incisors and lower lateral incisors. First molars come next, then canines, and finally the second molars, usually completing the set of twenty primary teeth by age two and a half to three.9PubMed Central. Eruption Timing and Sequence of Primary Teeth in a Sample of Romanian Children
Each new tooth can potentially cause a few days of fussiness, but not every tooth does. Many parents report that the first few teeth and the molars are the worst, while some middle teeth seem to slip in without much complaint. The molars have a larger surface area to push through, which may account for the extra discomfort. Knowing the sequence helps you anticipate which part of the gum to focus on when you’re applying finger pressure or pointing your baby toward the right side of a teething ring.
When to Actually Call the Pediatrician
Because teething overlaps with the age when babies start getting sick more often, there’s a real danger in writing off every symptom as “just teething.” Use these as rough guides for when a phone call is worthwhile:
- Fever above 100.4°F (38°C): Teething may cause a barely perceptible temperature rise, but anything above this threshold deserves medical attention, especially in babies under three months.
- Persistent diarrhea: Loose stools for more than a day or two, or diarrhea accompanied by vomiting, needs evaluation. Dehydration can develop fast in a small baby.
- Refusal to feed: A teething baby might be fussier at the breast or bottle, but outright refusal for more than a feeding or two could signal something like an ear infection or oral thrush.
- Rash beyond the chin: Drool rash stays in the drool zone. A rash on the torso, limbs, or diaper area is not teething-related.
- Symptoms lasting more than a few days: Teething discomfort peaks around the day or two before a tooth breaks through and fades quickly once it does. Prolonged irritability and poor sleep suggest something else is going on.
A survey found that more than half of parents believed systemic symptoms like fever and diarrhea were unrelated to teething, while nearly three-quarters simultaneously attributed those same symptoms to it, a contradiction that highlights how muddled the messaging around teething really is.7PubMed. Challenging parents’ myths regarding their children’s teething The clearest rule of thumb: if you’d call the doctor about a symptom in a baby who wasn’t teething, call about it anyway.
A Practical Teething Kit
If you want to feel prepared rather than scrambling at 2 a.m., a small teething kit covers most situations. You don’t need much:
- Two or three solid teething rings: Solid silicone or rubber rings hold cold well and don’t risk leaking. Having multiples means one can live in the fridge while another is in use.
- A pack of clean washcloths: Cheap, easy to chill, easy to wash.
- Petroleum jelly or barrier cream: For the chin and neck when drooling picks up.
- Infant acetaminophen or ibuprofen: Weight-appropriate dose confirmed with your pediatrician in advance so you’re not doing math in the dark.
- Spare bibs or bandana drool bibs: Keeping the neck dry prevents rash better than treating it after it appears.
That’s genuinely all you need. No gels, no tablets, no necklaces, no gadgets with blinking lights. The simplicity of an effective teething kit is itself a useful reminder: this is a normal developmental process that every baby gets through, and the interventions that help are the gentle, low-risk ones your grandmother probably used, minus the whiskey on the gums.