Most babies start teething around 6 months of age, and the discomfort is real but manageable. The best things you can do are offer something cold and safe to chew on, keep your baby’s skin dry from excess drool, and use infant pain relievers only when needed. Most teething episodes pass in a few days per tooth, and simple home remedies handle the worst of it.
What Teething Actually Looks Like
Teething can look different from one baby to the next, but there’s a consistent pattern of signs. You’ll likely notice red, swollen gums where a tooth is pushing through, along with a big increase in drooling. Your baby may gnaw on anything they can get their hands on, including their own fists, toys, and your fingers.
Beyond the obvious mouth symptoms, teething often causes fussiness, disrupted sleep, ear rubbing on the side where the tooth is coming in, one flushed cheek, and sometimes a facial rash from all that extra saliva. Your baby may also have a slightly elevated temperature, but this is an important distinction: teething does not cause a true fever. A fever is defined as 100.4°F (38°C) or higher. Teething might bump your baby’s temperature up slightly, but it won’t cross that line. If your baby hits 100.4°F or above, something else is going on and it shouldn’t be dismissed as “just teething.”
Cold and Pressure: The Best First-Line Relief
Babies instinctively want to chew when they’re teething because pressure on the gums helps counteract the pain of a tooth pushing through. Your job is to give them something safe, clean, and ideally cold to chew on.
A wet washcloth chilled in the freezer for 15 to 30 minutes is one of the simplest and most effective options. It’s cold enough to numb the gums, textured enough to provide satisfying pressure, and easy to wash after each use. You can also try a frozen banana or frozen berries (if your baby has started solids), a frozen bagel, or even just your clean finger pressed firmly against the gums.
For teething rings, solid silicone or latex rings are the safest choices. Chill them in the fridge or freezer, but pull them out before they get rock hard. Avoid liquid-filled plastic teething rings, which have been linked to recalls because bacteria can grow inside the liquid and babies can bite through the ring. If you’re trying to limit plastics altogether, the washcloth method or a tightly rolled cotton sock works well. Whatever you use, clean it after every session.
When To Use Pain Medication
If cold items and chewing aren’t enough, infant acetaminophen (Tylenol) is safe for babies 3 months and older. Infant ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) can be used starting at 6 months. Both are dosed by weight, not age, so check the packaging or ask your pediatrician for the right amount. These medications work well for the worst teething nights when your baby can’t settle down to sleep, but they’re not meant for round-the-clock use over many days.
Products To Avoid
Several popular teething products are genuinely dangerous, and the FDA has issued specific warnings about them.
Topical numbing gels and liquids containing benzocaine or lidocaine should not be used on teething babies. Benzocaine can cause a condition called methemoglobinemia, where red blood cells lose their ability to carry oxygen effectively. This can be fatal. Prescription lidocaine solutions are equally risky, with documented cases of seizures, heart problems, severe brain injury, and death in infants. Beyond the safety concerns, these products don’t even work particularly well. They wash off quickly with saliva and provide only seconds of relief.
Homeopathic teething tablets are also off the table. The FDA found that tablets marketed by major brands contained wildly inconsistent levels of belladonna (a toxic plant), with some tablets containing far more than what the labels stated. The agency urged parents to throw away any homeopathic teething tablets they have at home.
Managing Drool Rash
All that extra saliva has to go somewhere, and it often ends up irritating the skin around your baby’s mouth, chin, neck folds, and chest. Drool rash shows up as red, slightly bumpy, chapped-looking skin. It’s not serious, but it’s uncomfortable and can get worse if left untreated.
Prevention is mostly about keeping the area dry. Keep a soft burp cloth nearby and gently blot (don’t rub) saliva away throughout the day, especially after feedings and naps. Check the neck folds and chest where drool pools. A bib helps keep saliva off your baby’s shirt and skin. Swap it out for a dry one when it gets damp. If your baby uses a pacifier, give them breaks from it so the skin around the mouth can air out.
If a rash does develop, wash the area gently with warm water twice a day and pat dry with a soft cloth. Once the skin is completely dry, apply a layer of petroleum jelly or a healing ointment like Aquaphor. This creates a barrier that protects the skin from further contact with saliva and lets it heal underneath. Don’t use medicated soaps, lotions, or anything other than a plain barrier ointment on the rash. Avoid scrubbing or overwashing, which makes things worse.
The Teething Timeline
Babies are born with 20 primary teeth waiting below the gumline. The lower front teeth (central incisors) typically appear first, usually around 6 months, followed closely by the upper front teeth. From there, teeth generally fill in from front to back, with the lateral incisors, first molars, canines, and second molars arriving over the next two years. Most children have their full set of 20 baby teeth by age 3.
Not every tooth causes the same amount of trouble. The first few teeth and the molars tend to be the most uncomfortable because they’re breaking through intact gum tissue or have large, flat surfaces that create more pressure. Some teeth slip through with barely any fuss at all.
First Dental Visit
The American Dental Association recommends scheduling your baby’s first dental visit sometime between when the first tooth appears and their first birthday. This visit is more about establishing a baseline and catching any early issues than it is about cleaning. Your dentist can also show you how to properly clean those new teeth, which at this stage means wiping them gently with a soft, damp cloth or using an infant toothbrush with a rice-grain-sized smear of fluoride toothpaste.