Thoughts on Orajel for teething

SapphireDreamRock

I think DD has more teeth on the way. Her daycare suggested bringing in Orajel, but I've read that the FDA put out a warning agst it. Any safer alternatives?
What about the vibrating teethers?
I've read about babies batteries and am not sure giving dd a teether w/ a battery is the best solution anyway.
TIA

sooner1981

You are right. Orajel is definitely not recommended anymore because it can cause a baby to be unable to store oxygen in his blood.

We are doing frozen washclothes, frozen teethers, frozen fruit, veggies, or milk in a mesh teether, etc.

We also stay away from Hylands Teething Tablets because of the risk of belladonna poisoning and the lack of FDA regulation, but I know that other people don't worry about those issues and think they help...

Jen0204

Orajel makes a natural version that's safe. It's the benzocaine that's an issue. We like the Hyland teething tablets, although I believe I read that there might be an issue with those somewhere too. I'm a firm believer in moderation. We bought one little container of tablets around 3 months and still have some left and have had no issues. We have the natural gel, but they like tablets better. I don't know that I believe that they really help the pain - they seem more interested at having something in their mouth then anything else, so I wonder if its just really a tool of distraction.

Jen0204

sooner1981:

We also stay away from Hylands Teething Tablets because of the risk of belladonna poisoning and the lack of FDA regulation, but I know that other people don't worry about those issues and think they help...

i read that you'd have to give them an obscene amount of the tablets to be at risk. I think I read that on their website so it's obviously biased but after reading that I decided I was comfortable with using it since we use them so infrequently (a few times a month, and always just once a day).  

cheese.fiend

sooner1981:

You are right. Orajel is definitely not recommended anymore because it can cause a baby to be unable to store oxygen in his blood. We are doing frozen washclothes, frozen teethers, frozen fruit, veggies, or milk in a mesh teether, etc. We also stay away from Hylands Teething Tablets because of the risk of belladonna poisoning and the lack of FDA regulation, but I know that other people don't worry about those issues and think they help...

All of this... I've asked three different pediatricians at our practice {ours at her 4 month checkup and then two others that we've seen for sick visits} and all three said they didn't recomment Orajel {even the Natural version} or Hylands.

Like sooner, we do the frozen teethers or frozen fruit / ice in the mesh teether.  Those help, but she seems to prefer chewing on anything super hard the most... ie: the links that attach toys to her stroller or bouncer, non-toxic wooden toys, etc.  

sooner1981

Jen, we use frozen fruit and veggies or even puffs to distract. I agree that sometimes they just need to forget about the teething for a few minutes and reset.

Jen0204

Yeah, they like chewing on carrots and even the rubber top to H's water bottle. I've also wrapped an ice cube in a washcloth and held it and let one chew on it and they seemed very intrigued by that.

Amberrrr

No!!! I'm terrified of Orajel.

bluejayway

I haven't used Orajel on my DD2, but we have used Hylands. Like pp said, you would need an obscene amount to have an effect.
As far as Orajel goes, we used it sparingly with my older DD. Benzocaine can be dangerous if you have a disease called methmoglobinemia, which is rare. And also if used in large amounts, where it might numb the gag reflex and cause choking on one's own saliva, etc.
I think you will get a wide range of varying opinions with pediatricians. Ours said to use a teeny amount, if any, but that the dangers had been blown out of proportion. My older DD loved the taste and it helped her a lot on some of her bigger molars. But, we had to be careful not to use too often or too much.

noryang

Jen0204:

sooner1981:

We also stay away from Hylands Teething Tablets because of the risk of belladonna poisoning and the lack of FDA regulation, but I know that other people don't worry about those issues and think they help...

i read that you'd have to give them an obscene amount of the tablets to be at risk. I think I read that on their website so it's obviously biased but after reading that I decided I was comfortable with using it since we use them so infrequently (a few times a month, and always just once a day).  

Hylands is totally safe. There is no risk of belladonna poisoning. Furthermore, I think FDA regulation is highly overrated in this instance. It doesn't mean much. There are numerous products have they regulated that have turned out to be very dangerous.

sooner1981

Hmm...I can't take your word for it that there is no risk for belladonna poisoning when kids did, indeed, get belladonna poisoning from injesting Hylands teething tablets just about 2 years ago. I am sure their parents wouldn't agree that it is totally safe. Also, the fact that those kids were poisoned by the tablets means that I also don't agree that companies should be allowed to produce socalled medicine without FDA supervision.

And for all the people who say that Hylands would have to be ingested in huge doses to have any effect, then why do you give them to your LOs, if other than just trying to distract them by introducing a new taste? I am just curious?

ALane1128

If you freeze your teething rings, make sure you can freeze them 1st. Not all teethers are meant to go in the freezer! Doing so can cause them to break in your lo's mouth.

We prefer to put apples/frozen bm etc in the mesh feeders over orajel

ALane1128

sooner1981:

Hmm...I can't take your word for it that there is no risk for belladonna poisoning when kids did, indeed, get belladonna poisoning from injesting Hylands teething tablets just about 2 years ago. I am sure their parents wouldn't agree that it is totally safe. Also, the fact that those kids were poisoned by the tablets means that I also don't agree that companies should be allowed to produce socalled medicine without FDA supervision.

And for all the people who say that Hylands would have to be ingested in huge doses to have any effect, then why do you give them to your LOs, if other than just trying to distract them by introducing a new taste? I am just curious?

I thought that's why they removed the product from shelves like a year an a half ago, reformulated and released the new product with different dosages? I'm not trying to start an argument...I just really thought they adjusted everything so that the belladonna poisoning wouldn't happen

sooner1981

I agree that they recalled the product and have rereleased it, promising that they fixed the massive production issues that caused certain batches of tablets to contain real, serious quantities of belladonna commonly called deadly nightshade.

But since they aren't regulated by the FDA, since they claim to be selling tablets that contain zero amount of active ingredients that might actually do our LOs any good, their promises don't really carry much weight with me. Again, this is just my opinion. But I don't like companies that avoid FDA regulations by labeling their products homeopathic, while, in reality, including active medicine like belladonna to ensure that their products actually work. It either includes active medicine which would mean that it might work, and thus should be regulated by the FDA, or it doesn't contain any active medicine and doesn't work, in which case no FDA approval necessary. There is no third option...

MollySm

sooner1981:

I agree that they recalled the product and have rereleased it, promising that they fixed the massive production issues that caused certain batches of tablets to contain real, serious quantities of belladonna commonly called deadly nightshade. But since they aren't regulated by the FDA, since they claim to be selling tablets that contain zero amount of active ingredients that might actually do our LOs any good, their promises don't really carry much weight with me. Again, this is just my opinion. But I don't like companies that avoid FDA regulations by labeling their products homeopathic, while, in reality, including active medicine like belladonna to ensure that their products actually work. It either includes active medicine which would mean that it might work, and thus should be regulated by the FDA, or it doesn't contain any active medicine and doesn't work, in which case no FDA approval necessary. There is no third option...

I'm with Sooner on this one.  We just let her chew on toys, cold things, whatever.  She really loves that thing that looks like a cross between a pacifier and a raspberry! 

noryang

sooner1981:

Hmm...I can't take your word for it that there is no risk for belladonna poisoning when kids did, indeed, get belladonna poisoning from injesting Hylands teething tablets just about 2 years ago. I am sure their parents wouldn't agree that it is totally safe. Also, the fact that those kids were poisoned by the tablets means that I also don't agree that companies should be allowed to produce socalled medicine without FDA supervision. And for all the people who say that Hylands would have to be ingested in huge doses to have any effect, then why do you give them to your LOs, if other than just trying to distract them by introducing a new taste? I am just curious?

 A back and forth of this is pretty much a waste of time because there is a serious difference of opinion here, Sooner. You are a very allopathically minded person who has great and sometimes total faith in "traditional" medicine.  I am not and do not. I think half the time our medical establishment, to include the AMA, doesn't know it's a** from a hole in the wall. I believe that there is large scale coruption and deception in the medical field perpetrated by the pharmaceutical companies. And that even well meaning and talented doctors are often duped. You do not believe (as per opinions stated in previous posts) that homeopathy is real or has valid medical applications. I do. I know that it is powerful medicine that depends on subtley rather than treating everything with the medical equivalent of a submachine gun. Homeopathy has been used for thousands of years - effectively and safely. You sure as heck can't say that for 99% of the FDA approved medicines out there.

This does not mean that I shun all doctors or medical treatments. Far from it. I do a ton of research and do what I feel is best given the situation. I transferred to the hospital and had an epidural and pitocin when it became medically necessary. I hated every second of it though. I do vaccinate my daughter - although on a delayed schedule. We are skipping vaccines for the flu, rotovirus and chicken pox until she is MUCH older. (The kid will have to be vaccinated for typhoid, rabies and a bunch of other stuff that most American kids will never even have to think about. Enough is enough for her young system.) I will give her the occasional dose of Advil or Tylenol.

But consider this with THOSE so-called "safe" medicines. When given too often or in too high a dose - they alse can be extremely dangerous. But in a low enough dose they are both safe and effective. So why can't belladona be also safe and effective in a small enough dose??

laura.noel

Jen0204:

Orajel makes a natural version that's safe. It's the benzocaine that's an issue. We like the Hyland teething tablets, although I believe I read that there might be an issue with those somewhere too. I'm a firm believer in moderation. We bought one little container of tablets around 3 months and still have some left and have had no issues. We have the natural gel, but they like tablets better. I don't know that I believe that they really help the pain - they seem more interested at having something in their mouth then anything else, so I wonder if its just really a tool of distraction.

Staying away from the Hyland's debate, but just wanted to say that we have used the Orajel Natural, which does not contain benzocaine, and it has worked for us.  

Jen0204

sooner1981:

And for all the people who say that Hylands would have to be ingested in huge doses to have any effect, then why do you give them to your LOs, if other than just trying to distract them by introducing a new taste? I am just curious?

I didn't say that it would have to be ingested in huge doses to have ANY effect, I said it would have to be ingested in huge doses to have a NEGATIVE effect.  When I heard about the possible concerns I looked around online and found some information on their website.  Again, it's their website so there's an obvious bias, but the link below has lots of information.

https://www.hylands.com/news/teethinginfo.php

Specifically this paragraph made me feel okay with giving them each 2 tablets before bed on occasion:

"To further clarify the homeopathic dosages of Belladonna in Baby Teething Tablets, a 10-pound child would have to accidentally ingest, all at the same time, more than a dozen bottles of 135 Baby Teething Tablets before experiencing even dry mouth from the product."

I'm not denying that there have been issues in the past, but if a parent gives a child too much Tylenol or antibiotics or any other medicine and their child gets sick does that mean that we should pull all of those medicines or sell them only in a one dose amount since parents have the ability to give their kids too much?  The above statement I believe was put out after they changed some things so I don't think the effected children ingested multiple bottles at once, but I think that they either a) had too much, too quickly or b) had a sensitivity to the tablets.

Furthermore, when the FDA issued it's warning in 2010 Hyland's recalled all of the tablets and changed it's manufacturing process and the composition before re-releasing it.  No FDA study has been done since then - and no additional warnings have been issued - that I've been able to find.

Not at all trying to start a debate, but I know that lots of people use them and I think it's important for everyone to have all of the information and make their own choice and not just read that the FDA warned against it.

BellaBoo0706

My pedi said not to use Oragel because it doesn't work that well anyway. He said Hylands tablets are totally safe. We use those and tylenol.

sooner1981

I don't necessarily agree with your assessment that I only look at medicine to solve all problems. In this entire post, I have only recommended frozen teethers/frozen fruit in a mesh teether as a natural pain reducer for gum swelling/pain due to teething. We don't believe in using medicine unless necessary. In fact, my husband is pretty adamant about never giving antibiotics unless medically appropriate...not just in situations where parents are reqiesting them or where they only have a small chance of working.

But you say you have done all this research into safe practices for your baby, and that is how you are making your decision to use homeopathic medicine and delay vaccinations. Imagine if you had spent the last eleven years studying nothing but the science and art behind ensuring babies' health, nutrition and development. My husband is a pediatrician and will soon start a threeyear fellowship in neonatology. He goes to conferences every day at noon re: new research breakthroughs, studies, etc. He works 80 hours lots of weeks at the hospital taking care of everything from wellchild visits to cancer treatments.

He agrees that there has been natural medicines in use for thousands of years. But they weren't always used safely or effectively. For example, the Romans used lead dust as a foundation for a skin cream that was meant to treat irritated skin. The lead actually did temporarily help the skin, but of course the Romans never linked so many people's early deaths due to what we now know was lead poisoning to those skin cream treatments.

Even if a natual medicine was used safely and effectively in previous centuries, the compound that made that natural remedies effectively has long since been thoroughly researched, purified, tested and is now sold as fda regulated medicine. For instance, aspirin can be found in a plant that was used medicinally by previous groups. When scientists saw that people seemed to actually feel relieved from pain when given a certain herb, they started studying exactly what worked in that plant and how big of a dose was safe and effective. This process is where lots of our drugs and antibiotics come from. The other drugs come from people devoting their entire lives to understanding the scientific pathways of illness, and then trying to halt or reverse the process using pharmacological intervention. Leukemia used to be an almost certain death sentence with a mortality rate of over 90 percent for the huge number of children who had it. Many, many times in previous generations, children got sick and died within a month or two, and their parents didn't even know that they had leukemia. Now, thanks to huge leaps in chemotherapy drugs, 88 to 95 percent of kids like my little cousin who was diagnosed with leukemia at age 9 will beat the disease and go on to live healthy, happy lives.

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that I believe the fda has americans' best interests at heart. Yes, they have screwed up, as all groups composed of fallable humans do. But I wouldn't disregard all the incredible medicines we have at our fingertips now just because the government has previously made a premature decision to allow a drug to be sold that we now know has serious side effects.

The old homeopathic medicines may have actually worked because they were essentially natural aspirin. In today's times, however, for a drug to be labeled homeopathic like hylands teething tablets, the company must promise that any active medicinal compounds are dilluted to the point where they are no longer effective. Think about that. The only way a produvt can be sold as homeopathic and avoid the fda regulations, is for the makers of that product to essentially represent to the government that it swears its product doesn't really contain anything of significant medicinal value in it.

That is why hyland's website now claims that a baby could eat an entire bottle of their teething tabletsand not suffer any ill effects. You say homeopathy is subtle, but how can they recommend a dosage of one or two tablets at a time to reduce teething pain, but also state that the baby cna eat a whole bottle and be fine? That is code for our product doesn't really have anything even remotely medicinal in it. Can you imagine if tylenol, a proven pain reducer, suddenly started indicating on its bottle that babies should have three mililiters of tylenol every 4 hours to relieve pain, but hey, if you want to empty the entire bottle of tylenol into the baby's sippy cup and let them go to town on it, that would be fine too? Tylenol's makers can't do that because tylenol is a real drug, whose safe dosages have been studied for many, many years. Real medicine works, and that is why parents have to be careful of the dosage charts.

And in your last line, you asked what is the problem with a little belladonna? The answer is that I don't know, and you don't know either. It hasn't been studied, except in cases like two years ago when babies got belladonna poisoning from hylands tablets and the tablets had to be recalled. We know that too much belladonna can cause death. Hylands was supposed to have so very little belladonna in its products that the belladonna could not even be detected, in order to meet the standards for homeopathy, but they screwed up and included belladonna in such large quantites that babies ended up in the hospital. Because they didn't and still don't tell us how much belladonna is contained in their tablets, we as parents can't make educated decisions regarding how much of that compound we believe is a safe amount to give our babies. We can't look at studies regarding belladonna's effects in children and draw any conclusions regarding their claims to reduce teething pain, because they either don't know or won't tell us how much active ingredient is in each tablet. To me, this vague marketing and claims that you could eat the whole bottle and not notice any ill effects reeks of modern day snake oil. If you make other judgments based on your research, that is fine.

But it isn't very nice to dismiss my concerns over the safety or efficacy of hylands tablets by making broad claims about the fda, drug companies amd physicians all being in bed together and alleging massive conspiracies. Trust me, if doctors truly were getting kickbacks for prescribing certain medications , which is of course illegal, then I would certainly think that my husband would make more than the about12 to 13 bucks an hour than he currently makes in his third year as a doctor! Sniley facesince the mobile site won't let me do that!

Like you said earlier, I think we are going to have to agree to disagree...

noryang

sooner1981:

I don't necessarily agree with your assessment that I only look at medicine to solve all problems. Nope. Didn't say that.  I didn't even come close to saying that. What I stated was that our basic philosophies are different. We will, generally, approach things from a very different medical perspective. Neither one is always right or always wrong.

My husband is a pediatrician and will soon start a threeyear fellowship in neonatology. We know you mention it at least every other post.

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that I believe the fda has americans' best interests at heart. I am glad you do. Me? I am not so sure. Drug companies have their hooks in deep. Very, very deep.

The old homeopathic medicines may have actually worked because they were essentially natural aspirin. Not even a little bit true. Throughout this post your statements suggest that you don't really understand the basis behind how homeopathy works.

 In today's times, however, for a drug to be labeled homeopathic like hylands teething tablets, the company must promise that any active medicinal compounds are dilluted to the point where they are no longer effective. Also not true. Where do you get that idea? Are homeopathic remedies dilluted. Yes. But they are effective. Extremely so. It is important to know that individual remedies that are chosen for a very specific set of symptoms are often far more effective than a generic combination such as the Hylands teething tablets. This is because those selected remedies are treating exactly what is going on with an individual. We all know that teething effects each of our LOs differently.

 That is why hyland's website now claims that a baby could eat an entire bottle of their teething tabletsand not suffer any ill effects. You say homeopathy is subtle, but how can they recommend a dosage of one or two tablets at a time to reduce teething pain, but also state that the baby cna eat a whole bottle and be fine? All of this reflects that a lack of understanding of how homeopathy works.

 But it isn't very nice to dismiss my concerns over the safety or efficacy of hylands tablets by making broad claims about the fda, drug companies amd physicians all being in bed together and alleging massive conspiracies. This entire post also reads as if you are taking this argument personally. It isn't. I didn't attack you or your husband's medical degree. I didn't attack you. I feel frustrated because you both appear to not understand homeopathy and/or don't believe in its efficacy. That is your right. But because I know it works. And is safe. Doesn't mean that I am attacking you.

Trust me, if doctors truly were getting kickbacks for prescribing certain medications , which is of course illegal, then I would certainly think that my husband would make more than the about12 to 13 bucks an hour than he currently makes in his third year as a doctor! Come on, Sooner. You are way to smart to make a naive statement like that. Of course some doctors are getting kickbacks. And it has nothing to do with your husband's salary. That is like saying that ALL cops would make more money if a few cops were on the take. But because all cops salaries suck - no cop is taking bribes.

I am sorry you took this personally. It wasn't intended that way. Regardless - I am going to bed. It is almost Thursday here.  

  

jmccall79

Oh, how things turn to a huge debate so easily, lol!

I use orajel! No more than I use it, maybe 2 or 3 times a week, and then not again for another week or so.

bikitybinx

For the record, I use orajel. I use it sparingly but Natalie does not like frozen applesauce and I've tried the frozen washcloths and cold teethers and she doesn't care for those either.  If I anticipate she'll have a problem sleeping, I'll put a small amount on her gums.  If used sensibly and by following directions your baby will be fine.  The danger is in using it in excessive amounts.  I don't think it is evil or that you are being the world's worst mother if you use orajel.  

I avoid medications for myself if I can help it, but not in my daughter's case.  If she is in pain I'm not going to let her suffer or starve (as she tends to go on hunger strikes if she is in pain from teething).

 

ETA: I asked my pedi last week about the teething tablets.  She recommended orajel instead because the tablets don't last long.