Teething is genuinely uncomfortable — and one of the most heavily marketed areas of baby care. Here's what the evidence says actually helps, and three things worth avoiding.
Teething is genuinely uncomfortable. It's also one of the most heavily marketed areas of baby care, with products ranging from useless to actively dangerous. Here's what the evidence says helps — and three things worth avoiding.
The discomfort of teething is caused by pressure from the tooth pushing through the gum. The most effective relief is counter-pressure — something firm to chew or bite against. A clean finger pressed firmly against the gum. A chilled (not frozen) teething ring. A cooled, clean flannel.
The key: it needs to be firm. Soft silicone gum toys provide less relief than something with genuine resistance. A cold teething ring is more effective than a room-temperature one because the cold also reduces inflammation, but never freeze teething toys — a frozen toy can burn the gum tissue.
Once your baby is weaning (from around 6 months), cold foods can provide effective relief while also being nutritious. Chilled cucumber sticks, cold puréed fruit, or a frozen banana in a mesh feeder are all worth trying.
For babies who are not yet weaning, a chilled teething ring is the equivalent. The cold effect on inflamed gum tissue is genuinely analgesic — it's not just distraction.
Infant paracetamol (from 2 months, 4kg+) and ibuprofen (from 3 months) are the only teething remedies with good clinical evidence of effectiveness. If your baby is clearly distressed and other approaches aren't helping, giving appropriate-dose pain relief is entirely reasonable — it's not a last resort or a sign of giving up.
Follow the dosing guide on the packaging by weight. Ibuprofen also reduces inflammation, making it slightly more targeted for teething pain specifically. Both are safe for short-term use as directed.
This is not a consolation prize. Distraction is genuinely effective for mild-to-moderate teething discomfort in babies and toddlers, whose attention is more easily redirected than older children. Feeding, being carried, a bath, going outside — all genuinely useful in the moment.
Physical comfort (being held, being carried) also reduces cortisol, which amplifies the perception of pain. A baby who is being held and engaged will experience less pain from the same gum pressure than a baby left to lie in a cot. This isn't just kindness — it's pharmacological.
Teething pain tends to be worse at night, partly because there are fewer distractions and partly because lying flat can increase blood pressure in the gums. For some babies this means a period of night-waking that doesn't respond to the usual resettling.
If your baby is in genuine pain at night — not just unsettled, but clearly distressed — appropriate-dose pain relief given at bedtime can make a significant difference. You don't need to wait until they're awake and crying. If teething is consistently disrupting sleep, giving infant paracetamol or ibuprofen before bed as a preventive measure is a reasonable approach for a limited period.
Amber teething necklaces and bracelets have no clinical evidence of effectiveness — zero — and represent a genuine safety hazard. They pose a strangulation and choking risk. The NHS, AAP, and multiple safety organisations have issued warnings against them.
The proposed mechanism (succinic acid being absorbed through the skin from the amber) has no pharmacological basis and has been tested and not confirmed. These products do not work and are not safe. They appear in every 'what helped your baby teethe' thread online because teething resolves on its own, and whatever parents were doing at the time gets the credit.
Topical anaesthetic gels for teething — including some sold specifically for babies — are not recommended. Those containing lidocaine or benzocaine carry risks including: the numbing effect spreading to the throat (affecting the gag reflex), the baby swallowing the gel in quantities that can cause toxicity, and in rare cases methemoglobinemia (a serious blood condition).
In 2020, the MHRA (UK medicines regulator) updated guidance restricting the use of lidocaine-containing teething products. If a teething product contains either of these active ingredients, don't use it.
Rubbing alcohol on a baby's gums is still passed around as folk wisdom. It does not work (alcohol doesn't penetrate the gum tissue at those concentrations), and it is not safe. Babies metabolise alcohol very differently from adults — even small amounts relative to body weight can cause hypoglycaemia, breathing problems, and seizures.
This advice is common enough to be worth stating plainly: no alcohol, in any form, on a teething baby's gums.