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Friday, February 15, 2013

Are Teething Tablets Safe?



As a Mother, I want only the best for my child. As I’m sure we all do. And we also, don’t want our baby to suffer through the pain of teething. When my child started to cut teeth, she wouldn’t eat and she didn’t want to sleep. We had to take her to the ER, because we were afraid she was getting dehydrated. It was a rough time for us each tooth that came in. I would know that the nights she would not sleep were the nights that her teeth were cutting through the skin.

So I looked for ways to sooth her pain, and I came across a highly debated topic.. Teething Medicines. Some doctors recommended it, and some do not. Some parents allow it, and some will not. I collected some information and links, so that you will be able to read the ingredients, the doctor opinions, and other Mother’s opinions. As for me, I am not saying one way is right or wrong, every parent has a different parenting style. My opinion will be at the bottom of the page. Read my article "Teething Tips and Remedies"


What are Teething Tablets?
Brands such as Hyland’s and Orajel make Teething Tablets, which are tiny little dissolvable pills that go under your child’s tongue or can be dissolved in their bottles. They are meant to help with your child’s pain due to teething, however, most will say they are homeopathic and contain no pain or numbing medicine.

This link is for the Hyland’s Teething Products and will tell you all the facts about their teething products that you need to know.


What is homeopathic?
“Homeopathy demonstrates that a substance that produces a certain set of symptoms in a healthy person can cure a sick person experiencing those same symptoms. For instance, onions make your eyes water when you cut them. If you have a cold or allergies and your symptoms include a runny nose, the likely remedy to treat your runny nose would be Allium Cepa, which is made from onions.” (hylands.com)


What is the debate about?
Teething tablets, like Hyland’s contain belladonna. Belladonna is a plant that can be poisonous when ingested by the mouth. Some people will think that it is not FDA approved, and because the bottles were recalled in 2010. However, the tablets were voluntarily recalled because there were different amounts of Belladonna in each tablet and they did not have child proof caps. The amount of Belladonna in each tablet is now 0.0000000000003%Hyland’s says “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.

This link will tell you about Belladonna, what it is, what is it used for in medicine, and the effectiveness of is.
This link will take you to FDA’s statement about Hyland’s Teething Tablet’s when they were recalled in 2010.


What are other Mom’s saying about these products?
You can read the comments below, as well as my own opinion on teething tablets.

This is a good current article that about teething that also says that Orajel for babies was recalled.


My opinion:
As a Mother I wanted my daughter to be comfortable. I used the Hyland’s teething tablets, and found them to work wonderful! I researched them and talked to my child’s Pediatrician before giving them to her. I did have one person who called me out as a bad mom because I recommended them to someone she knew. Well, this lady, who I don’t know, said it was putting unnecessary ingredients into my child’s body. She also, informed me that the product was recalled, but she had the reason wrong, which I had already known because I have looked it up. When another Mother asks my opinion on anything, I will always say the same thing.. "this is what I did, but Mommy knows best, so do what is best for your child". I am not judging any parent, this is just my opinion. And unlike the woman, who claimed to have a 20-something year old child that she never gave medicine to, but just let them “suffer through it”, I can realize that different people have different opinions and I am not trying to force mine onto anyone.

My Mother and Mother-In-Law have both tried to tell me things that they did. But as I tell them, we are rapidly advancing in technology and medicine from 20 or 30 years ago. So if there was a medicine that could give my child some comfort, help her eat, and get both of us some sleep, I would look into it.

The medicine worked great for me. I would give her some at night when it was the worst, and some when she woke up during the night sometimes. These let her sleep good and be comfortable. She had stopped eating, because it hurt so bad, and we were almost hospitalized for dehydration. But after giving her these, we never had another problem.



If you have used any type of teething tablet or teething gel, or have an opinion on why you didn’t, PLEASE COMMENT! I want other Mom’s to read what another Mom has experienced. You can also, leave links to any pages you found that were helpful in making your decision. Thank You!

19 comments:

  1. I just discovered these at the advice of my sister and sister-in-law, and they have been a lifesaver. I don't like having to give him medicine a few days in a row when he's really bad, and sometimes the medicine itself doesn't work at all! The teething tabs seem to help him get past the worst of it so he can rest the pain away. The Highland's tabs melt really easily and he seems to like them. Now it's almost like he knows relief is coming because the second he gets them he will calm down! I hope these teeth come soon because I hate to see him in pain! He also really loves the ChewBeads necklace I got as a gift. I would say go for the more expensive one with the flat as well as round beads-those are his favorite! Just turning six months old and growing so fast! Thanks for the article! <3

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    1. Thank you for your comment! Hopefully your little guy will be feeling better soon. I know how stressful teething can be. Love the advice about the necklace!

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  2. I am really grateful for your blog. I just gave these to my daughter. I was aware there was issues with them in the past (they were recommended by a family member), but I didn't research anything beforehand. Now, having said that, I am by no means an irresponsible mother, and I do ALWAYS research the products I use (thats how I found your blog) But researching after the fact is rare for me, but happened for one reason only. I was SEVERLY sleep deprived to the point of almost taking myself to the hosptial because I couldnt even talk right at right at times. I felt horrible, and it was all due to the fact that my baby was (is) teething. I had heard some babies have a hard time, but I had NO IDEA it could be this bad. My 12 year old had no problems like this. My little one was not sleeping until 2:30 in the morning, I was still breastfeeding and just exhausted. I tried these as a LAST DITCH EFFORT to sleep. For me this was a miracle worker. She slept through the night and took her morning nap again. Having said that, now that I feel somewhat revitalized, I will not be using them everyday, on the hour or what have you, but I will use them when I MUST. I agree that every mom needs to do what she feels is best for her, and for me, this product was a God Send.

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    1. Thank you for your response! I agree. Some babies go through teething with no problems, and other babies only need help to sleep! This product worked great for me and the other mom's that I know who have used it. I believe every baby is different with what they need and like, and there are many different parenting styles. We are just trying to help all new mom's find out their options and the products that are safe to use!

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  3. I just talked to my child's doctor and he said that tablets are making the children hallucinate. So I imediatly threw them away.

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  4. Natural remedies are much better than all the chemical ones.

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  5. I was really hesitant to use the teething tablets but I asked his doctor and many nurses and ALL said stay away from panel
    oragel but I had the majority of them including the Dr say the teething tablets are fine. I give them to my son who is 6 months and they help him so much. but I too found this blog to be very healthy. and I agree that natural remedies are better but when natural remedies dont work and your child is in pain, it kills you, at least it kills me, and these teething tablets work wonders! he can sleep and eat again and isn't freaking out.I give it to him only when he's in real pain from teething.

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  6. Great blog, great advice/approach to advice. No shortage of people with opinions on child care but I thought the mention of letting each mother make the decision on what's right for he child is very diplomatic and wise. We have twins and have found the teething tablets effective. Every parent should do as much research into baby products as time will allow. Time, of course, is a luxury most parents don't have (esp parents with multiples) so the links provided are a great idea. Keep up the great work, and thanks for sharing your research.
    Twin Parent

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    1. Thank you so much for your comment. As I have come to find out, this is a highly debated topic and I really wanted all kinds of mother's with all different views to voice their opinion. As parents, we all have different ways of doing things, but we need to support each other no matter if we use teething tablets or not.

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  7. I hadn't discovered teething tablets until my third son was teething and they worked wonders. Since then I had a fourth son and now have a two month old daughter. I suspect she is starting to teethe and have been having a hard time finding the tablets in stores so I decided to look online. I didn't know about the recall a couple years ago until I looked into it. I'm wondering if that is why I can't find them. It looks to me though, that the company rectified the situation. I was glad to see input from others and that they are still in production. I will be ordering some online right away. Thanks!

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    1. Thank you for your comment! I still have seen them recently in stores. I live in Georgia and can find them at Buy Buy Baby, Babies R Us, Wal-mart and Target. Good luck finding them!

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    2. I found them today at Target in Denver!

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  8. I used teething tablets on my children 32 and 28 years ago. They worked great. I used them mainly at night so they could get a better nights sleep, which helped during the day. They had no side effects on my girls

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  9. Thank you to all the moms for their comments! I love hearing that other moms are finding your comments so helpful! Please continue to comment on why you decided to us or not use teething tablets!

    Megan from Mommy and Things

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  10. I have a friend that swears by these tablets. When I asked both the doctor and pharmacist about them they both told me to stay away from them. A doctor/Mom friend also suggested I not use them because of the Belladonna AND they contain caffeine under a different name. In addition, these are not regulated by the FDA (or anyone for that matter), therefore the amount of ingredients in each tablet can vary. The FDA claims that different tablets have been tested and each had different does of Belladonna. Despite all of this (and an FDA recall), I tried them in a desperate moment. They didn't seem to do anything for my baby. Although,some people claim they help baby sleep.

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  11. I just wanted to add that my baby loves Sophie the giraffe teething toy and chewbeads during the day. And a little bit of Tylenol at night works wonders, although, yes...it is a chemical. :) Good luck everyone!

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  12. Good read, Overdose of teething tablets should be avoided.

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  13. Yo en lo personal, no investigue cómo usted. Pero también hace años desesperada igual por ver a mi niña con estos molestos síntomas de denticion. Fui a la farmacia compre un gel que le puse y lo probé yo en mi boca y se sentía horrible.. lo descarte porque si para mi era molesto me imagino para mi pobre bebé debía de ser aún más molesto...asi que regrese a la farmacia mire estas pastillitas leí un poco la caja y me decidí a comprarlas un magnífico resultado que se notó inmediatamente en mi bebé pudo dormir agusto,sin esa sensación de escozor y llanto en el que estaba muy buenas las pastillas.

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