Teething pain. Benzocaine teething gels are in many parents’ medicine cabinets, but I find they are a mixed blessing. Although they can re­duce pain, they do it by numbing the mouth and causing that “just left the dentist’s” feeling. Some babies find this swollen, numb sensation as annoying as the teething pain itself. Also, the effect of teething gels is quite short lived, and the gels carry a small risk of allergic reactions and de­creased gag reflex.

Remedy. Babies’ painful gums are often soothed by a massage, so as the first line of treatment, simply rub the gums firmly but gently with a clean finger. You may find that your baby resists at first, but don’t give up right away. Many babies settle down and become relaxed as the massage continues.

You can also offer your baby cold teethers to chew on. However, keep in mind that the toxic plastics found in many baby toys (which contribute directly to both body and world pollution) are also found in some teething rings. So if you choose plastic, it is important to purchase teething rings made of nontoxic plastics.

I prefer organic cotton teethers. Or your baby might find relief just by chewing on a washcloth that has been moistened and cooled in the freezer. This is a good idea if the washcloth is made from organic fibers.

Ear infection. This common childhood problem is the number one reason that children are given antibiotics (more than 10 million antibiotic prescriptions for the 5 million ear infections diagnosed in children each year). Of those 10 million, somewhere between 8.5 million and 9.5 million of them didn’t actually help the children, according to the best medical re­search (and the American Academy of Pediatrics), and in fact may have caused harm because each time a child takes a course of antibiotics, future infections can become harder to treat.³

Remedy. Antibiotics may or may not be the appropriate remedy for acute ear infections that start abruptly, with the eardrum becoming suddenly tender, red, hot, swollen, and painful. For babies over six months, antibiotics and at least twenty-four hours of pain relief are usually best if the diagnosis of an acute ear infection is certain. (It must be of abrupt on­set, with physical certainty of fluid in the ears and clear evidence of an in­flamed eardrum.) If any of these symptoms are not clearly present, the babies are often better treated with pain relief and observed for 48 to 72 hours without anti­biotics, unless they’ve had a fever of 102.2 or higher in the last twenty-four hours, or severe symptoms. For babies under six months, however, anti­biotics are usually best if an acute (red-hot) ear in­fection is strongly suspected, even if the supporting evidence isn’t clear-cut.

But for a garden-variety ear infection (what doctors call otitis media with effusion, or OME) in which germ-filled fluid is present in the middle ear, I recommend a period of simple observation. In most cases, the infection will clear up just as quickly without antibiotics, and the baby will have avoided common side effects, which include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and skin rashes—and also will have avoided the development of resistant bacteria in his body as well as in the environment.

Whatever other actions you choose to take, I recommend offering the baby something to treat pain or discomfort.  ....read more