With all of the recent warnings about benzocaine, I thought I’d try to give my teether a little relief with a natural product.

I love me some Babyganics. I use their hand sanitizer regularly and they make a natural teething gel. The active ingredient is clove oil. If you’ve ever accidentally chomped on a piece of clove from your mamma’s Easter ham, you’ll know that it does indeed have a numbing effect.

They come in individual use pods with a packet of cotton swabs, so there’s always a sanitary applicator handy.

Getting the wet swab into the moving target that is my baby’s mouth was a little tricky, but it’s preferable to a germy-finger-that’s-been-sanitized-and-is-now-covered-with-hand-sanitizer when you’re out and can’t actually wash your hands.

Georgia made a face as if I had just given her a sip of nail polish, but she calmed down. (SO dramatic! I tasted it, and it tastes like cloves.)

It didn’t numb my tongue very much, but I’m sure sweet little baby gums are more sensitive. She stopped her near-incessant whining, so I assume that she got some relief.

I know that there are other pain-relieving options (teething rings, gum massage, cold things), but sometimes you just need something more.

My mother used Orajel on me when I was baby and we’ve all used throat-numbing spray at some time. I mean, we lived to tell the tale. But I would hate for my little one (or yours!) to be one of the small percentage of people who experience an adverse reaction, so here’s an alternative.

If anyone has a another great product they’d like to suggest, I’m all ears!