Do you have a small baby at home, and he/she develops some sort of weird rash that you are unable to identify? That is definitely something to worry about if you don’t know what caused the rash. As sensitive as a baby’s skin is, there can be many reasons for developing a rash.
Nevertheless, there are some key pointers that point out the rash being a teething rash. This rash normally occurs in areas such as the mouth, cheeks, neck, etc. where the baby’s drool is most concentrated. It is rare, though not impossible for these rashes to occur on other parts of the body.
While it is interesting to know that your baby’s salivary glands develop between two to three months, teething in itself can be a quite painful experience for children, causing them to drool much more than they normally would. This drooling can sometimes lead to rashes, commonly known as teething rashes.
What are these teething rashes? How do they develop? How can you identify them, and how can it be treated? Here is all you need to know!
Table of Contents
What is a teething rash?
Can babies develop a rash from teething? Let’s see the answer. Also known as teething diaper rash, or drool rash, teething rashes occur when toddlers are in their teething stage. These rashes are a type of skin rash that is generally characterized by raised, bumpy red skin patches.
The baby’s skin may appear dry and chapped. If you have a toddler or have seen teething rash pictures, you’d have a good idea of what they look like. Teething rash on a baby can painful and irritating for most. So, what happens is that the baby’s drooling has saliva that contains enzymes that irritate the skin and lead to rashes.
Rash from teething can occur during the teething phase or can even continue till toddlerhood.
What are the causes of teething rashes?
Rashes associated with teething have an apparent cause, which is teething itself. When your baby’s new teeth come out from the gums, somewhere between 6-24 months, it leads to a lot of drooling that may irritate your baby’s new and sensitive skin.
The rash formed as a result of this is a teething rash caused by the pieces of saliva, food, and wetness that disturb your baby’s skin. When this drool is combined with persistent or frequent rubbing with the skin as a result of clothing, hugging, and playing, it can result in the formation of a rash.
For the most part, almost all babies face a rash teething phase, but can normally be dealt with and treated at home. In some cases, doctors may be required.
Where can rashes be seen on the body?
Rash around the mouth from teething, teething rash on the face, teething mouth rash is quite common because those are the areas where the drool is most concentrated.
Among the most common areas where a rash can be seen include the following.
- Teething rash on chin
- Teething cheek rash
- Teething rash on neck
- Teething rash on cheeks
- Teething rash in the mouth
- Teething rash on face
In the case of using a pacifier, there may be a drool rash where the skin touches it. In any case, you need to know that teething rashes will be most commonly found in places where the drool is concentrated.
How can teething rashes be prevented?
Mothers are often worried about how to prevent a baby’s rash while teething. Well, there are some simple ways to prevent that. While you cannot stop your baby from drooling, there are some things that you can do to prevent a rash by keeping your baby’s skin dry and clean.
Here are a few simple things that you can do!
- The topmost priority is to keep your baby dry and clean, so the drool doesn’t affect his/her sensitive skin.
- For wiping up the drool, you should keep handy clean rags, so the drool is cleaned and doesn’t stay in touch with the skin for too long. Make sure that your cloth is soft and doesn’t irritate the skin.
- To prevent further irritation to the skin, dab very gently to dry your baby’s skin.
- If your baby’s shirt soaks the drool and gets wet, make sure to use a bib and change it frequently.
- If your baby’s shirt is wet, you should change it as soon as possible.
- Gently rub any ointment for healing such as petroleum jelly on the baby’s skin as it creates a barrier, protecting your baby’s skin from the drool.
- Try to cut down the use of a pacifier as drool may get trapped between the skin and the soother, hence leading to rashes.
What to do to treat and cure a teething rash?
What is teething rash treatment? What can be done if a baby does have a teething rash? There are some simple things that can be done to treat a teething or drool rash. The treatment falls into two categories; teething medicines and teething rash remedies. While both are effective, they can be used alternatively or together, depending on how you choose to use them.
Let us take them one by one!
Remedies for treating a teething rash
A few simple remedies may prove quite beneficial when it comes to easing your baby from teething rashes.
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Placing an absorbent pad under your baby as he/she sleeps
A small absorbent pad placed under your baby’s face as he/she sleeps can pull the moisture, hence preventing rashes to a great extent. You can clean the drool and replace the sheet as the baby wakes up.
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Using Aloe Vera and petroleum jelly
To control the itchy feeling that your baby may experience, you can add some aloe vera to petroleum jelly and use it.
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Using coconut oil on the skin
The antibacterial and antifungal elements in coconut oil can help in forming a sheet over the rash and reduce the itching as well as providing skincare.
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Chewing on a soft washcloth
You can wet a washcloth and keep it in the fridge for almost an hour to cool. Then take it out of the fridge and give it to your baby to chew on. This can help to relieve your baby’s pain for a while.
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Giving your baby a bath with warm water
Use mild warm water to wash your baby’s skin several times a day and pat to keep dry. Also, limit the use of irritating things such as soaps or lotions that can cause irritation to the baby’s sensitive skin.
Treatment with medicines to cure the teething rash
While remedies for the treatment of rashes do work, there are some medical alternatives in case they don’t or if you want to use them alongside the remedies. A few of these medicinal treatments are stated below.
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Using emollient creams
To treat the rash, these creams can help by providing a water barrier to stop the drool from the irritating rash area. Some of the names of these creams include Aquaphor, vaseline, vanish lanolin cream. To use the cream, dry the drool, and apply the cream several times a day.
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Using a healing balm or a natural product
Apart from just these creams, you can use a natural cream such as beeswax or a healing balm to soothe the rash. Just like any other emollient cream, these balms also play a major role in soothing your baby’s rash.
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Consulting a doctor
If the rash gets worse and does not get any better with time, you may want to consider consulting your doctor for better help and guidance. So, in case of a severe teething rash, the best option will be to consult your doctor.
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Reliving the pain
The pain associated with teething rashes can sometimes, or in most cases, irritate your baby. Some babies tend to sleep better if they give them a pain reliever before they sleep. With the consultation of your doctor, you can give your baby a light pain reliever to reduce so he/she can sleep with ease.
How long do teething rashes normally last?
Since teething rashes are formed as a result of drooling and teething, these rashes can come and go time and again as your child goes through his/her teething phase. Nevertheless, normally a teething rash may last from a few days to a week or so.
Hence, the period for teething rashes is not exactly fixed, but it can vary depending on the severity or how often the drooling is in touch with and affects the baby’s skin.
Can teething cause a diaper rash?
While teething cannot directly cause a diaper rash, it can get the chance of its occurrence. Diaper rash during the teething phase can be triggered because teething can lead to some problems such as irritability, decreased appetite, and loss of stools. As a result of loose stools caused due to teething, the baby can suffer from a diaper rash.
As studies have shown, frequent and prolonged contact with feces and urine can cause a diaper rash. Hence, though not directly, teething can lead to a diaper rash indirectly.
Teething diarrhea and diaper rash are common in most babies. So yes, babies can get diaper rash from teething.
Teething rash treatment products
There are various products that can be used to treat a baby’s teething rashes. The use of warm water is amongst the most basic and simple ones. Healing ointments like Aquaphor or petroleum jelly, teething rings, washcloths, natural products like beeswax, or other petroleum-based barrier ointments can be used as a good treatment for teething rashes.
Can a teething rash cause infection?
In most simple cases, the teething rash cannot lead to an infection. Although in some minor and severe teething rash cases, the infection can occur. If the skin gets hard and oozes starts spreading to other areas, it becomes painful to even touch, and if the child develops a fever, there are chances that an infection may in place. While most babies experience teething rashes, teething fever and rash are a little uncommon in babies.
What does a baby experience while having a teething rash?
There are conflicting views regarding whether or not babies feel pain when they have a teething rash. Teething rashes do not exactly cause any pain, but the baby can experience mild or severe discomfort and irritation. This is compiled with itching and scratching, which some babies will experience.
Babies may find teething rashes as uncomfortable and upsetting, but they hardly do any harm to them. With simple remedies and care, teething rashes can be handled with ease.
Your baby may get irritable during the period due to the discomfort and uneasiness.
How long does it take for teething to be completed?
While there is no telling how long your child’s teething period may last, it is estimated that it can be between 1-7 days per tooth. So, as per a general calculation, the teething period could last for a year or longer.
After the first round of teething, your child may experience a second round around one year of age when molars come through. This can be a painful period for your little one as they are the largest and located at the back of the mouth.
Have your Baby experienced a teething rash?
Teething experiences tend to vary for all babies. While not all develop rashes from teething, some may experience it. For some babies, it can be an easier experience than for others. If you have a little baby at home, you must have seen him/her grow out of or go through the teething phase.
Even when it is difficult, there are a few ways, as described above, which can make the experience better for your baby.
If you have seen your baby experience a teething rash, you must have gone through a difficult period of uncertainty, fear, and pain with your baby. If you have experienced it, you can relate well to all the things described above.
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