Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Giveaway: Big smiles and homeopathic teething treatment from Baby Orajel Naturals — $100 Target GC {5.31; US} CLOSED

One of my favorite moments as a new mama was when my baby first smiled up at me. Gas? Reflex? Just messing with me? What did I care? It was a big, toothless, engaging grin, and I ate it up.

That toothless mouth soon filled up with teeth, early on. My firstborn, Mikko, started growing them early, at around 3 months. It was one of his primary skills: growing teeth and hair, every parent's pride. Even through the increased drool and the sharp little white points emerging, his smiles never became any less cute!

Our second baby, Alrik, took his time getting started on teething, but now he's making up for it. At 10 months, he seems to be growing them ALL. At once.

Three sharp ones have popped through on the bottom. (Why three? Why lopsided? Come on, kid, think of the aesthetics.) Two fang-like spaced ones on the top have descended, giving him the moniker Vampire Baby. The middle ones are creeping out to fill the gap.

top teeth for vampire baby — Baby Orajel Naturals Tablets giveaway

Vampire baby filling in those front teeth!

Since I know how much tooth pain can hurt (boy howdy!), I want to make sure he's comfortable as he cuts all these new chompers.

Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets

bottle and box — Baby Orajel Naturals Tablets giveaway

So I was happy to try out the new Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets with Alrik. I had thought we would be getting a numbing gel, but the tablets we got are actually a homeopathic treatment. Baby Orajel is a well-established brand (#1 for teething), and this is their first foray into homeopathy. I'm glad the bigger companies are getting on board with natural remedies.

Using Chamomilla as one of its key ingredients, Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets are belladonna-free, benzocaine-free, dye-free, alcohol-free and paraben-free.

tablets in cap — Baby Orajel Naturals Tablets giveaway


The three ingredients with their purpose:

  • Calcarea phosphorica, 3x HPUS — supports dentition
  • Coffea cruda, 3x HPUS — wakefulness and diuresis
  • Chamomilla, 3x HPUS — irritability

HPUS means the ingredients are officially monographed in the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States.

If you'll remember, there was a kerfuffle recently because a different brand of teething tablets had belladonna, which is a poison in higher doses. Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets have the other key homeopathic ingredients without the controversial one, which is reassuring. The Chamomlia, in particular, is supposed to help with the fussiness associated with teething. Chamomile flowers have long been used medicinally as an anti-inflammatory to ease discomfort.

Using the tablets

The directions are to dissolve 2-3 tablets (1 at a time) under the baby’s tongue. You can also dissolve them in a teaspoon of water before giving the water to the baby. You can give 2-3 tablets every hour for up to 4 times a day or as recommended by a licensed health care professional.

The tablets feature a quick dissolve rate of about 10 seconds. I found that this is true. I had a little trouble getting them under Alrik's tongue. If you put something in his mouth, he thrusts his tongue out and down, effectively blocking my homeopathic reach.

I'm not sure how legit this is, but I just surrendered to putting them on top of his tongue, and watched him thrust his tongue in and out in confusion, trying to figure out why there was now some sort of white powder coating it. But, they really did dissolve within seconds, so he got the benefit of them regardless of where it started.

I tried one out myself, just to make sure there wasn't some weird taste; there was no taste, which I thought was a good thing. Though I can see how that could be disconcerting to a baby wondering why I'm putting a tasteless, disappearing treat on his tongue!

The bottle is compact and holds a lot of tablets. It's easy to slip into a diaper bag pocket to keep handy. I break them out on car rides when Alrik is screaming, and I'm not sure why (besides the obvious car-seat-jail indignity).

opening box

Come on, Mama, let's get this puppy open. Time's a-wastin'.



eating box

So is this how you apply it? This does feel good on my gums…

How do they work?

I know many of my readers swear by homeopathy, and I've been given homeopathic treatments by midwives and naturopaths. I believe the basic premise is that small amounts of natural substances can produce healthful results.

With both my kids, I've never been totally sure if their teething is bothering them or not. They have the drool (hoo boy, do they ever!), and the gumming everything in sight, but they haven't had fevers or diarrhea or other symptoms that some people swear are connected to teething.

However, Alrik does have this near-constant expression that we describe as his teething face, as if he's half-grimacing all the time (but in a super cute way!). I'm never sure if I should be medicating him just in case, or if the fact that I can't tell if he's in discomfort means that he's not. (Any insight appreciated!) On the one hand, Alrik will sometimes get upset and start screaming for what we think is no clear reason. On the other hand, I don't want to dope him up with pain meds that he doesn't need.

teething smile

Teething face. Translated: What is going ON in my mouth?!

To that end, I appreciate having a natural, low-intervention way to soothe any discomfort he's experiencing. I can feel confident that the Baby Orajel Naturals aren't doing him any harm, and I'm happy for any beneficial effect he's receiving. I pop one in whenever he seems most uncomfortable, so I'm glad to have them on hand.

bottom teeth — Baby Orajel Naturals Tablets giveaway

Happy teething baby

BUY IT!

If you want to give them a try for yourself, Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets are becoming available nationwide in early 2012. Look for them on Amazon, at Target, your local drugstore, grocery store, baby store, or superstore.

WIN IT!

For your own chance to win a $100 Target gift card, courtesy of BlogHer and Baby Orajel Naturals, enter for a chance to by leaving a comment below, telling me a favorite moment you had as a new mom. Not a mom? Let me know your favorite homeopathic remedy.

Contest is open to UNITED STATES residents, age 18 or older, only.

TO ENTER, TELL ME: What was your favorite moment as a new mom? Share yours in the comments for a chance to win!

Leave a valid email address so we can contact you if you win. You can enter it like this to foil spambots: mail {at} naturalparentsnetwork {dot} com

RULES:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

  • Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
  • Tweet about this promotion (click here to Tweet) and leave the URL to that Tweet in a comment on this post
  • Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
  • For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/1 – 5/31/2012.

Be sure to visit the Baby Orajel page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers' reviews and find even more chances to win.

Disclosure: I received a sample product for review purposes.
This post is sponsored by BlogHer and the sponsors.
I try to seek out only products I think you would find
relevant and useful to your life as a natural parent.
See my full disclosure policy here.

Orajel® is a registered trademark of Church & Dwight.

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