Smart Shopping for Baby Pain Relief

Often, parents of a baby have to learn to be mind readers. In the early stages of after birth, it is inevitable that your baby will become cranky, irritable and not easily soothed by normal means, and it is more than likely that those moments of discontent will be due to colds, teething, gas and other issues that tend to bring about pain and discomfort. Lucky for your little one to be born in such a time where there are many child-safe products on the market to help alleviate pain.

Baby pain relievers are generally medicinal products that help reduce the feeling associate with pain. Many of these pain relievers are oral syrups that also contain a fever reducing property. Other pain relievers for babies are aimed at taking away the pain associated with teething, stomach gas, diaper rash and more. But, what all these products have in common is that they can sooth the aches and pains that a baby cannot verbally express other than through inconsolable crying and irritable discontent.

What to Look for

Shopping for baby pain relief will be dependent on the type of pain you need to relieve. An all around all purpose pain reliever can be found in oral medications that contain Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen, which can be instrumental in relieving pain associated with teething, aches and pain from colds, headaches, ear aches and other minor aches and pains. These oral pain relievers can be found in liquid suspensions that are good to use with babies or chewable tablets for toddlers and older children. Medicinal pain relievers for babies and young children are sweetened with pleasant flavorings to make them more tolerable to take, and they generally double as a fever reducer. Whenever you suspect pain to be the cause of your baby's discontent, it is always wise to check with the pediatrician to make sure you are using the correct pain reliever and dosage.

Teething pains can make a very unhappy baby, and for this reason there are topical gels that are gentle to use on a baby's gums to relieve the pain. Teething gels, when rubbed on the gum, will numb the gum and relieve the pain.

When the symptom of pain is associated with gas, there are pain relievers that are designed specifically to be used with babies. Gas can cause excruciating pain for a baby, and now most pharmacies and grocery stores carry over-the-counter gas relief medicines for babies. This type of medicine comes in liquid form and is given as drops that help break down the gas build up that is common in babies, and thus alleviating the gas pains. Again, you may want to check with the pediatrician before using any medicinal product to treat the pain associated with gas build up in a baby.

To relieve the pain that comes from a diaper rash, there are topical creams and ointments that can be found in most pharmacies and baby sections of grocery stores. Diaper rash creams generally contain a soothing element that can help reduce pain once applied to the skin.

Common Pitfalls

It is important to make sure that you purchase the correct pain relief medicine. There are many cold medicines on the market for children that contain pain reliever and fever reducer along with the elements to treat the cold. This can often lead to over-medicating when a parent gives a separate pain reliever and fever reducer on top of a cold medicine that also contains those properties. It is important to know your child's weight and ask the pharmacist or pediatrician what the correct dose pain reliever is, and make sure you are using a tsp. and not a tbsp., which is a common mistake made when giving oral medications.