Mum’s warning after popular teething gel leaves baby ‘unresponsive’

A mum has shared a warning after a popular teething gel left her baby "unresponsive."

US mum Danielle Kapetanovic purchased teething gel, Orajel, for her 15-month-daughter Chloe to alleviate some of her discomfort. In a Facebook post, Danielle said she put less than a pea-size of the gel on her daughter's gums and within seconds, the baby appeared to have a severe reaction to the product. Danielle wrote:

"Chloe immediately turned red, started kicking, got one or two screams in, and 10-15 seconds after the Orajel touched her gums she became unresponsive. "Her eyes locked in a dead stare, she became limp and stopped breathing. She turned blue."

The mum said she hit her daughter's back to try and wake her but nothing happened. She phoned emergency services and after about 20 seconds, Chloe woke up and started breathing. Danielle said that amount of time "felt like an eternity." The Virginia mum said that her daughter received a full check from paramedics and that she is now totally fine, but she has warned parents about the potential dangers of using the product. She also said after some research, she realised Chloe was not the first baby to have such a string reaction.

"I found online posts dating back to 2008 from parents with literally the same experience - their baby became unresponsive in seconds, went limp, turned blue, became responsive again after 15 seconds or so - it was like someone wrote my same experience. "What’s more, I learned the FDA warns against giving babies Benzocaine - the active ingredient in Baby Orajel."

Danielle said while she can't know for sure whether her daughter's reaction was due to the Orajel or something else, she confirmed she would not be taking the risk again.