Teething Rash & Drool Rash – Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, & Prevention

When your baby starts teething, it can be an uncomfortable time (for both baby and you!). Crankiness from gum discomfort, low-grade fever, and excessive drooling are all common symptoms of teething, and when drooling isn’t managed, whether teething or not, your baby’s skin may show signs of irritation known as teething rash or drool rash.  

Thankfully, teething rash is usually harmless, but it can cause discomfort, and of course you want to make teething as easy as it can be for your little one. Read on to learn about what causes teething rash, what it looks like, how to treat it, and how to prevent it from coming back. 

Teething rash or drool rash is a form of contact dermatitis caused by saliva being in prolonged contact with baby’s skin on their face, neck, and chest. 

Babies frequently have their hands, pacifiers, or other toys and teething rings in their mouths, which makes it easy for the drool to spread onto their faces or drip down their chins, potentially causing irritation. Other common names for a drool rash include teething rash and spit-up rash.  

A drooling rash appears as reddened areas of skin with small raised red bumps commonly found on your baby’s cheeks, mouth, chin, neck, and chest. Areas of redness may be flat or slightly raised and can sometimes also look chapped or dry.  

As mentioned above, drool rash, while uncomfortable, is thankfully not usually harmful to your baby. It’s not contagious and it won’t spread to you or to other areas of your baby’s skin if touched.  

Treating a teething rash requires finding ways to help limit the amount of saliva-to-skin contact, and the amount of time saliva is in contact with your baby’s skin. To help your baby find some relief, here are some effective teething rash remedies: 

• Keep skin clean - gently wash affected areas of your baby’s skin twice a day with warm water, no soap necessary, and gently pat dry to avoid further irritation. Be sure to use a soft cloth and avoid rubbing or scrubbing the area to prevent further irritation. 
• Apply a skin protectant ointment - once skin is completely dry, apply an ointment like Aquaphor® Baby Healing Ointment to any affected areas. The gentle and hypoallergenic formula creates a protective barrier to help protect and heal chapped skin. 
• Be mindful of foods - at mealtimes, after your baby is done eating, be sure to gently wipe any areas of food or drool on skin and be mindful of feeding particularly acidic foods that could potentially cause further irritation if in contact with already irritated skin. 
• Use unscented, hypoallergenic products - be mindful of other potential irritants like scented laundry detergents, soaps or body care products, used on baby or your own skin and clothes, and use unscented, gentle products instead. 
• Keep skin dry - keep affected areas as dry as possible by regularly gently wiping your baby’s skin with a soft cloth, using fresh, dry bibs and burp cloths, and changing your baby’s bib or clothes if they become wet.

This skin protectant ointment provides extra gentle care for baby’s delicate skin, helping to moisturize, nourish, and protect chapped or irritated skin from drool rash. Aquaphor® Baby Healing Ointment is hypoallergenic and preservative and fragrance free. 

While it’s important to know how to treat teething rash, ideally you want to prevent it before it even starts. Drooling is an inevitable and important part of your baby’s development, so while you won’t be able to stop your baby from drooling, there are some ways you can help prevent drool rash: 

• Use a bib – using an absorbent bib can help to keep moisture away from your baby’s skin. Once the bib is wet, swap it out for a dry one and be sure to check to ensure that the clothing under the bib is dry, gently wiping areas like your baby’s neck where the wet bib may have been in contact with their skin. 
• Use easy-off clothes – if your baby’s clothes get soaked with drool, dressing them in easy-off shirts or onesies will make it easy to quickly change them into clean, dry clothes as needed throughout the day. 
• Gently wipe – keep a soft burp cloth handy and gently wipe or dab your baby’s mouth and folds in the neck throughout the day if you see drool on their skin. Avoid abrasive cloths or rubbing too hard or too frequently. 
• Take breaks from pacifiers – give skin the chance to air out periodically and avoid trapping drool against baby’s face with pacifiers. 
• Apply a skin protectant ointment like Aquaphor Baby Healing Ointment to potential problem areas to help protect baby’s skin from forming a drool rash.  

While diaper rash can happen while a baby is teething, teething doesn’t directly cause diaper rash. Some parents see diaper rash-causing symptoms like diarrhea occur around the time when their babies are teething, as diarrhea-causing triggers like introducing solid foods commonly occurs when teething is happening, so it makes sense that a false correlation can be easy to make. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, teething does not cause diarrhea, and diaper rash can occur for a variety of other reasons, including: 

• Prolonged contact with a wet diaper 
• Yeast infections – fungal yeast infections easily grow in warm, moist environments, making the skin under a wet diaper an easy target 
• Acidic stools, particularly if your baby has diarrhea 
• Wearing diapers that are too tight or rubbing against the skin, causing chafing. Learn how to properly diaper your baby here. 
• Skin irritation from ammonia in urine when wearing a wet diaper for too long 
• Skin reactions to chemical irritants, fragrances, or detergents, particularly if using cloth diapers 

To help keep diaper rash at bay, prioritize keeping your baby’s skin clean and dry, change their diaper regularly, avoid using harsh detergents or scented skincare products, and make using a soothing ointment or cream like Aquaphor Baby Diaper Rash Cream part of your regular diaper changing routine.

There’s more to teething than just the discomfort in your baby’s gums, and many first-time parents find themselves at a loss for how to soothe their little ones. The good news is that there are many things you can do to help, and using a soothing teething rash ointment is an essential step to treating and preventing drool rash.

For a convenient drool rash treatment on the go, Aquaphor® Baby Healing Balm Stick delivers the soothing power of Aquaphor in a portable, versatile stick format enriched with avocado oil and shea butter for smooth application. Perfect for drool rash as well as minor cuts and scrapes, this skin protectant formula moisturizes and soothes dry skin and helps protect baby’s skin to help heal teething rash.

To gently cleanse your baby’s skin without drying it out, Aquaphor® Baby Wash & Shampoo offers a mild, fragrance-free, tear-free solution with chamomile essence and Provitamin B5. Use this gentle cleanser at bathtime and pat dry with a soft towel before applying a protective ointment to areas prone to drool rash and diaper rash. 

With proper preventive measures, you can help keep your baby’s skin soft and nourished.

The information provided herein is not intended to be medical advice. Nor is it intended to treat the underlying skin disease or condition. The information is provided solely to: 

1. Moisturize, soften and smooth dry skin 
2. Improve the appearance of the skin 
3. Achieve healthier-looking skin 
   
   

If you are concerned about a rash on your baby’s skin and it looks different from teething rash or is not clearing up with the skincare steps outlined here, contact a trusted pediatrician for further proper medical advice.