Sophie la Girafe Teether

Sophie has been the default first teether for generations for a reason: soft, food-grade natural rubber that gives just enough under a baby's gums, a shape that's easy for small hands to grip from several angles, and a squeak that reliably gets attention during the pre-teething months when it's more toy than remedy.

Against something like the Nuby Ice Gel Teether Ring, the trade-off is texture versus cooling. Sophie has no gel core and can't be chilled in the fridge, so on a bad teething day her soft-but-room-temperature rubber does less for genuine gum pain than a chilled gel ring does. What she offers instead is a shape and grip that work from the very early months, well before a baby is teething at all, which makes her more of a long-haul first toy than a targeted remedy.

The main practical downside is cleaning: natural rubber can't go in the dishwasher or be boiled, so it's wipe-clean only, and the paint can wear over months of biting. For pure teething relief on a bad day, pair her with a chilled gel teether; for the early months and general chewing, she's still hard to beat.