Earwax protects the lining of the ear canal — in general, a good thing. Over time, the wax dries up, becomes flaky, and falls out of the ear on its own. Sometimes, though, it can build up to the point where it undermines ear functioning. In this case, you may need to remove earwax from your baby’s ears.

Cotton-tipped swabs seem like a good solution, but they’re not the best option for cleaning babies’ ears: they are simply not effective at pulling the dry and sticky stuff out. To the contrary, cotton swabs act as a plunger and push earwax deeper into the ear canal. Furthermore, cotton swabs consist of a cotton tip over a thin, hard stick that can potentially damage vital structures when it’s used on a fussing, squirming baby. And cotton swabs may start to unravel, leaving cotton fibers behind and causing more problems.