The Teething Woes

I must confess, I was a skeptic of the teething necklace for a long time. When Little Man popped out his first two bottom teeth at 8 months, we had already gone through countless teethers or “chew toys” as my husband liked to call them, frozen washcloths, teething biscuits (both homemade and store-bought), more than one bottle of Tylenol and Motrin, and way too many Hyland’s Teething Tablets. Little Man didn’t care for any of the teethers, the Motrin seemed to work, but it took forever to kick in, and I didn’t like pumping my kid full of flavored, colored, chemicals, and the Teething Tablets provided temporarily relief, but he was back to screaming only a few short hours later. That meant very little sleep in our house.Why a Teething Necklace?

I needed a better solution. A friend suggested an Amber teething necklace. I researched. I read blog articles. I asked other friends about them. Everyone had rave reviews about this little “magical” necklace. I wasn’t sold on the idea, but I decided to go ahead and chance $20 on one.

As soon as it came in the mail, I put it on him. I was diligent about him wearing it daily even though I didn’t believe it was doing anything special. We paid for it, right? Might as well use it! Because of the risk for strangulation, all companies who sell the necklaces will tell you not to let your baby sleep in the necklaces. For 8 months (or so) I put Little Man’s necklace on in the morning, and took it off before bedtime. I had one too many people comment on my baby boy wearing a necklace… “Why is HE wearing a necklace?” “Is that a girl?” Um, no. This baby wearing a green and blue striped Polo with khakis and brown loafers is NOT a girl. Thanks for asking. I almost stopped putting it on him because of that, but in the end decided to continue using it. I’m so glad I did!

His next few teeth took their sweet time to appear. After several months with just two teeth, the rest decided to come in all at once. Within two weeks he had 4 new top teeth, with at least 2 more on top coming in and 2 on the bottom. Poor guy was miserable 🙁 But only at night! We never had any problems during the day, but at night he was waking every couple of hours screaming and screaming. Drooling like crazy, chewing on the crib rail, biting his fingers. Each time he’d wake up, Hubs and I would take turns holding him, feeding him frozen blueberries, and giving Teething Tablets. He would go back to sleep for a few hours and wake up again, same story all over again. It was miserable for everyone.

One night, I finally made the connection that we weren’t having issues during the day. I decided to put his necklace back on. He went back to sleep and slept the rest of the night without issues. So I didn’t take it off. And guess what? He slept great the next night, too! And the next, and the next! There is NO WAY you can convince me that this is just a coincidence.How Does it Work?

Now, I have no idea why it works like it does. There are several theories out there, but none of them have been proven. There are no studies that can prove the effects of Amber for teething pain. Nothing out there that can positively say for certain that yes, Amber relieves pain. Some people say that its because Baltic Amber contains Succinic acid, and when warmed against the baby’s skin, it is released and absorbed into the body to decrease inflammation and soothe the pain. That’s the theory I’m going with , Some say that Amber is a “magical” stone that radiates soothing energy and absorbs negative energy. Some even say that the necklaces work with a mild magnetic force to soothe the pain. Eh, the last two are a little bit too far fetched for me, but honestly, I don’t care. I don’t care if the experts say it works or not. But I do know that it works for my baby! I don’t know HOW it works. It just does.

This is the one I bought for Little Man: 

I found it on Amazon, and you can view it by clicking on the picture above or by clicking HERE. I chose this one because it has the safety (tension) release clasp, and each bead is securely knotted individually so that if the necklace breaks you won’t have a million choking hazards (aka beads) rolling on the floor. It comes in all different colors and a couple of different lengths. I’m very happy with my purchase! If you don’t like this one, there are several other companies out there who sell these necklaces. Just make sure you’re buying one that is 100% pure Baltic Amber.What About You?

Does your child wear an Amber Teething Necklace? Has it worked for you? I’d love to hear some more success stories!Disclaimer

As I mentioned above, most companies and experts will tell you not to let your baby wear the necklace while unsupervised or while sleeping. Because of the safety features in this necklace and because my baby is a little bit older now (14 months), I chose to allow him to sleep in it. This was a decision that my husband and I made and are comfortable with. Please do not allow your baby to sleep in the necklace if you are uncomfortable with this. If you don’t want the baby to have it around their neck at night, there are other options. Many people wrap the necklace around the baby’s wrist or ankle, or even through loops in their PJs at night instead. Please see my Disclaimer about affiliate links.