Recently, all three of my children got teeth AT.THE.SAME.TIME!!! First of all, that should be illegal! My five and two year olds got molars and my one year old got her first two front teeth. Needless to say, it was not a fun week at our house. In the past we have tried a number of different remedies including teething tabs, gel treatments, ice, teethers, and at one point it got so bad that we were even tempted to try grandpa’s suggestion of whisky (not to worry, we did not give our baby alcohol). I’ll be honest, in the beginning, when I first heard about these “amber teething necklaces” I was equal parts excited and skeptical. Perhaps my biggest concern, and the reason behind my skepticism was the question of safety. I mean, how many times are we, as parents, told to never put anything around our babies necks?
With that in mind, I set out to see what the company, Amber for Babies, had to say about safety. As with anything to do with babies or children, the reviews were mixed, but I feel like this company has made great efforts to protect our children. From their website “Extensive testing has been conducted to ensure the safety of the child while wearing the amber teething necklace, including using individually knotted beads, strong silk and a screw safety clasp.” They go on to warn parents to always supervise children while using their product. Really, I think that is the key. Like every good thing, with proper use, these can be a great asset to your arsenal of teething pain treatment. In fact, in our usage, when I know I won’t be able to supervise my youngest, I take it off her neck and just wear it around my wrist. That way I know where they are, but I also have them later if we find ourselves out at a store and she gets fussy.
I feel like I have to mention the process and thought behind this product because I didn’t realize how these work. In fact, I would have likened them to a wearable teether, but that is not entirely the case. Sure your kiddo can chew on them for some relief, but the primary reason this works is the succinic acid found in the baltic amber. Succinic acid is “a scientifically examined medical substance used in contemporary medicine” and it is naturally released when the heat from your child’s skin reacts with the amber. In fact, they say that the raw amber of these specific beads is even more effective against pain. Neat, right?!
Once I had sufficiently tamed my doubts about safety, it was off to try this necklace out. Allow me to pause here and note how truly beautiful this necklace is. I really love the color (I chose the Raw Lemon), and the brushed/natural look of the beads is very pretty. Anyway, I decided to try them on the one year old, since she was the only one left teething when I received these in the mail. Her initial reaction, like that of any baby, was intrigue. She put them in her mouth, stared at them for awhile, pulled on them, yelled at me because they were stuck on her neck, and went back to alternating pulling and chewing.
Let me just say that I love these beads! After I saw just how wonderful they were and how well they worked for my littlest kiddo, I am eager to try them on all of the kids. And, it looks like I will have the opportunity sooner than I expected, because my oldest just showed me two more teeth pushing through. I have yet to see if these will work on older kids, but the website says these are great for a multitude of things like migraines and arthritis. Who knows, maybe I’ll get my own set to help with my own headaches.
So, now that you’re all intrigued, where to find these beauties? You can purchase them directly from the Amber for Babies website. I would encourage you to take time to browse around the website and check out all of the many wonderful options.
Robin Phillips-Knotts
Saturday 22nd of February 2014
Both my grandgirls had/have amber teething necklaces and I swear they helped a lot. And it's so cute to see kids wearing them! My 6yo granddaughter even wears hers still pretty often.