Sunday, June 19, 2011

a teething panacea?

Throughout the ages, baltic amber has been well-known for it's pain relieving and curative properties.   Amber is  worn near the body in order for the analgesic properties of the succinic acid to absorb into the skin when it encounters body heat.

Modern day mamas use amber necklaces to help their babies naturally combat the pain associated with teething.

High-quality amber necklaces have individually knotted beads and securely close with screw clasps.  

Many mamas swear by the naturalhealing and comforting properties of amber necklaces for their babies and toddlers.


I am not one of those mamas.

I'm not a big believer in the mystical and healing properties of stones and crystals.

It's just not me.


It might not be my thing but stones and crystals certainly are right up the alley of a certain someone else who lives in this house and shares the parenting responsibility of these children.

Although I've never told Taylor this, I think of him every time I latch that pretty little amber necklace around our baby's necks.  It is just so very his thing.


I bought this "honey and butter" necklace when Liza was just a few months old with the hope it would ease her teething pain.  Henry realized the awesomeness of wearing pretty jewelry and quickly claimed it as his own.  I was fine with Henry wearing it because Liza's fat little neck was squished so tightly  between her shoulders and head and I worried it might get stuck in a neck fat roll and impede her breathing.  Now that Liza actually has a neck, they takes turns wearing the necklace and we have managed to keep up with it for over 6 months even thought it is off and on throughout the day.  Quite the feat in my book.


I wish I could claim this pretty little necklace was a teething panacea.  For us, it's just not.  It's pretty to look at and I appreciate the historical and natural aspect of wearing amber but that's about it...


Do your babies wear amber necklaces?

12 comments:

JoyFilled said...

I have two that my two daughters used and now my son uses one, and I honestly don't know if they do a darn thing. I figured it was worth a shot, but who knows. I definitely believe in natural health, and I guess the analgesic oils sort of makes sense to me, but I don't know if it really works that well through the actual stones being on the skins oils. I even tried one for my own headaches after a friend recommended them and I didn't notice it helping at all...

I do have a few friends who swear by them, though...but when they are also using teething tablets and sometimes a pain killer, I'm not sure how they know the necklaces are working.

Laura @ Our Messy Messy Life said...

Yeah, I am certainly a fan of natural health type things....and people certainly do love them.....but, they sure are cute :)

KazVik said...

I am with you, Laura! I am not sure it works, but it's definitely cute. Today I made all my boys to wear them, Daniel told me later that he likes his necklace. I'll post picture on FB later.

shay said...

Here too. I bought it because so many mamas told me it helps.. and it does - if you add ibuprofen. ;) It sure does look purty though.

Laura @ our messy messy life. said...

Vika, so cute for all 3 boys to wear!

Shay, ha ha "if you add ibuprofen"!!

Mollyandollie said...

I'm a chamomila, ora gel, ibuprofen kinda mommy. I call them my triumverate (sp?) of teething pain killers. Oliver likes his fingers otherwise. I had never heard of amber for teething, but I agree, they look pretty!!!

Becky said...

Zachary has worn one pretty much 24/7 since he was 3 months old and I have to say I think it really does work!

I clearly remember one day when I forgot to put it on after his bath the night before. He was cranky and whiny all day, within half an hour of putting the necklace back on he was his usual happy self.

I am into all things natural, but my hubby is very sceptical of this type of thing. Even so, he too believes this does work.

I think it's important that the child wears it most, if not all, of the time. I know many people remove it at night as they are worried it may be a strangling hazard, but we have never had any problems.

I should point out that it doesn't eliminate acute teething pain - for that, we use homeopathic teething powder as and when needed.

Drea said...

Love the honey and butter on her! so pretty. We use baltic amber. All our kids wear them :) and we have all boys btw!

www.dreawood.com

Laura @ Our Messy Messy Life said...

Molly, fingers are still good for chewing :) The amber isn't intended for the baby chewing it. Just soaking up the goodness through the skin.

Becky, yeah, I always take it off when she sleeps because she naps in her crib and I try not to maintain body contact at night so I really don't trust myself to know if it's too tight around her neck. I was waiting for a comment from a mama that swears by them :)

Drea, your boys are precious! It really is a beautiful necklace. I've tried wearing it by the choker look isn't as great as it was in 7th grade :)

Mandi @ Living the Good Life said...

well, I'm with Becky :) I think I notice the most if it's taken off for a day or 2 for some reason. I wonder WHY is this baby SO cranky, the necklace goes back on and shortly, the mood changes. Of course the times that the teething is the.worst. like right before they pop through the gums, not much of anything helps.

Plus, I love the fact that my 80 something year old grandmother has pictures of herself as a young girl in Germany wearing her amber beads. I've also recently been enlightened by a Polish friend that a very traditional Polish remedy is raw amber infused vodka taken medicinally. Now, THAT might work on teething...hmm!

Lindsay said...

I love our Amber teething necklace! I keep it on him constantly and he had three teeth break through at once last week and was only slightly grizzly. I did give him some chamomilla and another remedy but no Tylenol and no ibuprofen so I'm cool with that :)

shay said...

Veda wore hers 24/7 for nearly a month. She still had massive teething drool, still much complaining about pain, and still required ibuprofen at times. I really wanted to feel like it worked! But alas, I keep putting it on her because it is super cute.

I hate to be the Debbie Doubter, but the thing is, you just don't know how they would have been without the necklace. Babies teeth differently, some teeth come in easier/harder than other teeth. Even the same tooth will give more or less trouble from one day to the next. There's just no way to do a true true pre/post test. I'm not discouraging buy one by any means! But it reminds me of when I was 10 days past EDD with Veda and everyone kept telling me that they "ate pineapple then went into labor so it MUST have been the pineapple". Or it was because they walked a mile, or had a spicy burrito, or rubbed (yes rubbed) castor oil on their belly.