Yup, I just might be a bit of a hippie. Or wait, are there still “hippies” or are they called “hipsters” now? I’m certainly NOT a hipster…
Let’s stick with hippie or maybe just a hopeful (possibly naive) mommy.
When we went for Jack’s 18 month checkup, the doctor said how most children start sprouting their 2 year molars anywhere between 18 months to two years. Then, she reminded me that since Jack was born two months early, he most likely won’t have to go through the ouchyness of molars for quite a few more months.
Then, she stuck her hand in his mouth.
And found that he has ALL FOUR molars trying to break through at once.
Yeah, that’s right. My kid is in the middle of some horrific teething and I kind of didn’t notice until the doctor pointed it out. I mean, he was a bit more slobbery than normal… and whiny too. But isn’t that kind of the norm for a 1 ½ year old kid?
Well, once we realized that Jack was probably suffering from a 24-hour ache while those teeth slowly pushed into place it was like HE realized it too. A slight whine turned into sticking EVERYTHING he could find into his mouth and giving me a sad pitiful look. And OH the tears. The kid hurts.
I’d really prefer not to dose him with pain reliever medicine all day long and the teething tabs are no longer enough to take care of the pain. So, I rustled around in his drawer and found the Baltic Amber teething necklace that I had purchased about a year ago.
The theory behind the necklace is that the amber contains succinic acid, which is a natural pain reliever, anti-inflammatory, and central nervous system calmer. It is supposed to ease teething pain with no drugs and no side effects. The necklace is made to be worn against your child’s skin (it’s short so they can’t easily grab or chew it) and is meant to break if pulled too tight. Also, each bead is individually knotted so that they don’t break free from the necklace and become a choking hazard.
So when we used the necklace a year ago, did it work?
I have no idea.
Will it work now?
Who knows, but we’re sure as heck going to try it out!
I put the necklace on Jack a couple days ago. When I have my eyes on him, it goes around his neck and I tuck it under his shirt. When I leave him with someone else, I wrap the necklace twice around his ankle. You’re supposed to leave it on your kid all day and night, but I take it off while he’s sleeping.
I do feel a bit like a hippie. But frankly, if it helps my kid feel better I will have the “he’s not a girl, it’s a teething pain necklace” conversation 10,000 times.
If you’ve tried one of the amber teething necklaces, do you think it worked? Or is it just a bunch of superstitious malarkey that I paid too much money for?
9/10/13 Update: So I’ve left the necklace around Jack’s ankle (wrapped twice) for the past couple weeks — even during sleep, the ocean and baths — and I SWEAR it’s working! His top two molars cut through during the last week and he wasn’t even any crankier than normal. Actually, he hasn’t been very cranky at all lately and FINALLY went back to going right to sleep when I put him down at night. So YAY for teething necklaces! Now I need to go and knock on the biggest piece of wood I can find because I think I just jinxed myself and he’s going to fight me for 3 hours when I try to put him to bed tonight…