Amber Teething Beads

Teething bites. haha! I can't even imagine how it must feel to have teeth erupt from your mouth. It's wonderful that babies can't remember this stage, because I imagine it would be traumatic.  What's even more traumatic? The doom-and-gloom fear about teething medicines! Our pediatrician said to avoid gum cream because, "extended use can numb the back of the throat and a baby can choke without noticing." EEK! Not to mention, the FDA doesn't recommend using benzocaine on any children under 2 years old.  What is benzocaine in, you ask? Uhm... EVERYTHING!!!! There's a long list under the FDA link.

So... now what?! We have enough teething toys to sink a small vessel.  Cold ones, rubber ones, noisy ones... guess which ones the babe likes? That's right - he could care less about any of them... 

forgive the iPhone pic

Unfortunately, the little guy was still in pain. Enter amber teething beads:

The theory behind amber teething beads is this:

• baltic amber has a high concentration of succinic acid 
• amber is a resin, not a stone, so body heat warms up the beads and releases this acid
• succinic acid is produced commercially and is FDA approved
• in ancient Egypt/Rome/Greece there is documented use of amber in medicine for healing/pain relief
• the beads ARE NOT CHEWED

Sounded good to me! But wait... are you putting a NECKLACE on a BABY!!! Yes. The beads are individually tied off, so if the necklace breaks, you're risking ingesting a single bead. The beads are non-toxic, and the bead will eventually pass. 

I will note that the babe doesn't sleep in his necklace. We take that off at night.  However, he does keep the anklet on 24/7.  It's usually under a sock, so he doesn't even realize it is there. He has yet to tug at the necklace, but if he were to start pulling on it we may stick to the bracelet only.

We get the occasional strange look - like, 'hey the 90s called and boys don't wear necklaces anymore.' I can't speak to how effective they are, but we do have close to 5 teeth in and he hasn't woken up at night in pain.  The way I see it, "Why Not?!" 

Look how cute he looks in his amber and 'tux'!!

again...iPhone pic

What 'alternative' treatments have you used on your kiddos? Have they worked?