A teething baby.
It’s something every mother will experience. Sometimes, it’s no big deal, and other times, it’s a nightmare.
When you’re a natural mama, what are you to do to help your baby find some relief?
Today I want to look into one option you may have heard about, but maybe haven’t considered up until this point.
Baltic amber teething necklaces.
About Baltic Amber Necklaces
Stones, gems, and crystals have been used for centuries as remedies for various ailments, but amber isn’t really any of these things. It’s not a stone, not a gem, and not a crystal.
What Is It?
It’s a resin from what’s believed to be the pine tree family that has been fossilized to become very hard, and you can find it in a variety of colors from the classic yellowy-orange, to cloudy white, yellowish clear, to almost black. There is also a red amber (known as “cherry amber”), green amber, pink amber and even blue amber, which is rare and highly sought after.
Amber necklaces are made by taking beads of amber and stringing them on a necklace or a bracelet. Each bead has a knot between it which is a safety feature in case the necklace breaks. It keeps the majority of the beads on the necklace and off your floor! They also come with a plastic screw clasp so it can be released with enough pressure if needed.
What Does It Do?
Amber has long been used to relieve or dull pain, but scientific studies have been conducted on it that show it does more than provide pain relief only. It’s also thought to give strength to the whole body, improve immunity, help with inflammation, help with energy levels, and balance acids in the body.
How Does It Work?
Amber, when warmed, releases an oil and this oil contains something called “succinic acid”. Baltic amber has the highest succinic acid content of any amber which makes it the most sought-after amber for therapeutic purposes.
Succinic acid works to block pain and inflammation… much like ibuprofen and is alkaline in nature. In fact, the human body makes succinic acid itself!
In 1886, the pioneer of modern bacteriology, Nobel-prize winner Robert Koch, confirmed succinic acid’s positive influence on the body. He discovered that there was no risk of the accumulation of surplus amounts of succinic acid in the human organism, even after the introduction of considerable amounts into the body.
What does that mean?
To me, it says that there’s no harm in letting your child wear an amber necklace for extended periods of time. I’ve also not been able to find any information about children or adults being allergic to amber either, but like anything else, you can never be too sure so if you put a necklace on your child and they start showing allergy symptoms, take it off and see if those symptoms go away. Try it again later and see if the symptoms return. This is probably the best way to see if they truly are allergic to the amber.
Who Is It For?
Amber necklaces can be used for anyone! Most commonly, they’re used for babies and small children during teething, but they can be used by older children and adults anytime pain relief is needed.
How To Use It?
In order to use Baltic amber for any of its benefits, it’s best to wear it as close to the source of pain as possible and to wear it for an extended period of time.
- When your little one is teething, put the necklace around their neck, only removing it during baths and sleeping, and leave it on them so they have a constant supply of succinic acid near that area of pain and inflammation. When your child has an earache or ear infection, besides using natural treatments for ear infections, try putting their necklace on them for added pain and inflammation relief.
- If your teenager has growing pains in their shins. Wrap the necklace around their leg and leave it on. If they have a headache, let them wear the necklace on their neck. When they have their wisdom teeth removed, put it on them a few days before their surgery, remove it during surgery, and put it back on as soon as it’s over.
- Same goes if you have a sinus infection or if you’ve unfortunately been in car accident and your neck is stiff. Put it on and wear it constantly to see if it provides some relief.
Is It Safe?
Of course, putting things around your baby’s neck will require constant supervision. As I stated earlier, these necklaces aren’t meant to be worn when your baby is sleeping or bathing. They also aren’t meant to be chewed on. You should get a necklace that fits your baby properly so they can’t get it into their mouth. If you still aren’t comfortable putting it around their neck, you can simply put it around their wrist or ankle, but I’m not sure if it will be as effective for teething with that placement.
Now I can’t speak on behalf of all amber teething necklaces, but my necklace has every bead tied off so that if it breaks, only one bead comes off… not all of them. Some also have a safety clasp that will open if it gets caught on something or if baby pulls on it as opposed to the actual necklace breaking and beads going everywhere.
My Experience With A Baltic Amber Teething Necklace
I originally got my Baltic amber necklace for my 2-year-old who is cutting his back teeth here and there. I wanted to see if it would help him with chewing on things and being fussy. However, when I got it, I ended up using it myself. Forget the kid, right!
What happened was that I had caught a cough that had been going around in my family, and on top of the dry, hacking, very annoying cough, I was developing a sinus infection. I had pain on the left side of my face, and my teeth were aching like nobodies business. Besides doing herbal sinus rinses and eating garlic syrup like crazy to overcome the infection without antibiotics (my husband even told me I stank I was eating so much!!), I decided to see if this highly-praised necklace would provide me with some relief.
At first, I didn’t notice anything as it took a while of me wearing it to take effect. In fact, I didn’t really notice that it was working so much… until I took it off. I noticed that when I’d take it off, the pain would come back stronger than before, but that when I was wearing it, it wasn’t as bad as it had been.
I tend to be a skeptic about things until I see a difference first hand. Thankfully it worked pretty well during this particular experience with it.
Oh yeah, it also worked for the kid too. He’s been wearing it non-stop since then and his teething hasn’t seemed to be much of an issue, nor was the cold he caught from his mama!
Will It Work For You?
Now if you’re wondering if a Baltic amber necklace will work for your teething baby (or for you when you have a sinus infection), I can’t really say. The only way to know is to give it a try and see. Just be sure you’re using it correctly before you make your final decision.
Same goes for herbs and other remedies. If you’re not using them correctly, you can’t expect to get the results you’re looking for.
I will say that there aren’t many scientific studies that show the effectiveness of amber. Now, just because there aren’t many studies doesn’t mean they don’t work for some people. It just means it’s not been researched enough.
What People Are Saying About Baltic Amber Teething Necklaces
I first heard about amber teething necklaces from some Facebook friends before I ever tried one on my kids. So instead of giving you my opinion only, I decided to ask them how these necklaces have worked for them and their families. Here’s what they had to say.
My grandson has worn an amber necklace since he was about 4 1/2 months old. One thing that I noticed right away is that he stopped drooling, and now at 15 months, still doesn’t drool. He also doesn’t seem to have any ear discomfort along with getting teeth. His symptoms are strictly very localized pain & swelling. — Cyndi
My daughter was only 3 months old when she started furiously gnawing on her fists all the time. I put the amber necklace on her and you could visibly see her relax. She took her fists out of her mouth immediately and other than the normal stick-everything-in-your-mouth phase that babies go through, she never had that sense of urgency about her. I would not have believed the difference if i had not seen it myself. She is 20 months, has 12 teeth, wears her amber necklace constantly and has never drooled. — Rhonda
I started using them about 3 years ago and use them for baby gifts. My teen daughter was cutting molars and tried one. She noticed a reduction in pain while wearing it. I also know a young woman with severe arthritis that wears one to help with the pain. She notices the difference if she forgets to put it back on after her shower and will go looking for it. My baby wears his all the time, and I double them up if he is extra cranky from teething. — Tammy
I think they’re worth the money. It’s hard to tell with babies teeth, but we use them for growing pains on the big kids and they feel better within minutes! And my 12 year old was complaining while getting her molars, she put the baby’s necklace on and felt all better really soon after. — Sarah
I ordered mine before my baby was even born because of my sister in law’s testimony. One day, I was awful sick in bed with fever and aches and the baby (who was 4 months old) was fussy. My husband kept bringing him into nurse, but he would just fuss and cry, and I would send him back. Finally, I remembered the necklace and put it on him. He was nursing contently within minutes and went to sleep even. It’s been the easiest teething time with this guy and he’s now 2! — Sandra
Just to throw a little wrench in the mix here…. Amber doesn’t work for my kids!!! I don’t know why. I am certain I got the real thing, but we noticed no difference with my middle girl, and only slight difference with my littlest one when wearing two. Everybody is different. — Rachel
I’d like to address Rachel’s comment above because her’s is not the only comment I’ve heard like this. In fact, the Hazelaid website states that not all amber necklaces will help everyone. It’s a try and see thing. Fortunately, it seems like the majority of moms who have tried amber teething necklaces on their kids have found success with them… your’s truly included.
If you happen to be one of those mamas that don’t have luck with amber necklaces on your kids, I’d say the first thing to do before throwing your baby’s necklace in the trash is to check and see if it’s the real deal.
How To Tell If Your Baltic Amber Necklace Is Real
It can be tough to know if your amber necklace is the real deal or a fake, but I found that the Hazelaid website has a section that discusses fake amber as well as how Hazelaid tests all the amber that comes in their shipments. It also gives you a list of tests with step-by-step directions that you can do to test your amber necklaces for authenticity if you’d like.
CLICK HERE to learn how to tell if your Baltic amber necklace is real or fake.
Win A $50 Hazelaid Gift Certificate And Get Your Own Teething Necklace (Plus A Lot More!)
Hazelaid is the brand of teething necklaces I heard many of my Facebook friends raving about which is why I chose to go with them for my own necklace.
Not only has my necklace been great for my family, but Hazelaid also has a lot of other great natural products to offer mamas (including hazelwood necklaces and skin creams that have been shown to help with eczema).
Graciously, they have offered one Growing Up Herbal reader a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to their website to use on anything they’d like as well as an ongoing coupon code for GUH readers to get 10% off of all their Hazelaid orders!
Enter The Giveaway Below
All you have to do is enter this giveaway is via the Rafflecopter form below. There are several entries that are one-time entries, and if you really want some extra chances of winning, there are some daily entries you can get as well.
This giveaway will run for 5 days… starting today and ending on Friday, April 4th at midnight EST.
One winner will be drawn at random on April 5th. If you really want to win you’ll want to have as many entries as possible. Each entry is like putting your name in the hat again. The number of times depends upon how much the entries count for. The more times your name is in the hat, the better chance you have of winning. Make sense?
The winner’s name will be announced in the Rafflecopter form below on April 5th, in a blog post, on Facebook, and in an email newsletter. The winner will have 72 hours to contact me with their name and shipping address to claim their prizes.
Enjoy, and best of luck to you!!!
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW OVER.
If you’re not interested in the giveaway at all and you’d rather just go ahead and order some Hazelaid products, be sure to use my coupon code “Growingupherbal10” because it will save you 10% on any product Hazelaid offers. This coupon code is only indefinitely!
I’ve heard of these and would be curious to try it. Teething is no picnic! Not to mention any other kind of pain. Would love to win this! =)
I bought an amber necklace for my youngest. He wore it constantly from about 4 months of age until about 2. He’s now 5 and still wears it occasionally, but usually just for fun. (I’ll have to remember to get it out when he wakes up in the night with growing pains!) I believe it helped him, because he never fussed for ANY teeth. In fact, he got his first tooth without me even realizing he was teething!
You mentioned that some people may have an allergic or negative reaction to things, and I believe he did to a hazelwood necklace I got him for his super dry skin. Each time I tried it, I would notice within a day or two that he was extra crabby, and would go back to normal crabby 😉 soon after removing it.
Same here with mine Trudy. They weren’t all that fussy when getting teeth. They drooled a bit more and wanted to cuddle more, but no big teething issues that I noticed. That’s a bummer about the hazelwood necklace, but I’m glad you figured out what was causing the issues. Isn’t it weird how some things work well for some people and not for others? I’ve heard great things about using hazelwood for dry skin. In fact, my SIL who has a little one with severe eczema tried one, but unfortunately, she didn’t see much of a difference with it. Bummer!
I’ve got an amber necklace that I rarely wear because it is so chunky, but I could use some pain relief-thanks for the info!
The one that I have is very small as it’s designed for babies and children. Maybe there are smaller versions out there you can try. And keep in mind that the amber oils don’t always work for everyone. The only way to know if they’ll give you relief is to try it and see. Hope that helps.
I have tried it myself! When my baby had an ache of teething I put the amber necklace around his neck. I wouldn’t take off during his sleeping time as well.. My loved one became way relaxed and would sleep tight. He would be calm and could be happy. I highly recommend them!
Good to know! Thanks for sharing, Sally!