Amber Teething Necklace

Sophia enjoys her bath!

Recently we've had a few rough weeks with Sophia teething. First her upper molars were coming through, then followed by the incisors. Some nights she would wake up every 2-3 hours. She was also more irritable during the day (throwing toys around if pieces of puzzle didn't fit together right away or she couldn't figure out how to open a certain box). Little things would upset her easily, & I would observe her circling around the room looking for a good spot to fall - on purpose! Then she would dramatically fall while hitting her head on the floor & cry looking for some sympathy. It was almost impossible to give her any solid food except liquid formula & every attempt at feeding would result in her waving her arms & shaking her head "no." It would literally take 45" to feed her a meal while spending an extraordinary amount of energy to run after her around the room for each single bite.

Reading letters at the Mall

Then I stumbled upon an article about the pain relieving qualities of an amber teething necklace by one of my favorite blogging attachment parenting Moms. Even though I grew up in Russia, I've never heard of using amber for pain relief.
I quickly learned that amber is a traditional European baby teething remedy. Formed over 45 million years ago, Baltic amber is an organic substance, a "fossil resin" produced by pine trees which grew in Northern Europe. Baltic amber has some of the highest concentrations (3-8%) of succinic acid found in nature, & wearing amber is like wearing an aspirin skin patch. Baltic amber has immune boosting properties & reduces teething pain through its anti-inflammatory properties. It also decreases irritability & restlessness often associated with teething.

I finally snapped a photo of Sophia's pot belly :-) (funny photos aside, for maximum effectiveness, the necklace should rest against the skin, under the child's clothes)

Amber teething necklaces are worn by infants & toddlers around their necks or as a bracelet when they are teething & can't be chewed on. To reach its maximum effectiveness, the necklace should rest against the child's skin. For safety purposes, the necklace should always be worn under adult supervision. It's important to buy an amber teething necklace especially made for infants. Such necklaces are between 12-15" long & knotted by hand in between each bead, so should the necklace break, the rest of the beads will not scatter. From a therapeutic perspective, there is no difference between the light & dark amber.
To preserve the amber teething necklace, remove it for swimming or bathing (the chlorine & other chemicals used in pools & the detergents in bath soaps & shampoos will damage the necklace's silk threading). Once the necklace is wet, it's essential to dry it completely before wearing it again. The necklace should be cleaned regularly using a soft cloth & spring water (gently wipe each individual amber bead) & then left to dry in the sunlight.

My 7-month-old son Jacob wearing his amber teething necklace

I ordered Sophia's necklace from the Always in Fashion online store for $23 (including shipping). Interestingly enough, the necklaces are made in Kaliningrad, Russia. A couple of other reputable places to buy an amber teething necklace are the Amber Artisans & the Nova Natural Toys & Crafts.
I am excited to see whether the necklace will live up to its expectations in a few weeks... Maybe it would be the magic bullet to help Sophia sleep through the night?