Our 8 month old son is teething and has been for the past few months. We do not give him medicines as many of the over the counter teething gels or drops have Belladonna or Benzocaine (numbing agent). Benzocaine is not reccommended to given to a child under 24 month of age, as they can develop a rare, but serious, condition that reduces the amount of oxygen carried in the blood, which is called Methemoglobinemia. Shortness of breath, fatigue, pale skin color, and rapid heart rate are some of the symptoms and it is very scary. Belladonna is often found in herbal or homeopathic medicianes used for teething, but is toxic in larger amounts. Which, if your baby is teething and in pain, a parent may give too much or too frequently, causing enough for the child to become exposed to the dangerous levels. The plant is commonly known as Deadly Nightshade. Loss of consciousness, seizure, difficulty breathing, lethargy, sleepiness, muscle weakness, constipation, difficulty urinating, and other symptoms have been seen in those exposed to the toxic levels. I have known about these 2 ingredients for a few years, as I read up about teething medications and warnings over 3 years ago with my first child. I never gave one drop of teething gel to her as I did not want to risk it. My parents are old school and had offered me some years ago, but I declined. There are many who swear by it, using it in teething tablets, but I rather be safe than sorry. I started my first child on natural methods right away. We bought her a Baltic Amber teething necklace when she was 5 months of age and she has been wearing them since (she is almost 4). We got her a new one about 6 months ago.
Baltic amber is a tree resin, and when amber is in direct contact with skin, it will warm up and release Succinic Acid, which is a natural oil for healing and pain management. These Amber Beads are strung on a necklace cord and hand knotted in between each bead. These necklaces are used for teething, but should never be chewed on. My son was sent a necklace that is 13 in. long and in the Honey Amber. Baltic Amber has many shades, which contain various levels of the pain relieving oil. This helps to naturally alleviate the pain in teething gums. Succinic Acid acts as a natural numbing agent for gums. It also helps with drooling, fever and rashes.
When choosing a necklace for your baby or toddler, Baltic Amber beads should always be knotted between every bead to prevent the entire loss of beads falling everywhere on the floor if the necklace happens to break, while also preventing more than one bead being swallowed in the extreme case that a child puts it in their mouth. The necklace is designed break under pressure to prevent entanglement or choking if the necklace gets caught on something. It is only advised to put this on children during the day, and under direct supervision. When my first child was really young, we would wrap the necklace around her ankle at night for sleeping. We personally eventually became more comfortable with her wearing it 24 hours a day, and kept it around her neck. This is something you need to decide on your own. I am not saying you should keep it around your child's neck. Please use you own judgement. Our daughter was always in our watchful care, and our son, who is almost 9 months, sleeps next to our bed so he is always within a foot of my arms.
It is also suggested to select a size that is not too long (but not too tight/short) so as to prevent the child from being able to place part of the necklace in their mouth. These beads are not for chewing. Baltic Amber teething jewelry is to be worn against the skin, so that the warmth of the skin heats and activates the amber and releases the healing agents.
As mentioned, I was sent the Honey color. The necklace was available in polished Amber. I do personally prefer Raw, unpolished as it is stronger in Succinic Acid, however polished works well too. Polished is pretty and appears shiny and more jewelry like. Raw Baltic amber is unprocessed, uncooked, untreated amber. It is processed very minimally if at all, and is said to be stronger in potency of Succinic acid. Polished Amber is not as strong in Succinic Acid due to the polishing, smoothing, heating processes used to make it shine. This amber still contains enough Succinic acid to provide healing and pain relief to teething babies, and even provides some pain relief for adults. It is said that the polish amber blocks the natural pores of the amber and so it cannot seep into the skin as easily.
Since I have become an avid Baltic Amber user myself and for my babies, I have had many colors in my possession. I love Baltic Amber. There are several shades of Natural Baltic Amber. The lighter colors of Amber are said to contain the most Succinic acid. Milk (buttery white), Butter (a cloudy butter yellow) are the lightest colors (currently not offered from this seller). The next in terms of strength, is Lemon (clear yellow), Light Honey (Golden, appears a little darker than Lemon), Honey (Honey toned---which is the one we have), Cognac (dark golden reddish brown), Cherry (Reddish). Baltic amber is cooked/heated to render these darker colors. I have seen amber so dark is is almost black like coffee. The darker, more cooked ones have the least amount of the acid.
The seller that sells this Baltic Amber Teething Necklace
I received to try is on Amazon. The seller does not make the necklaces, but gets them directly handmade from a Lithuanian artist. Each necklace comes with its own serial-numbered Certificate of Authenticity. It is very important to know that your amber is authentic, as there are several places (such as ebay or other online places, that sell fakes). The fakes most likely wont harm anyone, however, they would be a waste of money and not help alleviate any pain or discomfort. There are plastic beads that look very similar to amber. Please note that the 2 beads that clasp the amber necklace together are plastic. (and very convincing as real---this is normal!) The clasp is a screw bead and ment to blend in with the amber. :)This necklace was made from authentic amber from the Baltic Sea in Lithuania. I myself have not tested it as real, but it does come with a certificate and if one is desiring to test for authenticity, there are several options.
I am happy with the necklace, ours is a bean shaped amber bead. Some amber is rounded or a baroque shape. I do prefer raw, unpolished, but this particular necklace does work. Our son usually wear 2 necklaces, so we do have another one for him that is raw, but for the purpose of this review, he wore only this one when testing.
*Sample necklace sent to me for review, all opinions are my own.
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