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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To buy an amber teething necklace?

148 replies

Stuckunderababy · 06/01/2014 19:51

Ok, ok, I am the world's biggest sceptic and am well aware there is no scientific evidence to show they work, but I have the teething baby from hell and am desperate!! So many people swear by them that my 'bollocks' stance is starting to wane.

So, is it a placebo and you just blame the baby being grumpy on something else, or should I part with 15 of my hard earned pounds for the miracle cure?

OP posts:
rockybalboa · 06/01/2014 23:35

What does the fact that aspirin comes from willow bark have to do with the price of cheese? It's irrelevant where a medicine has its chemical basis, the fact is that it's been developed and tested as a safe drug.

BitOfFunWithSanta · 06/01/2014 23:37

Rub a bit of sugar on the gums. Works just as well as teething gel in scientific studies. Calpol if there's a fever.

elfycat · 06/01/2014 23:42

In our case amber necklace and homeopathic (I suspect herbal chamomile rather than homeopathic chamomile persoanlly) were not instead of pharmaceuticals. There were in addition to as much calpol and ibuprofen as we could get into DD2.

I spoke to the GP after two weeks as I hate giving calpol 14+ days in a row. He said keep going, double the dose of ibuprofen if needed and hinted that the rash around her mouth might be helped by an evening dose of piriton Wink.

So then I happened to walk past an amber shop and thought 'well it's the only thing left'. I don't care if it's woo, as I'm trained in 2 woo therapies including crystal healing

sykadelic15 · 06/01/2014 23:49

I think they're absolute crap and also believe the effect is a placebo affect.

My main concern, aside from chocking, is that if they DID work, you're putting an unknown about of chemical/drug into your baby. That's just... off.

MrsTerryPratchett · 06/01/2014 23:51

rocky that was actually my point. Amber either works and is therefore a drug, like aspirin, or it doesn't and is therefore bollocks. I was responding to the person who would rather give their child amber than pharmaceuticals. My point is there is no difference between pharmaceuticals (aspirin) and natural remedies (willow bark) in cases where the drug works.

elfycat · 07/01/2014 00:04

But if we are saying that minuscule amounts of succinic acid are released by amber (but not as there isn't enough heat) what's the problem? Succinic acid is used in foods as an acidity regulator and is found in wine (I'm not suggesting giving teething children a bottle with Merlot in it) and is considered fairly safe. It can be a skin irritant, but this is obviously not the case in amber jewelry or you'd take it off.

So even if there was a hint of the pharmaceutical about it, it is going to be non-harmful. Or at least so unlikely to be non-harmful that ibuprofen and calpol and piriton should be given a firm stare.

elfycat · 07/01/2014 00:11

unlikely to be harmful*

MrsTerryPratchett · 07/01/2014 00:21

Either amber is a lovely inert substance or it is effective and will have side effects. If it is effective, don't give unmeasured doses to babies. Calpol is reasonably effective and I wouldn't give whatever I wanted to DD, I would measure it. Because it's a drug. Like amber isn't is being touted to be.

MrsTerryPratchett · 07/01/2014 00:23

Just to spell it out... if you think it works, you are giving a drug to your child with no dosage limit. If it was a proper painkiller, that would be neglect at best.

Beavie · 07/01/2014 00:27

Aspirin may well come from willow bark but paracetamol and ibuprofen don't, which are the two drugs usually given to babies in the form of calpol and nurofen. Also, unless you buy the calpol with sugar in it, and you don't get a choice with nurofen because it's only available sugar free, you are also loading them up with aspartame, which is widely heralded as BAD SHIT. May as well give them a no added sugar fruit shoot to wash it down with.

Of course if my dc have a need for painkillers or other medicine I am happy to give it to them (getting it down their necks is a different matter - it's like worming a cat Grin)but in non critical situations I prefer to try more natural alternatives. Anyone who thinks the planet had no natural medicines to offer before pharmacies were invented is delusional.

Anyhow, each to their own, I don't judge anyone for preferring to use western medicine, and my experiences of having a baby with an amber necklace were nothing but positive, people often said how pretty it looked were generally intrigued by it, in a nice way.

MrsTerryPratchett · 07/01/2014 00:31

I use medicine that works. I have used Chinese medicine, when the medicine in question was approved by the WHO for preventing malaria with less side effects than the standard one. People who don't believe in untested bullshit aren't closed minded. Show me a double blind, placebo controlled study for amber and I will use it.

Beavie · 07/01/2014 00:40

Hmm I guess I don't need quite as much affirmation that something is ok, I was working on the basis that myself and many people I know have worn amber with no ill effects, and that I had heard many good things about teething necklaces, so thought I'd give it a whirl. Suppose that's how things were done before which? was invented :)

MrsTerryPratchett · 07/01/2014 01:20

People took radiation for health before we invented testing. I'm sure they didn't notice any ill effects until they got cancer and died. I prefer my method. You know, scientific method.

IneedAsockamnesty · 07/01/2014 01:55

These things are actually real?

I thought they were like one of those stupid joke products

IneedAsockamnesty · 07/01/2014 02:02

rocky

In Tesco the other day they had large wheels of Brie with two days shelf life left for 56p!

SongYee · 07/01/2014 03:04

So does it just work on sore gums then? Why aren't people using them for arthritis, gout etc if they are so effective? Does amber only work on babies or something? Is it because babies are all 200 degrees?

Catsize · 07/01/2014 04:44

Adults do use it too, if I remember rightly.

CheerfulYank · 07/01/2014 04:54

I always thought they were for biting on too and I thought, what a terrible choking hazard. Then a friend told me awhile ago and I looked it up.

I dunno. I'm not at all skeptical so I probably would use one, but I've never needed to. Both of mine have teethed easily. Well, so far, DD is 7 months and only has three with two more on the way. :)

Catsize · 07/01/2014 05:19

They are too short to bite on. Or should be! Lots of people thought the same though.

coralanne · 07/01/2014 05:45

I always thought they were just a trendy thing but DD had one for her DS who is now 2.5.

Honestly he had rashes all down his neck and chest from teething and dribbling. It all cleared up within one week of putting it on him and he hasn't had it off since.

Apparently you have to be careful to buy the "proper" ones. You can buy cheap ones but apparently they have to have the right combination of amber and the right threading and each bead has to be threaded individually. etc. etc. etc.

Honestly, I am the biggest sceptic around but the "proof is in the pudding" as the saying goes.

HoratiaDrelincourt · 07/01/2014 06:36

Mine wore one (anklet under sock) and was still miserable, dribbly, etc although perhaps fractionally less so, for those collecting anecdata.

Since the amber is hugely likely to be completely inert, perhaps it's actually a pressure point thing like those sickness bands? Also woo, obviously.

Kytti · 07/01/2014 07:22

I quite like them. But that's because I think they look cute. My friend's children have worn them and are still very much alive. I say why not? For those that claim they're unhygienic, no worse than the other stuff a toddler likes to stuff into their mouths. :)

PedlarsSpanner · 07/01/2014 07:45

I don't think its the unhygenic aspect that is the issue here

The why not? is the choke hazard and the use of an untested med on your sprog.

elfycat · 07/01/2014 07:49

Horatio those sickness bands have been tested by anaesthetists and found to have an effect, a small effect but a positive one. It was published in an Anaesthetic journal years ago. I used to have a copy (recovery nurse) to thrust at unwilling anaesthetists who would't prescribe one for post op vomiting after we'd used all the conventional drugs.

I'll find it if anyone needs me to but I'll probably have to pay as I no longer subscribe to medical journals.

When getting DD1 travel sickness meds the pharmacist emphasised that you must tell your child clearly what the effect should be. I rolled my eyes and asked if placebo played a large part with that medicine. Apparently yes.

Placebo has also been double blind tested and found to work in about a third of cases. Again I can find the evidence if needed - it was in an OU course I took for my nursing degree - 'Perspectives on Complementary therapy'.

So put the necklace on if you like, and tell your child it's to help (placebo - 1:3 may benefit). Look up E363 (succinic acid) for the 'active' ingredient for medical research and as in many anecdotal stories, but obviously by woo and gullible people enjoy a potentially calmer child who now had a pretty piece jewelry.

elfycat · 07/01/2014 08:01

Oh and I never had a severely vomiting patient refuse to try one. On this thread there seems to be a strong voice against the woo but in 6 years of full time recovery nursing, and having used hundreds of sea bands, I never met anyone who said 'Oh that's snake oil, please take it away'.

Which might suggest that when you are desperate you are willing to try anything that might help, especially if there are no obvious side effects. P6 pressure bands are also on the nice guidelines as a recommendation for pregnancy nausea link