to think amber necklaces are a load of bollocks?

[PancakeBum]

And that if I had severe toothache I'd rather take a fucking painkiller?

Surely even if they ARE releasing these "oils" or whatever they're meant to do to help with teething then you are using an untested substance on your baby? And are they not a choking hazard?!

Or am I just being grumpy because I come from a family of homeopaths who all irritate the life out of me?

We have friends who put their 18 month old down to sleep in his cot wearing one of these bloody silly necklaces, it really concerns me. I asked them about the risk of strangulation / choking and they bit my head off so I keep my mouth shut now.

Placebo effect occurs with babies and even animals. It is normally associated with the beliefs and mood of the adult carer - adu believes the child is improving.

And also of course regression to the mean - children will improve naturally at some point. If parent uses the necklace as the last resort and child improves, they will believe it's the magic of necklace and not natural improvement.

I'm a scientist.

No scientific evidence for them at all.

But they worked for me.

How do you know it was them and not something else?

But they worked for me

In what way did they?

Small beads are a choking hazard, amber bracelets et al are made from small beads and therefore a potential choking hazard.

I heavily judge people that use them, because, Science. Same with teething granules, just use some bloody drugs that are proven to work.

The placebo effect would be that the parent perceives the child to be in less discomfort when more likely what has happened is that the application of Amber coincides with the natural ending of discomfort.

DS used to chew on my mum's labradorite pendant when she was cuddling him and he seemed to find it soothing. Perhaps there's a marketing opportunity there for me!

I could market it as being as effective as amber but more hygienic as there's no cord.

I think if they were presented as an pain relief option during labour their popularity might decrease.

I used amber anklet underneath baby grow.

I was sceptical
You misspelled gulible, or skeptical does not mean what you think it means.

but it really did help

I can't believe I have to say this but: no, it didn't.

Bring back the good old days of a few cocaine drops

Absolute crap. I hate seeing babies and toddlers wear them, an accident waiting to happen.

I used to live in a v middle class part of N London, full of professional people with kids and the amount of these ridiculous necklaces I saw was amazing.

Woo bollocks!

@speakout

I'm a scientist. No scientific evidence for them at all. But they worked for me.

I Scientist is anyone who uses the scientific method to study nature in some form. That is a pretty low bar, but to qualify you have understand why your second and third sentences are mutually exclusive.

There are words for people who think that something works, when evidence shows it doesn't. Scientist is not one of those words.

I've never been tempted but if @speakout says they work I may give them a go. You're one of my favourite posters!

I have made no scientific study of amber necklaces for teething.

I may be a scientist - but I am human too. Science is not a religion.

My friend is a GP and told me how well they worked for her kids.

I presume she has made no scientific study either.

BasilThirty- XX

They are bollocks and either a strangulation or choking hazard or both depending on where you put them. Should be banned to market necklaces at under 3’s for a start!
I have posted the link below on my local Facebook mums page so many time now I’ve given up.
sciencebasedmedicine.org/amber-waves-of-woo/

@speakout

I may be a scientist - but I am human too. Science is not a religion.

I don't have any grasp of what you mean by this. Science is a way of analysing the world, such that you make it harder for yourself to fall for 'woo bollocks'.

My friend is a GP and told me how well they worked for her kids.

What sort of 'Scientist' are you if you don't understand how people fool themselves about this sort of thing? @KatharinaRosalie has given the most common reasons people see patterns which aren't there.

speakout, you are not a scientist.

They are bollocks and a risk. The only way in which they "work" is that adults convince themselves that they do, as the alternative is to admit your baby is in pain and you are helpless about ut, which is very uncomfortable.

When DS was cutting canines recently we were free with Calpol, as much crusty bread as he wanted, boob at all hours, and I seriously considered getting a one way plane ticket to Antarctica to be as far as possible from teething toddlers forever, so I can understand why otherwise rational adults would believe anything helps.

Tying something round a baby's neck is good as it's a distraction? Oh dearie me, imagine if the common people used Amber earrings in their baby's pierced ears! Goes from woo to abuse.

@speakout, as a scientist, what theories could you speculate about, to explain how these amber beads might possibly work to reduce pain experienced by babies? Maybe your GP friend had a scientific theory for the possible mechanism that they work by?

Ha DrWhy, I was going to post the same link!

If they didn’t work for you maybe you didn’t recharge them enough using moonlight and pixie shit