To wonder why perfectly intelligent people keep suggesting amber teething aids to me, am I missing something?

[TinySleepThief]

I have a teething 4 month old. It's crap but there isn't much I can do about it other than dose him up with Calpol, use teething powder/gel and continue in my attempts to get him to use any form of teether.

However in general conversations 3 separate people so far this week have suggested buying a teething necklace, bracelet or anklet all of whom I thought to be quite intelligent. 2 of whom also don't have children but have heard from a friend of a friend that they work miracles.

I just don't understand why they think it would help, there's no science behind it at all and honestly they just look dangerous.

So now I'm genuinely wondering am I missing some new research which isn't just anecdotal? Or am I right to wonder why is it that rationale intelligent people seem to think that bloody amber will help when everything else I've tried so far has failed?

OP, you're being quite eye rolly to people that are just telling you their experiences. Teething granules are a load of nonsense but you're using them. We're all learning, it's not a competition.

Yep!

Also, people saying how an amber necklace or bracelet would indicate that they're unlikely to share the same views as the parent of that child.... Yikes! I totally forgot how judgemental a lot of British mothers are. It's really quite sad :(

All stones are naturally sourced, and the paint is guaranteed Farrow and Ball.

viques, I was skeptical until you mentioned the brand of paint. Now I'm sold! I'll buy some, but no need to send them to me - magik works at a distance if you wish hard enough, right?

We're all learning, it's not a competition.

Of course we are all learning but I just don't see how they can possibly be safe. They are surely a choking risk and even if they did work then you're basically giving your child an unspecified dose which you would never do with any other medicine.

OP, you're being quite eye rolly to people that are just telling you their experiences.

I don't see the OP as being eye rolly. People can share their experiences, but I anecdote doesn't equal evidence. I think it's important to acknowledge that the amber had no influence on the way their child reacted to teething.

Ds has had amber beads on his ankle since he was born and is now 2, I think hes had one temperature from teething and has only had to have calpol about 3 times due to teething, the rest was absolutely fine and we actually didn't even know half of the teeth were coming up until they broke through, we've never used teething gel or powder or anything like that either

Same with DS except amber ankle beads were not a thing 30+ years ago so we didn't have them. Never suffered from 'teething', never had a temperature at the time his teeth came through. Many other parents have said the same. OTOH, my friend's DD was 'teething' at 4 months but didn't get her first tooth until about 6 months later.

My theory is that people ascribe there grumpy or slightly poorly babies to 'teething' between the end of colic and the start of the terrible two's. Once the the amber beads are worn, the grumpiness or slight poorliness is ascribed to something else, as it can no longer be 'teething'.

Also, people saying how an amber necklace or bracelet would indicate that they're unlikely to share the same views as the parent of that child.... Yikes!
The crossover between amber bead parents and anti-vaxxers is very high. I'm quite happy judging away on both counts.

Even if the amber teething bracelets were proven to work - they are a potential choking hazard and I don't know why any parent would want to give their child something they could choke on. Ashton and Parsons powders may be homeopathic and more of a placebo than anything else. I'm guilty of using them when nothing else seemed to work but at least they're not dangerous unlike amber beads. I'm sure I read a case last year of a baby dying due to wearing a bracelet that snapped, heartbreaking.

Or they work, and you're apparently giving your child an unknown dose of an unknown, untested substance which is strong enough to dull teething pain apparently more than paracetamol

exactly this - who in their right mind would dose their child up with a random dose of a drug whose efficacy and safety had not been proven - and delivered in such a dangerous manner (both the string and the beads!)

literally every baby in Australia wears amber somewhere

You've checked them all? Every one? Literally, every one? Didn't people you don't know, like literally total strangers, object when you stripped off their child looking for their amber?

Apparently intelligent and well educated people are into homeopathy

The former Head of Science at the school I use to work at went for acupuncture and reiki sessions. Swore they worked, too. Frightening, isn't it, to think that the science curriculum was being overseen by someone who believes in such arrant nonsense? And no, it wasn't a religious school.

I always thought of it whenever she made a pronouncement, and assumed her spiffy new ideas had gone through the same critical thinking filter.

Treestumps - I have no idea. My older children are all teenagers now, I'd never heard of amber teething things when they were small. I hadn't until I got one as a gift with my new baby and she's worn it for only a couple of weeks. In all honesty, I very highly doubt they work or release anything. I'm not a crazy hippy or anything. As far as I stand, there's a lack of scientific evidence either demonstrating or refuting claims these things work. I know full well it's likely a coincidence my daughter has cut her tooth with no pain while wearing one (mainly as it looks cute, is taken off when she isn't in my sight etc and my teenage daughter likes to put it on her). I wouldn't know if it'd work as well in the winter, it's pretty much consistently 32 degrees here year round and my little girls got cankles so it'll unlikely fit her at all in a couple of weeks.

The amount of people who told me my red cheeked, dribbling and sad baby was ‘definitely’ teething and ‘here is the miracle cure you buy’ at four months was unreal... her first tooth finally popped through literally the day before her first birthday! I think I read somewhere that the Uk is the only country in Europe that obsesses over teething in this way.

literally every baby in Australia wears amber somewhere

It's changed a lot since I lived there then. I have never seen a baby wearing amber jewellery.

Like I said, who knows.

We can know simple things like this. We've spent 2000 years developing a systematic approach to studying the world so we don't have to go- ooohhhh I wonder why lightinging happens, oh well- who knows?

Just because you don't understand how Science works doesn't mean you should resign yourself to not knowing anything. A little time and effort could allow you to get to grips with the basics.

Teething is blamed for almost everything in the first year or so or a baby's life. I have my doubts as to whether babies are really distressed from teething for weeks on end.

I agree completely with this.

literally every baby in Australia wears amber somewhere

If that's true, I think a lot less of Australians.

But of course it isn't true. Some Australians understand science I'm sure.

VIQUES - yes, I stop them in the street and search. Of course not you nugget. Just at my baby groups, ones I see out and about, I'd say 95% of them do.

And DAPPLEDTHINGS - WTF?!!! There's no correlation between wearing amber and being an antivaxxer!

I realise this isn’t the question you asked...

Liquid anbesol is most definitely the best every, I didn’t need to give Calpol with this either.

I have no idea why amber would work and whilst I do like a homeopathic method, never tried this, the risk of breakage is high!

In all honesty, I very highly doubt they work or release anything. I'm not a crazy hippy or anything. As far as I stand, there's a lack of scientific evidence either demonstrating or refuting claims these things work.

So why the hell are you berating all the people here who are saying exactly that?! How bizarre to come on defending something, then turn right around and say they don't do anything?!

Saraclara - you may think less of Australians, I'm sure we will all get over it one day!

Amber has been used in teething rings since Victorian times. It is possible having amber in your mouth helps, but random amber placement on the body - nope.

People believe in all sorts of woo when it comes to babies. I don't know why.

Because the baby can't feedback "This bracelet is doing fuck all, and is bloody uncomfortable, give me some of that Calpol stuff that actually works so I can get some sleep!"

Treestumps - erm, read my first comment, I didn't!!!!!!!

And DAPPLEDTHINGS - WTF?!!! There's no correlation between wearing amber and being an antivaxxer!

Oh there really is. Any time spent on a "natural parenting" site will show you that.

This is the claim - What are amber teething necklaces? They are teething necklaces made of Baltic amber, or fossilized tree resin. In theory when baby wears one, his body heat triggers the release of a minute amount of oil that contains succinic acid, which is absorbed into the bloodstream.

I’m weary of any kind of claim that involves minimal amounts of anything being ‘absorbed into the blood stream via the skin...’ Skin is a barrier not a sponge - it’s function is to keep things out of the inside of your body, not let stuff in...

Just because you don't understand how Science works doesn't mean you should resign yourself to not knowing anything. A little time and effort could allow you to get to grips with the basics.

I did research, the majority of papers I'd read on Google Scholar came to the conclusion that there isn't enough scientific evidence to dispute amber works or confirm it does. So if they're allowed to come to the conclusion of "who knows", then so can I! :-)