Have amber teething necklaces worked for anyone?

[lolalotta]

My lo is really suffering at the moment... Neal's yard teething crystals don't seem to help much and I didn't want to rely on the hardstuff (ibuprofen etc, lol!) too much to get her through! Any thoughts?

Like most "natural remedies" there doesn't seem to be much scientific research behind them. There was an article on NZ news recently here

'Chemistry professor at Otago University, Alan Blackman says that is nonsense.

?You have to heat amber to over 200degC in order to be able to get any volatiles out of
it, so I find that quite unlikely.? '

well i wasn't referring to you pfft, i was referring to this:

By WidowWadman Fri 09-Jul-10 06:38:10
I think it's cruel to withhold painkillers from a child who needs them and give them some woo placebo instead (teething necklaces and crystals are nothing but).

dd4 has one. it got to the point that i would try anything as she was unhappy all the time, and seemed to always be on calpol for teething. since she has had one (first snapped a few months ago as hardley ever take it off), she has had calpol a few times.

she is happier, less drooly and doesnt seem to be in pain either.

we replaced the broken one as a couple of days of non-wearing sent her back to whingey. i also forgot to put the new one on her last week after swimming for 2 days and she was grumpy.

to some it might be a load of old hippy crap, but for us it appears to work.

But TIY - I think that comment is fair when the OP says that she does not wish to rely on medicine.

These things were around at least 10 yrs ago. I had friends who gave their babies big bits of amber to chew.

I really, really don't like the idea of putting anything around a baby's neck. Anything that breaks so easily as to prevent strangulation would surely only last five minutes. And even if the beads stay connected, surely there is still a choking hazard if a baby swallows one end?

yes, doesn't want to rely on it... not intends on witholding it and never using it, which was the implication

Personally, I think they are superstitious witchcraft and completely ineffectual, but then I am very sceptical of most "alternatives" (bloody homeopathy etc). As has been pointed out already, I can't see how they can work when body temp of 37 degrees (and skin temp is lower than core temp so not even that) is nowhere near hot enough to melt the amber in any way. Also, if there was any evidence that "amber extract" helped with teething, you can bet your life some company would be boiling amber up, bottling it and selling little vials of it at a tenner a pop. I reckon if they seem to have an effect, it's because the parent thinks they're doing something positive to help their baby's pain and relaxes a bit, and the baby picks up on Mum/Dad being more chilled out and responds likewise.

And NO WAY would I put anything around a sleeping or crawling baby's neck.

I realize this is really long but please read before you decide to use an amber teething necklace!

I have a 6 mo dd who?s been using an amber teething necklace for about a month now. She hasn?t had any problems with it (I also am not sure if it?s really helping at all). But yesterday she took a nap on my legs (she fell asleep there when she was very cranky and I was not about to move her!) and her teething necklace was pressed against my leg because she didn?t have a shirt on and my shorts left my leg exposed by my knee. Anyway, I didn?t notice anything until I was going to bed last night and saw that I had several red bumps, about the size of mosquito bites all in a line near my knee. I thought it was weird because they were too regularly spaced to be bug bites or anything like that but I didn?t think much about it because they weren?t bothering me. Then, today they started hurting whenever my dress would brush against them. And tonight they each formed a little blister in the center of the bump and they are very painful, constantly!

Apparently I have an allergy to Baltic amber. From what I can tell by searching on line this is rare- but since I am not prone to allergies I never would?ve guessed that I would have this reaction. I am SO very grateful that this happened to me rather than my sweet little baby girl. But thinking of the possibility of it happening to her made me feel that I have to warn other mamas about this! I had a hard time deciding whether or not to try out this teething necklace and in the end thought, ?well, what can it hurt?? If I had realized this was possible, I definitely would have wanted to know so I?m just letting you know so you can make your own informed decision.

Gosh, when people get irritated with woo stuff it really makes me want to buy in. . I wouldn't give any female ibruprofen as it has been shown to be only as effective as placebos for women in relation to painkillling. I don't take painkillers and neither does DP so it wouldn't be that we'd withhold painkillers so much as never think to give them. I'm personally made of woo so find the ingrediants list and side-effects pamplets for such things pretty terrifying.

Gosh, I find ibuprofen very effective and haven't come across anything proving it isn't effective for women.

As a point of interest - there is a poster on the door of our children's centre advising against the use of teething necklaces, according to the poster FSID are concerned about them being left on sleeping babies. Can't find anything on the FSID website that supports this.

You'd have to heat amber to over 200 degrees centigrade to get anything out of it.

HTH

I have bought an Amber teething anklet, and it quite clearly advises not to use during naps or during the night.
I intend to use it when my five month old starts teething, along with teething granules and ibroprofen. I will try anything to help him.

I used one of these for my son and they were brilliant. Wish I'd not spent so much on bongela etc now.

I've now passed it on to a family member. As for it being 'woo' you could say the same about aloe vera, arnica and copper braclets and they work. for my son and they were brilliant. Wish I'd not spent so much on bongela etc now.

I've now passed it on to a family member. As for it being 'woo' you could say the same about aloe vera, arnica and copper braclets and they work.