Amber Alert

Sometimes I think that writing a mom blog makes me come off as a know-it-all or as someone who thinks they're doing such a great job raising a child that they have to share their knowledge with the rest of the world. The truth of the matter is that I write this blog 'cause it gives my thoughts somewhere to go. I've never kept a journal, it's not my thing. I remember when I was studying at 'The Con' (The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto) I used to spend the hour before my lessons trying to remember what I'd practiced over the past week so that I could write it in my journal in case my trumpet teacher asked to look at it. Blogging is a little more my style as it gives me an outlet for my thoughts on certain topics versus just writing about how things are going in my day-to-day life. I also love doing online research, so blogging gives me an excuse to do so.

A couple months back I received a message from a friend asking me what my thoughts were on amber teething necklaces. She wrote me because she knew I wasn't a total hippie, but that I wasn't opposed to trying out hippie things as a parent. I was flattered that she asked my advice and a little embarrassed that I had no idea what an amber teething necklace was. So the online research began. I learned that amber teething necklaces aren't supposed to be used as chew toys for babies, but rather when the necklaces are worn, body heat causes them to release succinic acid which is a natural analgesic. I then searched mom forums high and wide to see what the consensus on the street was, and luckily it was mostly positive. I wrote my friend back, admitting my total lack of knowledge on the subject and suggested that for $20 they may be a decent option to try out.

Well fast-forward a couple weeks, I was researching cloth diaper detergents online when I found a store that had the brand I wanted for a great price. They also sold amber teething necklaces, and my cart was looking rather bare so I thought, 'why not!' So I placed my order and a few days later my little package arrived. It came just as we were about to head out on a walk with Daphne so I tore it out of the bag and put it on Daphne straight away. Now before we started using the amber teething necklace, Daphne was a gong show. Her teething pain seemed to be worse at night, especially around dinner time. It seemed to happen almost every other night when Dave or I'd be feeding Daphne and for what seemed like no reason at all she'd start crying uncontrollably. Usually after about 10 minutes of crying I'd think to stick my finger in her mouth and feel around for bumpy gums. Nine times out of ten, her gums either looked super white around where a tooth was coming in or we'd actually feel a little tooth that had just broken the surface. She would also wake up scream-crying several times a night, and again, nine times out of ten we figured out that it was as a result of teething pain.

We aren't super big on giving Daphne pain medication and Daphne's not super big on teething toys (unless a human finger counts as a teething toy) so the teething necklace seemed like a great alternative. And boy am I thankful for my friend who sought my advice, 'cause from the day I put the necklace on Daphne until today, her teething pain has all but vanished. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, maybe I should say that on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being Daphne's teething pain pre-necklace she's at a 3. Seriously. The only times she scream-cries now is when she's super scared of something or when she's experiencing stranger or separation anxiety. Mostly what happens now when she's teething is that she gets super clingy, and aside from the fact that clingy Daphne's moderately annoying, I'll take my hippie baby over little-miss-cries-a-lot any day!


Now, for you all you sceptics (that's the British spelling, in case you were skeptical) out there who need proof that these things work, sadly I can't offer you anything other than my word. What I can tell you is that I'm the queen of scepticism so I did try out a few experiments of my own. One thing that started to get annoying about the teething necklace was that Daphne would chew on it. She paid no attention to it for about the first month or so that she had it, but from about 10-11 months she went through this phase where she would chew on it mostly to get a rise out of Dave or me. During this phase we decided that whenever Daphne would chew on her necklace we'd take it away. It worked out well because I was super curious to see if her drop in fussiness was a result of her getting older or if it was because her teething pain had diminished. Well, every single time we took the teething necklace off, Daphne was back to her old self, fussing and waking up crying like it was her job. I was still a little sceptical though, so when we were in Toronto in April I was all too happy to give Daphne's teething necklace to one of her pals who was going through a tough teething spell. This experiment was two-fold: we'd not only see how Daphne did without her necklace for a whole week but we'd see if her friend's teething pain diminished. Now, I'm not sure if it's a coincidence, but the week that Daphne was without her necklace she got her third non-vaccine related fever (the first two happened before the necklace). It lasted a few days and at the end of it she cut a couple teeth. She was fussier than usual but that could have been as a result of being around lots of different people all the time. I didn't get too much feedback on whether or not the necklace worked for Daphne's friend; his mother did send me a text message stating that she was a 'reluctant believer in the necklace' so take from that what you may. I think it helped him, but I'm not sure if his mom bought one for him so I'd be curious to hear how he's doing on the teething front.

Daphne's now at nine or ten teeth (I can't tell if her most recent cut is one really big tooth or if it's a combo). The more she gets the cuter she gets and I'm glad they're coming fairly quickly now 'cause as much as I love her teething necklace as a natural pain reliever, I really do think it makes her look like a hippie child. Not that I don't love hippies, but I would like to see her again without that thing around her neck. Oh, and I'm serious about loving to do online research, so if you need help getting info on anything baby-related or not, I'm your gal, seriously.