Witchcraft and wizardry or a teething miracle cure?

When L was a baby in France she would have 2 to 4 teeth coming through at a time, and she would scream for both France and England in the screaming Olympics when they did. This was a shock to the system as she was the most chilled baby apart from that. From the very first teething incident I was asked why I didn’t get her an amber necklace.

Amber necklaces are HUGE in France, and were recommended to me by paediatricians, childminders, mums, grandmas, neighbours, colleagues and pretty much anyone else capable of speaking. Hubs, who is a scientist, was convinced they are witchcraft and wizardry and have absolutely no effect on a baby’s ability to handle teething.

All I could think was “I’m not putting a necklace on my baby!”, the strangle risk just made this option a complete no-go for me. Then one day after about a week of no sleep and a screaming, howling baby pretty much 24/7, a friend suggested putting it on L as a bracelet or anklet. (The idea of it is that the amber rubs against the skin and relieves the pain of teething, so in theory its place on the body shouldn’t be an issue.)

Hubs stuck with his witchcraft and wizardry theory, but he wasn’t the one dealing with the night wakings most of the time. Once I’d assessed that it wasn’t dangerous I decided to give it a go.

I have no idea whether it was some kind of placebo or whether the amber actually does anything but within a week L stopped crying over her teeth, to the extent that her 4 molars came through at the same time without us even realising it.

Fast-forward a few years and C is 5 months old and beginning to dribble like a good’un and thrust her fist into her mouth incessantly. So I debated the amber miracle cure again, and she is now wearing a rather fetching amber bracelet, that makes Hubs roll his eyes.

C sporting her amber necklace, worn as a bracelet

The thing is I’m 6 years older this time round, and I just cannot handle the sleepless nights. So here’s hoping that by hook or by crook the old amber trick comes good for me again.

Have any of you used amber necklaces/bracelets for your babies’ teething? Did it work for you? Witchcraft and wizardry in your opinion? Or miracle cure?

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6 Responses

  1. I swear by M’s teething necklace and I am not one for all the woo and hoodoo, even though I am a fairly sandal wearing hippylike Mama, I was totally convinced that teething necklaces were a load of tosh, then we got one for him, and I swear he dribbled less and seemed to be calmer as the teeth came through. He still wears it, I am hoping it helps with the ear pain he has until we get his grommets sorted. Who knows, it certainly isn’t doing any harm, and if it means one less dose of Calpol and a little more sleep then I am all for it! 🙂

  2. Yep, I have a necklace for my daughter who is still cutting some teeth. No idea if it works in terms of the pain because I put it on her before she had any teeth but the dribbling stopped overnight as soon as she had it on so I’d say it does ‘something’. I am not keen to try without, I value my sleep too much! Plus they’re so pretty!

  3. Franglaise Mummy says:

    Karen – my sentiments entirely, if it means fewer drugs, a happier baby and better nights then I’m all for it.
    A Frog at Large – I daren’t try without it either, just in case, and fortunately they are so gorgeous too 🙂

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