Amber Teething Necklace - Does it work? | MacRae Naturals + Giveaway

My experience:

I have always been intrigued by the idea of amber teething necklaces, though I certainly wasn't a firm believer in their healing / anesthetic power. It took some researched and talking to fellow moms to convince myself to give this idea a try. 

The wonderful Kimberly from MacRae Naturals offered to send me one of her gorgeous hand-made teething necklaces to test out and then share my honest thoughts about it - thank you Kimberly! This was just the perfect opportunity to see if these things actually make a difference - and, as it turned out, just the thing Victoria needed!

So did it make a difference for us? I believe so. Just 3 days after we put it on, we noticed Victoria wasn't drooling as much and within a week she stopped drooling altogether. And I am pretty sure the lack of drool can be attributed to the necklace, as I did try taking it off for a couple of days and the drool was back. Then after putting it back on, it was gone within 2 days. Just like magic. 

Did it help with the pain? The itching? I can't say for sure that it did (it's not like the baby can tell me, right?), though it certainly looked as if my daughter was in less pain. She was less agitated, went back to sleeping 10-11 hours at night, and chewed less on her teethers (before they were in use 90% of her waking time and she would bite down on them with incredible viciousness). 

I heard horror stories about teething babies - their painful screams, sleepless nights, fever, crankiness, tears.. I was dreading the moment my daughter first tooth would break through. I expected a living hell! And you know what? It honestly wasn't that bad. It wasn't bad at all! Call me crazy or naive, but I really believe the necklace made a huge difference. 

Victoria started wearing hers at about 6 months old. She is now almost 8 months old and she just got her second tooth! And we haven't had a single sleepless night, she did not break out in fever, she was merely occasionally agitated (and where the necklace didn't help, the various teethers came to the rescue), we didn't have to give her any pain medication - not even a single time - and she was just really content and cheerful throughout the whole thing. I was amazed and speechless. 

So do I recommend buying one for your child? Absolutely! Why wouldn't you? Even if for whatever reason it won't work as well on your child as it did on mine, it still won't hurt to try, right? And it's beautiful, fashionable and completely safe (even to sleep with it on). And - very affordable!

Amber properties - the facts :

Baltic Amber is a natural analgesic and healing agent containing succinic acid. Our bodies naturally produce succinic acid, which works like a natural ibuprofen.  When Amber is worn against the skin, your body warmth causes the amber to release oil containing trace amounts of the acid that your skin absorbs. When absorbed into the skin, it can relieve the following:

• aches & pains
• arthritis, carpal tunnel, & joint pain
• headaches
• stress & anxiety
• inflammation
• pain & inflammation in teething infants/children
• excessive drooling in teething infants
• back & knee pains
• jaw pain & dental issues
• neck & shoulder pains

Is it safe? Can my baby wear it to sleep?

The way the necklace is made - each bead has knots on both sides - ensures that even if the necklace breaks, only one bead will come loose and the rest of them will stay intact. The necklace is just the perfect length for your baby's neck - not too long but just perfectly snuggly, with just a little bit of wiggle room for comfort. Your baby won't be able to put the necklace in her mouth and I have never seen Victoria actually grabbing it and trying to pull it. 

The beads are small enough not to cause any discomfort while lying down. 

On her page, Kimberly advises to always remove the necklace before bathing and sleeping, though I must say we didn't take it off for Victoria's naps and she was sleeping with it on just fine. Still, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Kimberly also says that: "The beads are the size of a pea or smaller and in the highly unlikely event the string breaks, they are small enough that if eaten they can be passed without harm."

If you have any other questions or concerns, I recommend to check out Kimberly's helpful FAQ on the MacRaeNaturals.com website, or just ask Kimberly directly - she is very helpful and wonderful to talk to, and will get back to you super fast!

About MacRae Naturals:

Kimberly, the founder and owner of MacRae Naturals, is a stay at home mom who runs her business all by herself. She is very passionate about helping moms and children get through the hard teething time. Her store bursts with amazing, carefully put together necklaces for both children and moms. She continues to add new items to the store all the time. 

You can find her on INSTAGRAM, where she often posts beautiful pictures of the necklaces as she adds them to the store!

To browse her store click here: MacRae Naturals Store

Giveaway

To help promote Kimberly's beautiful amber teething necklaces I am hosting a giveaway! You can choose items from the store - up to $50 worth - or $50 paypall cash! 

Please enter through Rafflecopter widget below!

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Teething in Style: Mulberry Teether

Got a teething baby? Welcome to the club! Oh the joys of sleepless nights (and just when you thought you could finally get some sleep, too, silly you!) and constant whining.. whining... whining... I won't lie, I was slowly approaching the point when I was willing to let my child chew on my phone, cause this seemed to be the only thing that a) held her attention long enough and b) was easy for her to grab and hold (my future tech whiz!). 

We tried many different chew toys - from the ones filled with liquid that you can toss into the freezer for the awesome (or awesomely short-lived?) cooling effect to the fancy shaped ones, like Sophie the Giraffe. The last one really is a nice chew toy, by the way, just not for a 5 month old baby that is still a bit uncoordinated and, therefore, fully capable of poking her eye out with it (true story). 

And then I discovered the wonderful Belly Dance Maternity and their Mulberry Teether bracelet/chewing ring. And while my life didn't get a whole lot easier - I still don't get much sleep and I'm still mostly covered in Victoria's various liquids from which her saliva is the most pleasant one - it definitely got bearable again. Hallelujah! 

We got the teether in turquoise and orange, because I know how much Victoria loves bright colors. It immediately caught her attention - shake that thing in front of her eyes and she's sure to reach out for it. The look is one thing, but the texture is just as amazing. I just love how soft the beads are. They're made from silicone and don't have any unpleasant smell. V loves chewing on them! They provide enough friction for her to be able to hold them without any problems. She seems very content just sitting there, chewing on her bracelet, for as long as 30-45 minutes at a time. Not even mommy's shiny new phone can hold her attention for THAT long. 

With all the other chew toys we've tried, Victoria would quickly get very frustrated. She's got Korean blood in her, mind you, so it doesn't really take long for her to get annoyed and throwing things around. This is by far the only teether she didn't get frustrated with. It's so easy for her to hold, put in her tiny mouth and chew, she really doesn't seem to have anything to be frustrated with at all. Moreover, looking at her sitting in her stroller or excersaucer, chewing on the Mulberry Teether, I can tell she's relieved and satisfied. She will chew on it until she gets tired enough to take a nap. Everyone is happy! 

I won't lie to you, I have my own agenda in owning this particular teether. It's stylish and makes for a fantastic accessory! I have tried wearing it a few times while carrying Victoria in the carrier, and she was happy to have something to chew on while we walked the dog together, or did grocery. It's really quite a convenient baby product. You don't have to worry about it falling to the floor and getting dirty, you don't even have to think about it, really, you just wear it, and baby will do the rest. 

Last, but not least, the Mulberry Teether doesn't contain any harmful substances, such as BPA, phthalates, cadmium, lead or metals. It's perfectly safe for your child to chew on, and that's always the first thing I check before I make any purchases. 

To sum it all up: The Mulberry Teether from Belly Dance Maternity is a product I feel 100% comfortable recommending to all moms. It's hard for me to even imagine a better teether for my baby. Give it a try and I promise you, you won't regret! 

Other colors:

Black&White | Green&Pink | Gray&Yellow

Disclaimer: I received a free sample of the product for testing. This did not influence my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions are my own.