Baltic Amber Beads to the rescue…?

When I first heard about Baltic amber beads I must admit that I had my suspicions. I’ve heard of the healing power of certain stones but never actually experienced it first hand. I am generally the kind of girl that likes first hand experience because you know you can’t believe everything you hear/read. This week however has laid those suspicions to rest and made me a believer.

A lot of my recent frustrations have been as a direct result of lack of sleep. As a parent I’m sure you know that teething is hell. Your kid is not himself. In fact he is behaving like he could be someone else’s child. The sleep is the first thing that goes. Tantrums, moodiness and just generally feeling like poop which translates into everyone around him feeling the same way too. Is possibly the best way to describe the week we had.

A late teether…

Daniel started teething a week before he started walking at 10 months. It was a slow gradual progression to 7 teeth around 15 months and then he just stopped. His amber beads however he had been wearing since he was 12 weeks old. I was never really sure if it worked, but he wore them none the less.

A stinky accessory…

Then one night I realised because I never took them off, they had picked up a smell. It was like a muggy wet smell, from bathing and obviously not completely drying. Sweating, powder… I don’t know. It just stank. It was making his neck stink. Yuck! So I removed them and put them in the window sill to dry. I mean he wasn’t teething and I wasn’t sure if this was even helping.

Then…he started teething again…

I knew babies could teeth more than one tooth at a time. However no one explained the measures or the measure of torture… Daniel got three at the same time. I had moments where I wished my child was born with teeth. Felt sorry for him, me, us.. even my neighbours. It was bad and even that is understated.

Remembering the beads…

Daniel had been without the beads for about 2 months when the teething started, and everyone was giving tons and tons of advice. My trusty friend Google sucked too. Nothing was working. We weren’t sleeping. I was in the kitchen at work one day when a good friend asked me if he was still wearing his beads. At this point I had actually forgotten about them, but was ready to try ANYTHING. So we did, we put them back on.

Swelling the size of a marble…

Two of the three teeth had cut by this stage and the third was just sitting in his gum. He had a rash on his chin from the drooling, and a swelling the size of a marble in his mouth. I was actually getting worried that something else might be wrong. Is that even normal? A swelling that big? I keep checking if I could feel a tip, a little hint of tooth but nothing.

A miracle happened…

Suddenly after 3 days, of not changing much more than the type of pain medication and the beads – he started to sleep. It was an answered prayer. We needed it so much more than I think I realised. Then, the swelling started to subside… and low and behold by the 5th day the tooth cut. There was actually a tooth under all that swelling.

What’s my conclusion..

I honestly can’t say without a doubt in my mind that they work, but I do believe that different things work for different people. A little science, some stones on a string and a lot of prayer helped us through this and he is sporting 10 teeth! Hooray! I did some research on why though to help you figure out if its worth the R250 spend (which is what we paid for our beads).

Some facts

It is recommended that you let your baby wear the amber beads from 12 weeks/3 months old. Your babies body heat triggers, in the amber, a release of a very small amount of oil containing succinic acid which is a naturally occurring bodily substance. Scientists say that this has a pain relieving effect on swollen sore gums. Yellow amber is the most pure from of amber and is believed to therefore be stronger in terms of pain relief. After 2 years of wear, an amber necklace needs to be replaced, this could be sooner if exposed to creams, perfumes and heat. Amber is also known to alleviate stress, help with sleep and is a natural anti-inflammatory.

Where can you get some?

There are tons of suppliers who sell amber beads, but if you’d like to be lekker and support local there’s a little online shop based in Uitenhage (showroom available) that I just love. You can reach KidCoco at 061 450 6842 or [email protected]. KidCoco sells Baltic Amber beads for only R150! Give them some love on Facebook and Instagram and check out the rest of their range.

Pictures of Baltic Amber Beads provided by KidCoco.

In the Meantime – do you have any experience with amber beads? Did they work for you? Let me know in the comments.