I'd never used a teething necklace with any of my babies until I tried one with Aria starting at about four months.
Four kids and eleven years later and I wish I'd known about them the first time around. Now they're not a cure-all perfect answer to teething but the lack of drooling alone is enough for me to love them and highly recommend them.
If you are familiar with babies, they're kind of a messy bunch.
And they're super cute but they drool.
A lot.
A
lot.
Like, really a lot.
After caring for four babies, I'm no pro at this mom thing and by darn if one of them has yet to arrive with a pretty little instruction manual explaining all of their bells and whistles and hollers and cries but I have discovered that baltic amber teething necklaces stop drooling.
And that is almost as good as a manual for all of the clothing changes that has saved me with this one baby alone.
I've worn bibs on every single one of my babies. except for Aria. She'd just started drooling enough to wear one about the time I put this necklace on. So I was able to see a drastic change within a few days and she's never drooled enough to need a bib since. (She is and always has worn the necklace around the clock.) Totally worth it.
When the necklace isn't enough, I also like these
Photos:
1. 4 months old - we began wearing ours. (Recommended age is three months but that's just when we got ours.)
2. 6 months old. We like music.
3. 7 months old - Teething necklaces are *not* for chewing on. But she doesn't care about that so that's why I'm glad that every bead is individually knotted for safety. (The baltic amber warms against the skin which in turn releases whatever it is it releases in order to soothe the discomfort that comes with teething. (That's my super technical explanation.) They're intended to be worn against the skin at all times. I'm completely comfortable with that but everyone has to make that choice themselves whether or not to wear it 24/7. We do. And always have. It only comes off during her baths. It has to warm up against the skin again each time you remove it in order to do its job. And you want to keep it clean of lotions and oils so they don't inhibit its efficacy... admittedly I'm not very good about that - but it still seems to be working just fine.
eta: One of my friends said on Facebook that she wraps it twice around her daughter's ankle during naps/sleep time so it's still in contact with her child's skin. Thought I'd pass that on as well for anyone who is concerned about wearing it around their child's neck during those times. Also, I never fully explained why I feel so comfortable wearing it during sleep time... and that is because the necklace isn't long. So, I feel personally that it's not long enough to get pulled under the child in order to get tight enough for choking. But, as I mentioned above, each parent needs to make that call for themselves! end of edit.)
4. Our 'tiny' baby.
5. See, she really is wearing a diaper.
6. Still not listening with the chewing... That's why I'm also glad the necklace has a twist closure for extra security so she can't yank it off.
7. 9 months old. Eating a troll.
8. 9 months old. Ready to go.
9. 9 1/2 months. Chicken pox.
10. 10 months old. Busy girl.
11. 10 months old. Baskets are really fun.
12. 10 1/2 months old. Getting everywhere.
13. 11 months old. Boy clothes make good pajamas.
I hunted through all of my photos and these were the best ones. I have relatively few that show the necklace well - and that's because it's always under her clothing, against her skin, as it's intended to be. If you use them, or are planning to, I hope you like them as much as we do!
