Re: orajel- we used the natural hippie kind. It’s just chamomile goo in a little tube. It seemed to help, though it might have been rubbing his gums that did the trick and not the teething jel. If you want to test that theory, maybe just put a little cooking oil on your finger and rub her gums and see if it helps. My grandma used to rub whiskey on our gums for teething- the all natural chamomile orajel seemed like a safer idea to me.
We also used infant ibuprofen, not actually Tylenol, sorry. I tend to call everything Tylenol. I also call all soda Coke, bad habit. You’re not supposed to use Tylenol till age two now, but infant ibuprofen is safe from six months on. We didn’t use it before then, but then, he wasn’t teething before then. I would ask your doctor about dosages if she needs pain relief now.
The theory behind the amber teething necklaces is that Baltic amber contains succinic acid, which may possibly have mild analgesic effect. The problem with this theory is that there is no evidence that succinic acid is released from the amber with exposure to body temperature- to release the acid from the stone, you would need to heat it to 368 degrees Fahrenheit. This is obviously much hotter than your baby will get. I do think that the necklaces are very cute, but I would be worried about possible choking or strangulation. If you decide to use one, at least don’t leave your baby unattended or asleep wearing one.
[name_u]Baby[/name_u] J started drooling buckets and chewing everything at around 3 months, but didn’t get his first tooth until 6-7 months. Those were his only signs for the first 2 teeth. He had a fever before the next 2, then nothing for the next 2, then a fever before the last 1. So far he only has 7 teeth. The amber necklace didn’t do anything to help him, but I’ve had a lot of Mom’s tell me it really helped for their baby. They just have to wear it, they don’t chew on it… the beads are too small anyhow, they could choke.
A lot of Moms have also told me to use [name_f]Camilia[/name_f] for teething relief. It’s a naturopathic teething relief “medicine”. It seemed to help J sometimes but it would wear off really fast -others have spoken to me about it as if it was a miracle medicine, so it might help your little one. The company that makes it is called Boiron if you want to look it up online.
I think the Baltic [name_f]Amber[/name_f] is a bit of a fad, but if you like the look why not. The interesting thing is you will never really know if it helped or didn’t help really. My husband is from the Baltic region and had never heard of or seen this practice until recently here in [name_u]America[/name_u]. It’s incredibly popular in my area and I see it as a way from moms to indicate to other moms, “hey, I’m somewhat interested in holistic practices so if you are too let’s be friends.” [name_m]Just[/name_m] like wearing a Tshirt of your favorite band on the first day of middle school :). [name_m]Plenty[/name_m] of crystals have soothing properties and help certain body systems.
[name_f]Lillian[/name_f] is definitely teething today @ 13 weeks. I thought she started at 8 weeks with the drooling and chewing and fussing, but dr said it was just being more aware of her mouth and a wonder week.
She’s been up since 3am, crying buckets, and I can feel a tooth up top. I gave her Tylenol, and she finally fell asleep. Her teething necklace is at the [name_u]PO[/name_u] waiting, and dad is picking up some [name_f]Camilia[/name_f] tonight. I will update everyone on how it works.