Baltic Amber

So, the necklace Cecelia's wearing in this week's picture is made of Baltic Amber and according to quite a few people, it helps babies while they are teething. Let me start at the beginning. I was at a La Leche League meeting and there is a mom there with a daughter about two weeks younger than Cece. She was wearing a necklace, and I said, "Is your baby wearing a necklace?" And she said, "Yes." She told me it was for teething and I assumed that she must be supposed to chew on it, but no. She continued to tell me about Baltic Amber and how she used a similar necklace with her older son when he was teething and he would cut teeth without experiencing the typical symptoms of teething. i.e. pain, drooling, and general unpleasantness. I thought that sounded good, but to be honest - these days many things are in and out of my brain faster than you'd believe. That weekend, I went to the La Leche League Eastern PA conference and, I kid you not, there were about 40 babies with these necklaces on and that stuck in my mind! I asked their parents if they felt it made a difference, how much they cost, and where they got them and later that weekend, our necklace was on its way! Now, this is not a case where I believe the necklace to have "healing properties." I'm not that naive...though it may seem that way sometimes. The principles behind the beads makes sense. They release oils on the skin that act as a natural analgesic. Worst case scenario...it can't hurt. Though some may disagree. "Babies aren't supposed to wear necklaces. That's a choking hazard. Etc." One of the dads at the conference commented on how he thought his daughter would grab at her necklace but he noted that she doesn't and never has. He thought it might be a bit of an "out of sight, out of mind" deal. Also, on the website "Inspired by Finn" it notes that the necklaces are made to break if there is pressure put on them in that type of way. And finally, I went to the movies and saw a trailer for a movie/documentary that follows four different babies from around the world for one year. I'll have to look into that further and put a link because the preview/trailer was ADORABLE! But I digress...what was the African baby wearing but...a decorative necklace. And she didn't choke. So, back to - it can't hurt. And it might help. If you've heard this child scream and thought...teeth, it might be teeth coming...you'd want to do something to help too. My parents used whisky and while that may have been very effective that's not the route we're planning to go. Not judging...just saying. And finally, this morning we went to the Campout for Hunger at the PM Metroplex and Jeff was trying to stay back from the crowd towards the end to keep Cece away from all the germs when lo and behold someone approached him to take a closer look at and touch the baby and what did this nutty lady say..."Oh, a baltic amber necklace for teething." So, here's to being a crazy lady. Let the good times roll.