Sunday, May 13, 2018

Baltic Amber Necklaces: Not Just for Teething

Anneliese, smiling in a big pile of freshly picked calendula, wearing her amber necklace
I first heard about Baltic amber teething necklaces when my first daughter was born, how it helps reduce the pain of teething, just by having the amber sitting on your skin. I figured it was worth a shot, and my daughters wore them all the time, and I never saw them suffer a lot from teething pain. I noticed my sister in law, Viki, wearing Baltic amber necklaces, and I never understood why she used them; she wasn't teething. I first learned from her that there are more uses to Baltic amber necklaces, beyond just teething pain. For example, my sister in law used to suffer constantly from tension headaches, and as soon as she started wearing her Baltic amber, the pain went away. This post was written by Jenn Sanders of Baltic Wonder, about her experience using Baltic amber necklaces.

I had only ever heard of Baltic amber when referring to teething infants. They had hit the scene a little after my first child was turned one, and so I never really looked much into them. When my son turned 2, he started having a really hard time with separation anxiety. I wasn't sure what to do about this, as I had to finally go back to work, but I didn't want to scar him forever in the process.


I had been talking to one of my dearest friends late one night when she mentioned the use of amber necklaces in therapy practices. I was intrigued and thought about looking into it more, but didn't really think they could work that well. I started looking at other alternatives.

One afternoon I was on a parenting site and found a link to an amber necklace for teething and the links to anxiety relief. I found it odd that I hadn't ever heard of this and in the last few days I had heard of it twice. I thought that it was a sign from the universe to give this option a try. I did some further research on how amber works and how it's been effective in anxiety relief, and what I found was enough to convince me. So what is Baltic amber and how does it work?

Baltic amber gets its name from the region that is notorious for having the best amber in the world, due it's higher traces of succinic acid. Amber is made from the resin of conifer trees located near the Baltic sea, and has been used for centuries to cure ailments related to inflammation of the joints/muscles, headaches, pregnancy and childbirth pains, and for young children who are suffering from teething.

This is due to succinic acid, which is a natural anti-inflammatory but has recently been found to be more than that. Due to the succinic acid found in the amber, we have recently learned that it's a natural mood booster, too. This is due to being packed full of antioxidants. Antioxidants restore the missing nutrients in our body, heighten our immune system, and in turn boost our moods in the process. At the end of my research, I asked myself what amber couldn't do!

I bought a necklace for my son and couldn't wait for it to arrive. Once it had we put it on his ankle so that the temptation of chewing on the beads would be gone. My son wore it every day and only took it off right before bed time, to further reduce the risk of choking. By the fourth day, my son was already showing signs of doing better. Our mornings were running a lot smoother, we had less crying at the daycare drop off, and the daycare teacher was sending home positive reports for the first time since starting our daycare/working journey.

I could see the difference in my child's eyes when we talked about daycare and going back, and I then felt better about leaving him. I would recommend amber necklaces to anyone suffering from anxiety, whether that be young or old. Baltic amber was mother nature's best medicine and I'm glad we took her advice!

See my disclaimer.