Teething * an Amber Pumpkin review*

My babies have all been slow walkers. Osh wasn't too bad at 13months, but Isabella was 17months old before she took her first steps and with Martha's already delayed development Lord knows how old she will be. But my babies have all been quite young when they cut their first teeth.

We noticed early in January that Martha Grace's bottom two teeth had cut through her gum; we hadn't noticed her being upset or any more niggly - just noticed the whites of the teeth poking through her gum. But she was still on her weaning regime for Morphine (pain relief) and Clonodine (sedative) at the time - which is it's what they prescribe for patients recovering from Cardiac Surgery, it would have been amazing for teething pain.

Naturally, I was dreading how Martha would cope with teething pain next time around; we all know how upsetbabies can become during this period - I could imagine her crying for hours on end and becoming really distressed which would also have the added worry of Pulmonary Hypertension and de-saturation. So when Amber Pumpkin asked me to review a couple of items for them, I was grateful for anything that might help.

I really fancied the look of their teething pendants - I'd never tried them with Osh and Isabella. I figured it would be something I could wear when we were out and about; should Martha have the sudden urge to bite on something it would be a nice change for her instead of chomping down on my shoulder all the time. The pendant I chose was the Teething Bling Triangle Pendant in the shade "Pink Cupcake". I also wanted an item that Martha could hold and play with her self and was sent the RaZ-Berry Teether (though I can't find this particular style on the website anymore, they do carry the RaZ-Grapes Teether)

I wore the pendant for our trip to Llandudno the morning it arrived. While we were in the Cafe waiting for her bottle to warm up I showed Martha what I was wearing. Isn't it amazing how a Baby's instinct is to put anything and everything in their mouths. Whether it was instinct or she was genuinely feeling some pain from teething - Martha Grace knew exactly what she was supposed to do with the Pendant. Even as she lay in my arms having her bottle she was quite happy to play with it and pass it from one hand to another. It was great when we were in the queue for the baby changing rooms; she isn't used to being carried for extended periods of time so when she became agitated all I had to do was show her the pendant and she was happy to play with it and chew on it - as far as I'm concerned it's earned it's place regardless of it's teething benefits.

I have to admit I'm not one for wearing jewellery, the only time I would remember to wear it when I make an effort with what I'm wearing for a day out with Mark and the Kids, you all know me by now and day-to-day I'm happy in my jeans and a plain top. As we are in summer now the shade of clothes I'm wearing are obviously paler and the pendant doesn't look out of place, in fact, most people are surprised that it is made of silicone (the same material that feeding spoons are made of) because from far away it looks like jewellery.

The pendant was slim enough that Martha's chubby little hands could manage to hold on to it and could bite down properly on it. The cord is also quite a thick so I can't imagine it coming away from the pendant; even if it did it is far too wide for her to be able to fit the whole thing in her mouth and risk choking on it. I'd happily purchase a few more in a variety of colours, the one I really want is a heart-shaped one but they never seem to have it in stock.

I thought the RaZ - Berry Teether would also be an instant hit with Martha Grace too. I sterilized it before I gave it to her and she seemed to recognise it's shape, she held it exactly the same way as she held her dummy and went to put it in her mouth. But she had been expecting her dummy and her gag reflex kicked in - I had to take it from her before she vomited.

I didn't purposely give it to her again, I left it amongst her toys and waited to see what she would do the next time she picked it up. A few times she went to use it like a normal dummy but as she has such a tiny mouth the size of the raspberry on the teether made her gag. Eventually she got the hang of it; she'd chew on the handle, she'd chew on the rim of the teether before finally discovering the strange bumps on the raspberry itself were great to nibble at. Since then she hasn't tried to fit it all in her mouth like a dummy, she actually chews on it (waves it around, throws it around - everything she does with normal toys)

As you can see from the pictures below it's the perfect size for tinny little chubby baby hands, she doesn't have any trouble whatsoever in passing it from one hand to the other or re-positioning it to chew on the various surfaces. This is an item I keep in a pocket in our changing bag and whip it out if she becomes bored of the other toys I've brought with us to entertain her on a day out; it's the kind of thing that Martha could easily chuck out of the pram and it wouldn't make a sound as it fell on the floor. I know it took Martha a while to get the hang of it, but once she figured it out she got on brilliantly with the teether and I think the little bumps on the raspberry are a massive help to ease sore gums.

Those of you who sneakily scrolled down to look at the photograph's first might have noticed - Martha Grace finally cut the two top teeth, only 5 months since the first two teeth. She has been a dream, apart from the increase in the sudden urges to bite you would never had guessed she was teething; to be honest it wasn't until I saw them when she yawned one day last week that I realised they had finally cut through. No morphine, no chlonodine - she didn't even have any calpol or teething gels.

She's made of tough stuff this girl.

GM
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Can you see the two new teeth at the top?

We were kindly gifted the Pendant and Teether for the purpose of this reviews, but all opinions and photo's included in this post are our own.

Oh and Martha can't stay in direct sunlight for too long because of the Amiodarone, which is why for the last 4 photo's she is sitting in a sun tent in the garden,