Day 15 - Tearless Teething Hazelwood Necklace

The Boy has been wearing the Tearless Teething Hazelwood necklace for 15 days now, so I thought I’d post a quick update to let you know how we’ve been getting on.

Since the two instances early-on in wearing the necklace, it hasn’t come off at all. Whether those instances were both The Boy pulling at the necklace or whether I hadn’t done it up tightly enough I’m not sure. We were fortunate enough that both times when it came off it was still close by, so we didn’t loose the necklace, and since those times it has remained in place securely throughout his everyday, normal activities.

The Boy hasn’t complained as he normally does about teething pain – he rubs his face, holds his ears, sits there working his jaw as though he is chewing – he hasn’t done any of that, but whether it’s because he’s not in pain because of the necklace and he is teething, or whether it’s because he’s not currently cutting any teeth, I’m not sure. At 19 months old he has a pretty full set of teeth already, all the front ones are in and that means I can’t safely see clearly all the way round the back so I’m not sure how many haven’t cut through yet! Recently he has been dribbling quite a lot and looking quite red-cheeked, which is usually a sign of him teething, but he hasn’t been concerned by it.

His nappy rash has completely cleared up – it is completely gone, not a mark on him, if you didn’t know you’d never guess how bad it was a couple of weeks ago with the bleeding spots, the lumpy, bright red skin – and as it doesn’t hurt anymore when you’re cleaning him up if he has had a dirty nappy, he’s perfectly happy just to lie back and let me get on with it – most of the time. I have to say that he now seems to be totally fine when it’s just me and him – he lets me get on with changing him, dressing him, whatever, without too much fuss at all, and he wanders off quite happily afterwards to play. It seems to now be when his daddy gets home from work he’ll then act up and throw a tantrum – either to me, because daddy is there now and he wants daddy’s attention and not mine; or a strop at daddy, simply because he’s not been there all day and The Boy maybe feels he should have been! When we were at my in-laws house last weekend, The Boy was wearing dungarees and the poppers on the legs kept popping open because he was running about and climbing on and off the sofa so much, and between trying to do those poppers up and changing his nappy, he threw a huge tantrum every time. I’m thinking now these tantrums are less to do with being in pain, or being uncomfortable, and more to do with knowing where his limits are with me but wanting to test other people a bit more!

We even had a break-through the other day when I was playing with him in the front room, up until now all he’s done is shaken his head ‘no’ for whatever question you ask him, but I paused playing and said, “Have you done a poo?” and he went to shake his head ‘no’ then thought about it for a second, nodded slowly ‘yes’ and pointed to his bottom! He then walked upstairs and into his room, was calm and co-operative the whole way through changing his nappy and it was done quickly and easily.

His eczema has been another matter. In the fortnight running up to him starting to wear the Hazelwood necklace, it had flared up really badly again – he mostly gets it on his back, concentrated around the lumbar region, but when it’s bad it also affects his legs, particularly the backs of his knees, and his arms, particularly the inside of his elbows – classic eczema! Prior to him starting to wear the necklace he’d had a week course of steroid cream to try and calm it down as it had flared up so badly, the steroid cream did the trick very quickly and after the week course the eczema was practically gone. We returned to using normal Oilatum lotion, and then when he started wearing the necklace I was hoping it would help get rid of any signs of eczema at all. While his eczema is a hell of a lot better than it was, it hasn’t cleared up totally, some days it just feels a bit bumpy and rough on his back, other days he’s scratching at it and it’s become red, lumpy and sore. It hasn’t flared up again to the point of him being covered, it is just the bit on his back that is always the worst patch – there’s a line which is just under the waistband of his nappy which seems to get quite sore, and his left shoulder too. These two patches are still evident, and I’m using Oilatum cream daily in an effort to make them less itchy to discourage him from scratching at it. I honestly couldn’t say whether the Hazelwood necklace is preventing it from getting worse again, or if it’s just because I’m being vigilant with it because it got so bad last time and I don’t want a repeat performance.

I think ultimately this is my issue with the Hazelwood necklace – I can’t prove for sure one way or another whether or not it is helping. For all I know he could be screaming in pain with teething, have awful nappy rash and really bad eczema without the necklace – or, it could be a case of he isn’t currently cutting a tooth, his nappy rash could have cleared up anyway as his nappies aren’t so messy now, and his eczema could have been going into a phase of not being so bad. My plan at the moment is for him to continue wearing the necklace until we reach the end of three months – this is how long they advise that a Hazelwood necklace is ‘good’ for. If, at the end of three months, the nappy rash flares up, the eczema becomes worse and he complains about his teeth again then I would be persuaded to think that the Hazelwood necklace has helped.

Our journey continues!

Days Six + Seven - Tearless Teething Hazelwood Necklace

Days Six & Seven haven’t been what I think of as ‘normal’ days, so I’m not sure whether this hinders being able to tell if the Tearless Teething Hazelwood necklace is doing something, or actually enhances the idea that it is doing something.

I say not ‘normal’ days as The Boy has been unwell. Not another cold, no vomiting or diarrhoea, but a raging temperature, shivering, and obviously not feeling himself as he cuddled up both days on the sofa watching TV with his Daddy and not really doing much else at all! Usually he’s such a busy child, always rushing about doing something, to see him so uncharacteristically quiet, despite the fact it was nice to see him cuddled up with The Hubby, it did concern me how ill he was. He wasn’t interested in eating anything, even refusing chocolate cake and biscuits when offered, a sure sign he was under the weather even without the temperature, and he was quiet in general, not chattering away nineteen to the dozen like he normally does (not actual words at the moment, just his own jibber-jabber like kids do) Both days he slept a lot, and both nights he was difficult to settle, moaning in his sleep around midnight and waking very early in the morning. (Though he was settling again afterwards and going to sleep again)

Usually when The Boy is unwell, his eczema or his nappy rash gets worse, or they both do. Technically speaking I’ve always blamed the nappy rash side of it on the fact that when he’s unwell he tends to have more messy nappies, and a side effect of that is going to probably be nappy rash, no matter how careful you are to clean them up quickly, when it’s happening four or five times a day they get sore! And with the eczema, well I know myself that if I’m run down or tired or unwell, my eczema gets worse, so it seems natural to presume that his will be the same.

On this occasion, however, despite being unwell The Boy doesn’t have a trace of eczema or nappy rash. To be fair, he hasn’t had many messy nappies as he hasn’t eaten much, so this could account for the lack of nappy rash, but then the eczema is also so much better that last night after his bath, we didn’t put any Oilatum lotion on him – it wasn’t needed. I’m reluctant to continually coat him with creams and lotions for his eczema so if it isn’t needed I don’t use it, and at the moment it isn’t needed. I’m pleasantly surprised by this; when he is unwell is usually the worst time for his eczema to flare up again due to the added discomfort of the itching, but this time he hasn’t been bothered by it at all.

I’d like to think that the Hazelwood necklace has taken affect now as we reach the end of the first week of him wearing it, but honestly I think only time will tell for sure. I’ll keep you updated!

Day Five - Tearless Teething Hazelwood Necklace

Day Five of The Boy wearing his Tearless Teething Hazelwood necklace was a fairly lazy day. While we were up quite early we lounged in our PJ’s on the sofa – me with the laptop going, him playing with a selection of vehicles with wheels!

His first nappy change of the day had been wet but not dirty – his necklace was still in place when I went into him and he had woken chirpy and chatty. He nattered away contentedly while I worked, and we took a break for a late breakfast at about half ten. I decided to change him for good measure, but the nappy was only wet and not dirty. Since he hadn’t had a dirty nappy all day yesterday, I was beginning to get concerned that he’d gone too far the other way and was now constipated, so for breakfast he had whole-wheat hoops, and a handful of sultanas and apple. After eating as much as he fancied, The Boy tipped the bowl of whole-wheat hoops over himself (comedy moment – The Boy giggling away as milk drips from the end of his nose and I notice absent mindedly that he has a whole-wheat hoop in his ear) He was attempting to drink the milk from the bowl – but the cereal wasn’t finished yet and he didn’t touch the bowl to his lips – he’d just brought it closer to himself and tipped it. As a result once I extracted him from the highchair and brushed off the stray whole-wheat hoops I realised he needed a change of clothes. Upstairs, his nappy wasn’t even wet, so I dressed him and we returned downstairs.

At this point, I’d like to say that first thing in the morning this morning his eczema was almost non existent on his back – normally the worst affected area – he had small patches, about the size of penny pieces, that were slightly dry and scaly to the touch, but it was a huge improvement over this time last week and a massive improvement in comparison to the day before he was prescribed steroid cream for a week. His nappy rash first thing on Day Five was still slightly pink, but the raised bumps had disappeared and so had the bleeding spots. He was compliant and content each time I changed him and the whole ‘nappy changing’ experience has gone back to the stress free routine of old, rather than the screaming fits we’ve been having more recently. Still, eczema and nappy rash is present, so I am continuing to use his Oilatum cream and nappy rash cream. Should either or both the conditions clear up completely, I will stop using the appropriate cream and see whether we have any issues, but at the moment I don’t feel it is fair on him to cease using the lotions, as it clearly makes it more comfortable for him once they’ve been applied.

Anyway, the day wore on and we lounged around, mid-afternoon I took him upstairs for a nappy change because I thought I could smell a dirty nappy. Any fears of him being constipated flew out of the window as I discovered the nappy was pretty gruesome – he was definitely not constipated. However while he wasn’t exactly happy to have me cleaning him up, it wasn’t a screaming battle of wills with him kicking me and trying to grab at the contents of his nappy with his hands; he simply moaned a bit but on the whole he laid there and allowed me to do what needed doing. The nappy rash was slightly more obvious again after the clean-up, but still wasn’t bright red, or bumpy, or bleeding. I applied more cream, a fresh nappy, and he went down for a nap.

After his nap his nappy was wet, so I changed it, and the nappy rash had gone back again to a paler pink. One fresh nappy later we were downstairs playing; eventually play time turned into dinner time, and after dinner we went upstairs to play before bathtime. On the way upstairs I thought the bottom of his jeans felt wet, but then when I felt it again I couldn’t find it, so I thought I’d been mistaken – half an hour of playing later, The Boy began to wiggle about and pat at his bottom as if he was uncomfortable. By that point I was running the bath, so waited until I was ready then went to change him. For the second time today his nappy was awful – the bottom of his jeans had been damp as I suspected, unfortunately. The cuffs around the leg holes of his vest were marked and the nappy had obviously had a hard job containing everything (no disrespect to the nappy – I’m not sure many others would have done as good a job under the circumstances!)

Cleaning him up was difficult, as he kicked about a lot more than he had done all day and made more of a fuss about it, but initially I didn’t think the damage was too bad – again it was pinker than it had been, but no raised bumps. Unfortunately a moment later I noticed a spot of blood swelling from the skin – so he hadn’t escaped completely unscathed, and another moment later there were a couple more blood spots I could see. After his bath, I applied Oilatum cream to his torso as his lumbar region and left shoulder appeared worse than they had done earlier in the day. I put nappy cream on his nappy rash as that also had become worse again. Having said that,  the nappy rash isn’t anywhere near as bad as I was thinking it would be when I first saw that nappy!

Once in his PJ’s and cuddled up in the glow of the night light, The Boy seemed perfectly content to drink his milk and slowly drift off to sleep. His nappy rash is vastly improved and so is his eczema, though at this point I don’t feel I can conclude it’s because of the necklace particularly – while it seems co-incidental that this improvement has occurred this week, perhaps it would have happened this week anyway, following our rigorous past four weeks of applying the Oilatum cream on a twice-daily basis. We’ll have to see what happens!

Tearless Teething - Hazelwood necklace - Day 3

Day Three of The Boy wearing the Tearless Teething Hazelwood necklace was a lazy day for us in as much as we didn’t go out. Though the weather was gorgeous and I would have loved to have gone out and made the most of it with a walk through town and feeding the ducks, unfortunately I had to work, so on the whole while we were up and dressed and started our day relatively early, we didn’t really do much physical activity!

Our day started at 8 and while The Boy had a very wet nappy it wasn’t soiled. His nappy rash at this point was very sore still but I applied another layer of nappy cream and noted that it was much better than it had been for almost a week. The spots that had bled yesterday were now very red but no longer bleeding; what had been very red yesterday had calmed down a touch. On his back, his eczema seemed to have improved since bedtime last night – it was still there, and I still applied Oilatum lotion as usual before getting him dressed, but it seemed to me that it was also better than it had been.

The Boy mostly watched TV and played while I sat at my laptop and did the work thing. We took a break at 11 for a late breakfast – I took him upstairs to change him first and he’d soiled the nappy but it wasn’t as loose as it had recently been and even though he did react when I cleaned him up it wasn’t the screaming fit like he’s been having over the last few days about nappy changes. I made him scrambled eggs in an effort to calm down his recently over-active tummy. He ate well, and we settled down again for another couple of hours. At 2pm we stopped and had lunch, and after that we played for a while upstairs before I decided to try and settle him down for his nap. I asked him if he wanted a nappy change and he walked to the changer, turned to me and lifted his arms up to demonstrate he wanted to get up, so I took this as his signal he wanted a nappy change and did so. There was no screaming tantrum and he was quiet and calm as I changed him – it was only a wet nappy but even those have been eventful recently! I noted that the nappy rash was slightly more improved again. I gave it another coat of nappy cream and put a fresh nappy on him before putting him in the cot/bed for a nap.

He slept well, and I had to go and wake him at 5.30. Usually when I have to wake him up he is in a foul mood, he much prefers to wake when he is ready, but this time he woke in a good mood, and was again quiet and calm as I changed his nappy – once more just wet. The nappy rash looked no better but no worse. I put a fresh nappy on him and we went downstairs.

While The Hubby and I ate dinner, The Boy danced around the room and hardly touched a thing, but he had eaten well throughout the rest of the day so I wasn’t too worried how much dinner he ate as he’d already had a good days worth of food. (Sometimes he’ll eat far less, which can be worrying, but as my mum says, no child will deliberately starve himself) After dinner we went upstairs for last playtime, bathtime and bed.

When I stripped him ready for the bath I noticed that the nappy rash appeared better again. The eczema on his back is still there, but much less noticeable than it was three days ago. After his bath I again used nappy cream and Oilatum as usual. The Boy was once again calm and content as I changed him – a complete turn-around from Monday!

It could be a coincidence that things are starting to improve, or it could be the Tearless Teething Hazelwood necklace, I’m still not entirely convinced; but then again I can’t deny that there has been an improvement since he’s been wearing the necklace, and that seems like a big coincidence considering that for the last few weeks his eczema has been bad with the exception of when we were using steroid cream a couple of weeks ago. Stick with me for updates about how things go!

Tearless Teething - Hazelwood Necklace - Day 1

At The Baby Show a couple of weeks ago, my friend and I walked up to the ladies at the Tearless Teething stand and said hello.

My friend had been looking for an amber teething necklace for her youngest son, Angry Bird, 10 months. She’d used a couple with her older son and had found a brand she really liked and a brand she didn’t like at all, but Tearless Teething were a brand she’d not heard of before.

Upon closer inspection, we found the necklaces weren’t amber necklaces at all. The ladies explained to us that they were Hazelwood necklaces, produced for assisting all problems associated with teething, including eczema and nappy rash. There were Hazelwood necklaces with pink or blue decoration to choose from, so we picked up two blue to examine them more closely.

I explained to the ladies the problems that The Boy has been having recently, with the awful eczema on his back (which is now returning, after the steroid cream cleared it up really well, now we’re back on the normal cream the eczema is getting worse again) He was never one for nappy rash as a young baby but now he is older, he gets it quickly, he gets it regularly and he gets it really badly, to the point where his bottom is bumpy, red, sore, and bleeding. As a result he doesn’t want you to wipe it to clean it because it’s so uncomfortable, so he winds up thrashing around on the changing table having a huge temper tantrum and you’re trying to deal with him in a foul mood as well as a full nappy, which isn’t easy! The ladies sympathised, but they said that the Tearless Teething Hazelwood necklace really would help all of that. They said that I should put it on him and I would see a vast improvement within the first 48 hours, and after a week of wearing it we should see some changes which would last as long as the necklace did. They advise that the necklaces are replaced after three months as they loose their effectiveness – I’m not sure how accurate this is or whether it’s a marketing ploy to make you buy another, so we’ll see whether it helps in the first instance, then if it does help we’ll see how much, and if after three months the symptoms come back I may be persuaded to buy another!

Tearless Teething says that the use of Hazelwood as a teething soother comes from Native Americans, who found that placing Hazelwood chips on their babies necks soothed teething pains. It is thought to help by balancing acidity levels in the body, including those connected with teething problems, such as digestive issues, nappy rash and eczema as well as general mouth discomfort. The necklace is made with a special clasp which is designed to open under pressure such as if it was to get caught in clothing, so it is as safe as possible for the child to wear all the time. Tearless Teething advise removing the necklace at the pool as chlorine can have an affect on the Hazelwood, but to wear it as much as possible otherwise to have full effect. The benefits of Hazelwood are not just for teething infants – the company also produce a variety of sizes for older children and adults, too, said to assist the wearer with the symptoms associated with acidity imbalance in the body, such as eczema and digestive problems. For this reason, I’m seriously considering one myself if there is a marked improvement on The Boy once he’s been wearing his for a while.

Now, onto The Boy – it is advised that you place the necklace on the child while they’re asleep, so they’re unaware of it being there and won’t fiddle with it constantly. However, while you could send a parade with fireworks through the room with The Boy asleep he’d remain un-disturbed, he will wake up at the softest touch, so it’s been impossible to get the necklace on him that way. Yesterday his nappy rash got to extreme levels, so today when I was getting him dressed I just grabbed the necklace and quickly put it on him, then tucked it under his clothes so he couldn’t fiddle with it easily. A couple of times he’s touched it but I’ve just told him to leave it alone and distracted him with something else and on the whole he’s ignored it.

So, this is Day 1 of him wearing the Tearless Teething Hazelwood necklace – so far he’s been wearing it since 9am and it’s now ten to five in the afternoon. I’ve seen no marked improvement yet, only that today he has not thrown as bad a tantrum as he was doing yesterday, whether this is coincidence or not I don’t know. I would love this to work, for his eczema and nappy rash and the other teething symptoms to just go away or at least show vast improvement, simply for the fact that my parents and my in-laws are very sceptical about things like this and very much feel that it is hippie-type mumbo-jumbo so I’d love to show them all some evidence!  I will be keeping you updated how we go on our Tearless Teething Hazelwood necklace journey!

 

I paid £10 at The Baby Show for a Tearless Teething Hazelwood necklace, normal RRP £15.99 from their online shop.