The Magic Necklace

As I’ve mentioned before, since the first of February, Penelope has gotten up at least once a night, typically around 2:00 a.m.  Recently, it became more like twice a night.  Some nights it was 3 times a night.  In my opinion, one can survive indefinitely getting up just once each night.  Not without being tired, but survive and function.  However, I don’t think it’s possible to get up more than once a night for any extended period of time and continue to function properly.  Seeing an adorable baby each time I get up helps, of course.  But the lack of a full night’s rest just cannot be good for either of us.

I’ve been convinced that Penelope isn’t sleeping well due to pain.  I even started keeping her on Tylenol throughout the night which helped some, but didn’t quite do the trick.  Plus I don’t like keeping her on medication.  I feel like Penelope, for whatever reason, just didn’t handle her teething (or any other pain, like the ear infections) very well.  And Penelope was not a quiet sleeper.  She would wake up and fuss throughout the night.  I know I was tired from waking up with it, so I know that she had to be tired, too.  

I’ve tried all the teething tricks I could come up with.  I just didn’t have these problems with the big kids.  Henry and Rosemary would just all of the sudden have a few teeth.  Piper wasn’t a particularly happy teether, but she wasn’t in Penelope’s league.  Then I remembered how one of my friend’s daughter used to wear this really cute necklace that I liked and later learned was a teething necklace. 

So I googled “teething necklace” and started reading about amber necklaces.  I checked in with my friend and asked for her thoughts.  Amber is supposed to have pain relief properties and help with all sorts of ailments.  I’ve had a cold for a couple of months (but can’t take anything to help with it due to nursing), and I’ve been dealing with headaches (which I think are due to lack of sleep) for a while.  I decided that I needed an amber necklace, too!  I finally bought necklaces for both of us.

Our necklaces were delivered the Wednesday before last.  Penelope and I wore our necklaces all day Thursday.  I thought my headaches may be a little better, but figured it was all in my head.  Then that night I put Penelope in bed at her normal bedtime and she slept ALL NIGHT and got up at 7:15 the next morning.  And there was no fussing throughout the night, just occasional happy baby sounds.  The next night I had to nurse her when we woke her up checking on her before we went to bed, but then she slept until 8:00 a.m. without fussing.  The same thing happened the next night.  And she has been SUCH a happy baby!

Now there several nights since then that I’ve gotten up with her, but one night it was for some bad gas and the other nights as her 6th tooth was making its way through her gums.  But still no restlessness and fussiness throughout the night – just a one time thing usually around 11:00 p.m. when Penelope just needed nursing for a little comfort.  There is a huge difference in Penelope’s disposition since she started wearing her necklace.

Gary calls it the “magic necklace”!  Maybe it is magic.  Whatever it is, I’ll take it if it results in a very happy baby and an (almost) full night’s sleep for us all!!  If nothing else, it’s pretty darned cute!

P.S.  I have ordered amber necklaces for all the kids now.  They all wanted one (no surprise there) and based on our experiences so far, I think everyone needs to have an amber necklace around just in case!