Are amber teething necklaces safe for my baby?

The verdict

No. This is one of the small number of baby products that carries a formal safety warning from a national regulator, and the reason is not theoretical.

The US Food and Drug Administration states that it has received reports of death and serious injuries to infants and children, including strangulation and choking, caused by teething jewellery such as amber teething necklaces.

Australia's competition and consumer regulator, the ACCC, has gone further and issued a formal warning notice. Its published position is that teething necklaces pose a serious choking hazard or strangulation risk to babies and toddlers, and that marketplace testing showed some teething necklaces would fail the mandatory requirements for teethers.

Red Nose Australia's position is the simplest to remember: it does not recommend placing anything around the neck of a sleeping baby, because items placed around the neck can tighten during sleep and make breathing difficult, and may even strangle a baby.

The two hazards, separately

The American Academy of Pediatrics describes the risk as two-fold: strangulation and choking. They are different mechanisms and they need different answers, which is why "I supervise" does not solve it.

Strangulation happens when the loop around the neck catches on something - a cot slat, a car seat buckle, a sibling's hand - or tightens as a baby moves. The AAP notes this occurs especially when a child is unsupervised, such as while sleeping. The Red Nose formulation is blunter: items around the neck can tighten during sleep and make breathing difficult.

Choking happens when the string breaks and a bead reaches the mouth. The ACCC's analysis sets it out as a table of foreseeable scenarios: a child wearing the necklace risks strangulation; a child mouthing a necklace on a flexible thread risks choking on small beads; and a child playing with the necklace when the thread breaks risks choking on an individual bead. Red Nose adds that Australian government testing showed these items can break into small parts and present a choking hazard to children under three years of age.

Individually knotting beads reduces how many escape at once. It does not stop one escaping, and one is enough.

The claim, and whether it holds up

The marketing claim is that Baltic amber contains succinic acid, that body heat releases it through the skin, and that it relieves teething pain and sometimes eczema and asthma as well.

Red Nose describes the claim accurately - suppliers say that when the beads are worn close to the skin, succinic acid is released by the amber to relieve the symptoms of teething - without endorsing it. HealthyChildren notes that there is currently no scientific research or evidence to back up the claims made for these products.

The mechanism has three separate problems, any one of which would be fatal to it: succinic acid is not a recognised analgesic; solid fossilised resin does not release meaningful quantities of anything at skin temperature; and even if it did, transdermal absorption from beads resting on skin is not a plausible delivery route.

The AAP's broader position is that it does not recommend that infants wear any jewellery at all, and it makes the context explicit: suffocation is the leading cause of death for children under a year old and among the top five causes of death for children between one and four.

Wrists, ankles and "supervised use"

Some sellers, and some of the older regulator advice, suggest wearing the item on a wrist or ankle rather than the neck, and removing it during sleep and whenever the child is unattended.

That advice does exist - the ACCC's consumer notice and Red Nose both list it as harm reduction for people who use these products anyway. But moving a bead string to an ankle removes only the strangulation route, not the choking one, and every source that lists those conditions also says to consider alternative forms of pain relief instead.

The ACCC makes a point worth quoting for anyone relying on the packaging: harm could occur despite labelling advice attached to a teething necklace warning of associated risks. A warning label does not make a small-parts hazard safe in the hands of a teething baby.

What to use instead

The NHS's teething advice is practical and free of products that hang around a neck. Gently rubbing the gums with a clean finger helps. A teething ring gives something safe to chew on, and the NHS notes that some can be cooled in the fridge - but never in the freezer, because a frozen ring is hard enough to damage gums.

The FDA gives the same list from the other direction: gently rub or massage the gums with your finger, or give a firm - not liquid-filled - teether made of rubber to chew on, make sure the teething ring is not frozen, and supervise so the child does not choke on it.

Paracetamol or ibuprofen at the correct dose for your baby's age is available if a baby is genuinely distressed. Teething gels are a separate question and one to raise with a pharmacist, not a default.

The FDA also warns in the same guidance about topical numbing products in this age group, noting that these can cause grave harm including heart problems, severe brain injury and death, and that topical oral viscous lidocaine can cause seizures in infants and young children when too much is applied or it is accidentally swallowed.

If you already own one

Take it off and do not pass it on. Do not sell it second-hand or hand it down. The ACCC's warning notice was directed in part at suppliers, and reselling is how these products keep circulating after regulators act.

If a bead is missing, or the string looks stretched or frayed, treat it as a small-parts incident: check what your baby has in their mouth, and get medical help immediately if you think a bead has been swallowed or inhaled.

Where guidance differs

What differs is enforcement, not opinion.

Australia has taken formal regulatory action. The ACCC issued a consumer protection notice specifically about amber teething necklaces and publishes an ongoing warning, and Red Nose Australia reinforces it with the general rule about anything around a sleeping baby's neck.

The United States has an FDA safety communication naming teething jewellery and describing reports of death and serious injury, backed by the AAP's blanket position against infant jewellery.

The United Kingdom has no product-specific national warning that we could verify. NHS teething guidance simply describes what does help, without addressing amber necklaces at all. That silence is not endorsement, but it does mean a UK parent searching for an answer will find sellers before they find a regulator - which is the practical reason this page exists.