Babies cry a lot. There's no way around it. They cry when they're hungry, when they're uncomfortable, when they want attention, or when they just feel like making their parents miserable.
And many parents will tell you that their babies are crankiest when they start teething.
Growing new teeth isn't fun for anyone involved. Babies' mouths hurt, which makes them grumpy, so then they cry. This, in turn, makes their parents grumpy.
To avoid all the struggles teething causes, many parents turn to teething bracelets to help alleviate their baby's pain.
Since babies will chew on anything they can get their hands on — blankets, mom's jewelry, their own fingers — a lot of moms and dads buy specific items that are safe for babies to chew on.
Two parents in Manchester, Connecticut, thought they were buying a "healing" teething bracelet for their baby at a local craft fair, but later their baby's doctor realized it had given her lead poisoning.
[H/T: ScaryMommy]
According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the parents bought the "homeopathic magnetic hematite healing bracelet" at a local artisan fair.
They gave the bracelet to their baby in order to help with her teething discomfort.
Later, at a regular checkup, doctors ran blood tests on the baby and found something unusual.
The levels of lead in the 9-month-old's blood were eight times higher than the acceptable limit.
The doctors and parents were immediately concerned, but they had no idea where the lead was coming from.
The parents had their home searched for lead, since it was built in 1926, but they came up with nothing.
Eventually, they realized the bracelet was the lead poisoning culprit.
Although most of the beads on the bracelet were safe, the spacer beads had huge amounts of lead.
In fact, the little metal beads had 170 times the amount of lead that's acceptable for children's products.
Because the bracelet was made by an independent artisan, it didn't have any labels about the lead content in the beads.
The CDC explains that all doctors and parents should know about the potential dangers jewelry poses for children.
Even popular amber teething bracelets and necklaces can be problematic for babies — the beads are small and could be swallowed/choked on by young children.
When you pick out teething products for your children, make sure they are not only made of child-safe materials, but also don't have any small pieces that babies could choke on.
Only buy teething products from reputable retailers.
If you think all parents should know about teething bracelet safety, please SHARE this article!
