A mother has taken to TikTok to raise awareness about the amber teething necklaces that allegedly caused the death of her 18-month-old child.
Danielle Morin, who runs a TikTok account providing hacks for mothers and child safety tips, shared the story of her son, who was strangled to death after the necklace got caught around his neck.
“Know better, do better! Child safety isn’t a parenting choice, it’s a duty,” she wrote in the now-viral video with over 810,000 views.
Amber teething necklaces are beads made of Baltic amber or tree resin that are strung together in the form of a necklace and given to infants for teething. The necklaces reportedly gained popularity a decade ago with claims that the succinic acid in the amber soothes a child’s gum.
In 2016, Ms Morin’s son Deacon was found unconscious at the nursery after he had been stranged by a teething necklace while he was sleeping. He was rushed to a hospital but was pronounced dead five days later.
“The day care proceeded to tell me it was because of his necklace that got wrapped around his neck during his nap and that it was my fault,” the mother told The New York Times.
The owner of the facility and another employee were arrested and charged with willful child endangerment.
Since then, she has been advocating against the use of amber teething necklaces. She filed a wrongful death lawsuit in San Bernardino County Superior court in California against e-commerce website Etsy to stop selling the necklaces.
“This dangerous product from Lithuania would never be here in California, or the United States, except for Etsy,” her lawyer John Carpenter, told ABC News.
She was praised for sharing her story and raising alarm about the necklaces.
“I want you to know that I bought one before my daughter was born and your awareness saved me from ever putting it on my daughter,” wrote user Jenna.
Madison Mills left the comment: “Sick to my stomach that I ever sold these at a boutique I worked at. Lord forgive me. Praying for you mama!”
However, Ms Morin added that she had to “block over 40 moms” because they “just wouldn’t quit” defending the product.
“Any purchase of Baltic amber is supporting the manufacturing of the necklaces. They do nothing anyways and that’s been proven,” she added.
