Nat’s not exactly a gnawer, and he’s breezed through his teething now at 19 months, unlike his older sister who’s given me a bit of hell when her teeth broke through. Still, I hate to sling something over my neck only to have the littlest one, who’s so used to being worn in the Beco, tug and yank and put my costume jewellery in his mouth.

For that reason, I have not accessorized for the longest time.

Then I heard about Gumigem, a wide ranging line of award-winning, baby-proof, mommy jewellery that promised to make me look like a fashionista mom. Forget fashionista, I say – show me the baby-proof! I was really curious to see how an accessory that’s to be worn over my neck would be baby-friendly and yet stylish. I was offered my choice of their award-winning teething necklaces for review and so I browsed away at MamaLavie and finally decided on this:

Each item of Gumigem jewellery is made from silicone, which is the same material dummy teats are made of. The baby-proof part comes in the form of the silicone being free from BPA, PVC, Lead, Latex and Phthalate, meeting all required standards, which means it is all non-toxic and washable. When my Gumidrop Pearlberry arrived, I gave it a good wash with baby soap and slung it over my neck:

My first thought: Why didn’t I get to know of this when Becks was teething and giving me a terrible time? I would have had teethers readily available for her in the form of these “pearls” and “gemstones” and wouldn’t even need to worry about them dropping, since I would be wearing them. Heck, I might even buy ten of those Bubba bangles and wear them on my wrist to save her (and myself) from those teething pains.

And my second thought: The necklace is indeed very, very commonsensically designed.

Each Gumigem necklace is fastened with a breakaway clasp, so if the little one decides to tug it, there is no discomfort for the wearer at all  because it will come undone and not create discomfort for the neck. Every bead and pebble is also kept in place by knots in the cord, which means that nothing slides up and down and traps tiny fingers.

Clearly, Gumigem has designed their accessories to allow an otherwise frazzled looking, disheveled, baby-wearing mom to dress up any outfit with ease. The colours are vibrant and a lovely shimmer; there are no hidden parts and they are easy to put on. No hooks, no clasps, no icky bits that “eat” into your skin.

For Nat, since he’s past his teething woes, this piece of jewellery serves as an excellent distraction and keeps him fairly still. I’m very glad that whenever I am wearing this and nursing him outside, I don’t have to deal with all the lifting up my blouse, scratching my navel and yanking my clothes.

All hail the genius who thought of this brilliant idea: stylish jewellery solves teething woes and itchy hands.

*Giveaway: A Gumigem Neclace and 3 x SGD$10 coupon code! *

I’m hosting a giveaway for a Gumigem Gumidrop in Jellybean and 3 x SGD$10 coupon code for four lucky readers!

Simply fill in the Rafflecopter widget for your chance to win – it should direct you to leave me a comment telling me why you need this piece of accessory / how this piece of accessory will help with your teething baby! Giveaway ends 30 September 2013.

Click on the Rafflecopter widget here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And if you’d like to purchase the brilliantly-designed, baby-proof teething jewellery, there’s a 10% discount code for all Motherkao readers. Key in the code MOTHERKAO before checking out. Check out the designs here.

And the WINNERS are…

• Necklace: Adeline Tan
• 3 x S$10 voucher: Arsheitha Ganesan, Edlyn Giam, Huimin Faith Su

Congratulations, and thank you all for participating!

Disclosure: I received the Gumidrop Pearlberry for the purpose of this review. All opinions expressed here are my own.