For parents of children attached to their lovey blankets/items...

[gatorsmom]

did their relationship to their lovey change at all as they matured? This sounds like a silly question but of all 4 of my kids, only Greenbean has ever had an attachment to anything. He loves his "Booga" which is a small blanket with a little animal head attached to it. Most of the time he doesn't ask for it, doesn't need to take it with us out of the house, and can take naps without it if we can't find it somewhere in the house. But recently he's become more attached to it. He's just spent the last hour in his crib talking to it :heartbeat: . It's really, really cute to see, I'm just hoping he's not developing an unbreakable attachment to it like some children have. I mean, right now their relationship is casual, I'd hate to see him develop something serious and longterm with it, kwim? :ROTFLMAO: I"ve heard so many horror stories about lovies getting lost and parents spending lots of time and money to find a replacement. Just trying to prepare myself in advance......

[KpbS]

Do you have replacements already? I would recommend purchasing a couple if possible... :)
DS1 and DS2 both have loveys--DS1 doesn't "need" his anymore. He wants to have it for bedtime but DS2....I doubt he could fall asleep without it!

[LexyLou]

My first never formed an attachment to a blanket or a lovey but my second is in serious love with her blankie.

We had two made-just in case.

I'm probably the wrong person to ask because well, I had my blankie until I was 12 years old. I used to have to shove it in my sleeping bag before a sleepover so nobody knew I had it.

We went on a traveling "tour" trip through CO the summer I turned 12 and I left my blanket at a hotel and it was very dramatic/traumatic. We had to go back and get it. People felt badly that a kid lost her blankie..until they found out that kid was 12.

I don't sleep with one anymore and obviously my mom wasn't they type to try to break my of it. I eventually gave it up. :)

[inmypjs]

My 5 yo is VERY attached to his taggie blanket. We bought the same blanket for him as a back up/replacement when he was around 2, but he rejected it as an imposter LOL. That one has since become his sister's blanket. His attachment to it hasn't changed much. He sleeps with it every night and holds it in the car. He does not take it into places we are going - unless he's going to stay the night at grandma and grandpa's or something like that. The attachment itself doesn't worry me too much, as I figure he'll outgrow it when he's ready. I do worry about it lasting as long as he wants/needs it to. It's already looking a little sad!

[dotgirl]

My 6-year old DS is very attached to the (now very ragged and worn) Winnie the Pooh that some friends brought him the day he was born.

We haven't actively tried to break the attachment, as he's been slowly becoming less attached over time.

He used to have to take it everywhere, but now he's ok to leave him at home (or occasionally wants to bring him to the car, but he stays there). Sometimes he'll go 2-3 days without Pooh, but then he'll need to find him and snuggle him - and he's always happy to see him when he's found.

[goldenpig]

DD has a Jellycat kitten that she sleeps with at naps and bedtime or sometimes brings with her on long car/plane trips. Initially when she was born we bought her a larger Jellycat cow and pig but she never took to them. I think she likes the smaller size of the cat. So I actually bought about eight of them (saving some for when she grows up and gets nostalgic!) and we have four of them currently in use scattered around the house. It helps to not have to search upstairs & downstairs every time she wants one and they're all pretty much in the same condition so she doesn't reject the others and we can wash one or two without depriving her of her cat. She knows she has multiples and will give one to me and one to DH to sleep with. And I don't have to worry about losing one because we have so many.

[niccig]

Buy back ups. DS's lovey is a one-off and yes it's a pain to find the lovey every day. DS is nearly 5yo and lovey goes to pre-K in his backpack for nap time. The other kids in his class do the same. Once he's in K, lovey will stay home as no nap time. One day, DS lost lovey in the classroom and we didn't find him for 2 days. He organised his class mates to help him search for him, all the kids helped and they found him.

I still have my teddy bear. I even took him when lived in Japan as an exchange student when I was 16. Actually, I didn't take him, but called him 2 weeks later terribly homesick and asked Mum to send him to me, and she did. DS has him now, he also has DH's lovey.

Keep a track of the lovey and rotate in some back ups, so you don't have just one. Oh, and as he gets older if he's still attached to the lovey, do NOT let the other kids put him on the ceiling fan to see his reaction...I've got mean sisters!!

Don't worry about the attachment, he obviously needs the lovey to help self soothe. My DS did fine the 2 days his lovey was MIA. He was upset at bedtime, so I would stay longer to help him go to sleep. I think he would have been able to cope if lovey was truly gone. He just would have needed my help to deal with it.

[Elilly]

We purchased a back-up lovey when Colleen was about 2. At first she shunned it and called it, the "other lovey". Now, at 7(!) she happily sleeps with both. I would say that we stopped leaving the house with loveys when she was close to 5 and when going to school/preschool, she left them in the car no problem.
FWIW, Colleen needs the item to help calm herself and she still plays with lovey's ribbon every night at bedtime :)

[egoldber]

Sarah was very attached to "lambie" from about one year on. We had "other lambie" but it was never the same and was no substitute. Lambie traveled with us, but our rule from VERY early on was that lambie stayed at home in bed or in the hotel room. Lambie did NOT go out and about with us. We had another blankie in the car (car bear), but she was never that attached to it.

She slept with it every night until last spring when she was 7. She wanted to go to a Girl Scout sleep away camp that summer and wanted to give up lambie so she wouldn't have to bring it. She put it away and slept without it from that night onward. After she got back from sleep away camp, I asked if she wanted lambie back and she reflectively said, "No, I really don't need lambie anymore." So they don't need them forever. :)

FWIW, my DH still has his childhood blanket. He doesn't need to travel with it rhough. ;)

[maestramommy]

Both Dora and Arwyn have their own Angeldear lovey. We introduced it around 6-9 months, and they got super attached around 18 months. Laurel has her lovey that we keep only for car rides. I think the softness and snuggly quality distract her from the fact that she doesn't like car rides!

[MontrealMum]

DS is extremely attached to one particular bear that he received as a present when he was born. I tried and tried to find it online and around town, but by the time I was looking, Gund had changed their baby boy bear style.

Luckily, I was able to pick up two NWT on ebay at a reasonable price. I highly recommend doing this. Now we can quicky do an exchange so his bear can go to the "spa", and while DS is sometimes puzzled that bear #1 is smaller and slightly lighter (from all that loving!) bear #2 is a sufficient replacement. I can also worry less when DS insists on taking his bear to the doctor or someplace germy.

My own bears have survived into adulthood, but DS' was not looking like he'd even make it out of toddlerhood.

[HIU8]

DD is very attached to her mooey. It goes everywhere with her--except to preschool. I told her she had to pick another lovey b/c if mooey got lost we could not replace him. He is in the house and the car and cannot come out of the car. This particular animal is not made anymore and I cannot get one on amazon or ebay. DS was not attached to anything like this. DD seems to understand, but she also NEEDS mooey esp at the doctors and to sleep and in the car. I have no idea what we will do--I hope she grows out of it (she is 2 1/2).

[willow33]

My almost 7 year old still sleeps with his lovey every night, but it never leaves the bed anymore. He was very attached when he was younger, but that attachment has lessened as he got older. I wouldn't worry about it just yet. We did buy a couple extras to have...just in case, but he only wanted the original and we were very careful with it :)

[codex57]

DS is attached to his blankie a little. He mainly likes it around when he's sleepy. We have two of them "just in case." Right now, we keep one upstairs and one downstairs. He's not picky enough to be attached to just one. In fact, if we're out and we forgot his but brought his lil sister's, he'll steal hers (hers is pink). She's 2 months so she's not really aware of that stuff so no biggie, so right now it's funny. If we run back in and grab his, he'll give hers back.

[carolinamama]

DS1 had a blanket that he LOVED. It went lots of places with us but I always tried to leave it in the car/hotel room etc. I could never find a replacement since it was a gift. It was funny though - right around age 3.5-4, he just seemed to not need it much. We were very surprised since he was so attached to it from about 1 year on. So far, DS2 doesn't have any attachments although I have tried for comfort purposes.

[hardysmom]

Hardy, who just turned 8, has a bear named Yogi with which he is pretty attached. Up until the last month or so he wouldn't go to sleep without Yogi. Recently, I have found Yogi around the house after he has gone to bed, so I guess he is growing up...

Yes, it is a nightmare when they get lost. Once, Yogi (and his twin, Teddy) were left at a Subway sandwich shop when we were on a road trip. We drove 2 hours back to get him. There was not another option. Once he was lost at the zoo. I joke, with some seriousness, that when my kids go to Grandmas, I am more worried about the bear than about my children.

Blythe has a blanket named "Lolly." Thankfully, there are actually 3 Lollies.

Charlotte has a really gross old pillow (Mr Pillow) which is the only pillow she will use, with no case.