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Confession: I still have my blankie.
Yes, yes, that statement is 100% true. I still have that totally tattered bit of cloth that I snuggled with every night from about four months old through my formative years. Now, my daughter has it. She calls it “Grandma Blankie” and, as you might have guessed, it is the grandma to her Blankie.
Yes, we are a blankie family. Sure, she has some stuffed animals she adores, and, when she was a little itty-bitty kiddo, she had Murray, the monkey whom she toted everywhere. However, Blankie is unlike any other. It is her constant companion, and the must-have object when doing, well, anything.
Whether it’s a blankie or a teddy bear (or both), the bond between those “transitional objects” and your child is real. Psychologists explain that this blankie-to-kiddo relationship serves as a kind of parallel bridge between a child and a parent. That lovie is beyond a regular stuffed toy, but not Mama. It’s something in the middle.
Many of us try to “push” a certain lovie for Baby to latch onto, but really, there’s no way to know which blanket or stuffed toy she may pick. The way a baby choses her lovie is magical and mysterious, a little bit like The Force in Star Wars. What else do you need to know about blankies and lovies?
-- Transitional objects can serve as a key component to your child’s bedtime ritual, and having a blankie to snuggle with is a great tool to help him learn how to self-soothe, an essential milestone.
-- You may think being so attached to Bongo the teddy bear means something is wrong with your child’s ability to feel secure, but it is actually the opposite. That bear helps your child move from dependence into independence. Having Bongo near, all soft and with that familiar scent, gives your child feel secure enough to stretch his wings.
-- If your child choses a blanket as his lovie, and it is rather large, you may want to cut it in half, to create a back-up blankie. This will minimize the fear of it becoming lost.
-- Along that same idea, if it’s Lola the lamb or Ellie the elephant your child connects with, see if you can snag a few duplicates. Put them all into snuggle rotation, so as to keep the same level of wear and tear for all of them.
-- Don’t worry if your 10- or 12-year-old still sleeps with her lovie. It’s perfectly normal to keep ahold of it well into adulthood. Just think about how many young adults head off to college with a treasured childhood transitional object in tow!
Does your child have a blankie or a lovie? Did you?
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