when did your toddler become interested in a security / comfort blankie / toy ??

[ktc123]

Not a big deal just something i have been wondering.....

i have twin boys 16 months old and they have yet to show any interest at all in any comfort blanket or soft toy to self sooth. I bought really plush lovely small blanket squares months ago but they are just not interested. I am thinking it would be a big help if they sometimes would accept a soft teddy or blanket in their cots or during the day for that matter.

My MIL even commented the other day how she is surprised they dont walk around the house with a blankie when they are tired etc, hers used to at this age she thinks she remembers. Is this unusual or am i expecting it too early??? How do you encourage it??

[littlemisslozza]

I have two DS's and they have blankie bears which they became gradually attached to from around 4-5 months old. I have two of each so they can be washed....

Not all children have them, I wouldn't worry!

[walkinginaWUKTERwonderland]

My DS only got interested at about 15 months, so it seems to vary.

[Sisqinanamook]

Both my DC had formed strong attachements to chosen toys before their first birthdays. I did from the start try to encourage it, but neither accepted my recommendations and my DD in particular chose a bad one (large and supposedly not machine washable!).

I don't know the general age, is it possible being twins they have the security of each other so may be don't have as much need for a comforter?

[Habbibu]

ds is 14 mo and has never been interested, despite active eencouragement!

[booyhohoho]

ds is 18 months and has just started about a month ago to start carrying one of his teddies around and he will ask me to get it for him if he can't reach.

[maxybrown]

Mine never has and fiercly independant and confident - he just was never interested, but I like it that way I have to say

[janx]

my dd is very independent and confident - but she is very attached to her puppy - she got more interested when I stopped bf at 13 months....but only when she is tired or poorly
Ds is not very independent and carries his cat around all the time....I have spent a small fortune on duplicates over the years for dd but ds never looses his cat!

[Iwasthefourthwiseman]

Dd1 didn't for a long time but she had dummies so I think she didn't need one. At about 2 she became obsessed with a happyland daddy figure but kept losing it. The packs with him in cost £8! We must have gone through 3 plus a lovely mnetter sent a spare one she had! That passed though & now it is a beanie teddy from my work, it has my work logo on it's t shirt & his name is Derby because that's where he was made (it's on the label!).

Anyway that is the last 6 months and she is 3.

[Iwasthefourthwiseman]

Btw dd is very independent & confident too, I don't think that precludes having a comfort object. Little ones can just be quite obsessive about things, toys, programmes, food etc.

[Iwasthefourthwiseman]

Oh and bizarrely dd has just got into the taggie she wasn't bothered about as a baby. I got so fed up with her sticking things in her mouth I got it down from the loft and said if she wanted to put anything in her mouth just use the taggie.

[maxybrown]

Mmm, maybe - I just can't imagine DS ever being clingy with anything so put it down to his confidence - he is very self assured I guess

[mylifewithmangers]

DD has used her cuddly practically from birth, and still carries it everywhere at almost 4yo. We do have 2 and only one can leave the house at anytime. Washing them can be a bit traumatic.

When DS came along I got identical ones but in a different colour, just assuming he would get attached to them. 14 months now and still shows no interest in them or anything else. He never took a dummy either (which DD did).

[aBrightStarWithFestiveWays]

DS wasn't bothered at all until about 11mo, when he suddenly developed a fierce attachment to the one toy we can't get a duplicate of Monkey is very closely guarded and never leaves the house if we can help it

[minimathsmouse]

I gave my son a very small cotton mouse. I didn't like the idea of a blanket for a new born. The mouse lived in the cot. At about 6 weeks old he held out his hand and grabbed it. Both ds found their thumbs at under a week old.

All hell broke out when two years later baby mouse flew over the top and down the back of the piano. No sleep for two nights!

I wouldn't worry too much.

[NorkyButNice]

Maybe because they are twins, they've got each other as their security blankets!

DS1 was swaddled as a baby. One day he worked himself free but we found him clinging onto the blanket he'd been wrapped in the next morning and he's never slept without one since (he's now 3 - luckily we had 8 of them!).

When DS2 arrived, DS1 would give him one of his blankets as a present, so he too now hangs onto them for dear life (he's only 5 months so isn't dependent on it yet!).

[PureAsTheDrivenShow]

DD is 3.6 and attached to nowt. But she was bfed until 3.4 and I think she was attached to that.

She's v v independent.

[PureAsTheDrivenShow]

Obviously she's securely attached to the people in her life but never had a comfort blanket or toy.

[Tolalola]

DS is about to be 3 and has never had been irrevocably attached to any object. He goes through phases of really liking specific toys, but they change as soon as something new comes along pretty often.

[eldritch]

About 11 months for my DS - the object of his affection is a blanket knitted by my mum (unfortunately she is a novice knitter and the blanket is rapidly unravelling, so I have to regularly kidnap blankie under the cover of darkness and repair it by stealth overnight! )

[soupmaker]

My DD got attached to muslin squares, aka blankies, at about 18 mo, when she was weaned off her dummy and started sucking her thumb - sigh. She's fickle about teddies and the like, has them in bed one night then rejects them the next! Its actually be really handy her blankie fixation, as I have loads of them and they can get washed easily. Bit of pain when she trails them along the ground and then insists on taking that one to bed!!! She is nearly 3 now.

[Rhian82]

DS was about 14 months when I bought him a Makka Pakka - he has lots of soft toys he likes, but this one instantly became his comfort toy. Wasn't intended as such, I just bought it him as I thought he'd like it and suddenly he wouldn't put it down.

[potplant]

FGS don't encourage it! The manky things start to rule your life. You can't go anywhere without a low level panic in case Teddy gets left behind. Its like having extra children to look after.

DT1 left his in a shop when we went on a day trip to a farm shop. DH had to take the afternoon off work and do a 50 mile round trip to retrieve it. When the lady phoned me to tell me she found it DT I cried.

DT2 (when about 3) dropped his somewhere and I trawled ebay for an identical one and in the end had to pay £20 for it. After watching Toy Story 3 I still feel guilty about replacing Teddy so readily and duping poor DT2.

[DrCosyTiger]

Oh Potplant that's just reminded me of the time I had to pay £25 on ebay to replace "mousey" when he got dropped out of the pushchair somewhere in the park. My DD became attached to him at about 12 months old and she chose the one soft toy that was available to purchase only in Germany (some friends gave it to us) and was no longer sold even there. OP - if your DTs haven't formed an attachment to an object then you have had a lucky escape!

[SpotSplatterSplash]

DS (3.6) has had 'Puppy' from about 8 months old, although he has been relegated to the bed in the last couple of months.

DD (20 months) has never attached herself to anything. She has plenty of choices, but so far nothing.

I have to say that looking after puppy and taking him everywhere was a pain in the arse.

I still have two puppy substitutes in the cupboard.

[Rhian82]

Yeah we're on Makka Pakka the third - thankfully they're only about £6.50, I'm glad he didn't fall in love with something ridiculously expensive!