16 month year old wants to take blanket everywhere!!

[bellbottom]

Hi there,

posted a message about showering and had great and helpful feedback. So thought I'd brainstorm on this one too!

My 16 month year old daughter has become increasingly attached to her blanket. Trouble is, she points to it several times a day and wants it, dragging it around with her round the house. Feels like too much of a comfort thing, she has already had her thumb since birth, which I always thought was great. She's a fab sleeper, and can use it to calm herself whenever she likes. But that together with the blanket feels a bit extreme. Plus the blanket gets dirty! If shes out in the buggy she wants to walk with it down the street! This weekend I remained firm and said no. She had the hugest tantrum I ever knew. Walked behind me all the way from the park to home, screaming and throwing herself down on the pavement because she wanted to walk with it.

Is the solution as simple as cutting a piece of it and letting her take it with her everywhere? Or to wean her off completely?

PLease can I have some tips from anyone that knows!

Many thanks!

[RhinestoneCowgirl]

Let her take the blanket with her, she's just a baby.

[bigchris]

aw, I'd let her have it, she's only little still after all, just make sure you have an identical one so you can squirrel one away into the wsashing machine when she's asleep

[FluffyBunnyGoneBad]

I'd go for the softly softly approach and make it shrink slowly over time , this way it's not too much of a shock or even replace it with a teddy. There's nothing wrong with her having a blanket as a comforter to be honest, she's still small and if she needs it to be content then I wouldn't want to rock the boat. She'll give it up when she's ready.

[LadyGlencoraPalliser]

I had four 12 year olds sleeping over with DD1 this weekend. Two of them brought their blankies. Nobody blinked an eyelid.
16 months is still a baby. I wouldn't even consider trying to take it away - I think that would be plain cruel. Maybe cut it in half and you can take turns washing the halves - this also means if she does lose one while out and about the other is still there.

[RhinestoneCowgirl]

Also, she'll get to the point when she's out at toddlers or round a friend's house when she's having so much fun that she'll let go of the blanket quite happily and you can stash it safely away in the buggy...

[monkeyfacegrace]

I agree, shes a baby and wont/cant understand why she cant have it. I live by the motto 'fight the battles worth fighting', and this one really isn't. She will grow out of it soon enough.

[warthog]

let her

[artifarti]

I had a muslin called Ig (and a dummy called Dum!) that I used to take with me everywhere for years. The muslin was disgusting and smelled of vom (I know this because I found it in a drawer years later and it still did!) I seem to remember getting a bit embarrassed by them when we went to my Gran's aged about five, so I hid them behind the radiator. That was the beginning of the end for Ig and Dum She'll grow out of it - I turned out fairly sane in the end, honestly...

[blowbroth]

Hi Bellbottom, I would say let her have it, My dd had one too and after about 2/2.5 years it just seemed to stay in the bedroom.
I have every sympathy with your dd though as I had my blanket up until I was about 36! . I've never admitted that before!

[seeker]

My dd went on a school trip to Spain last week. she and her room mates all had teddies. They are 13!

Let her have it. If it makes her happy, what's not to like?

[Flibbertyjibbet]

Ds1 had a blankie and it got lost one day when he took it out with us.
What a nightmare that was trying to get him to sleep or settle for several weeks (the first 3 nights he just cried for it all night).
So when ds2 started getting attached to his teddy I made a rule of teddy has to stay in the bed, and NEVER out of the house.
Took him a while to get used to it but he is fine with it now.
So while I agree with others who say she is a baby and def let her have it, I speak as one who suffered sooooo much when one went missing, I would say don't let her take it out of the house in case it gets lost!

[neolara]

My nearly 5 year old carries her old sleeping bag with her everywhere. It is falling to pieces and pretty disgusting and it is murder getting her off it to put in the wash. I wouldn't worry about your dd but you may have to accept the fact that the blanket will be around for a long, long, long time.

[piscesmoon]

I think it is lovely-please let her carry on-I can assure you they grow out of it eventually! My DS1 was like that. If I washed it he was a sad figure standing by the washing line sucking the end! The blanket had it's own personality and we used to show it things on car journeys! It went everywhere and was fairly disgusting, but it came to a natural end. It was completely harmless.

[BakewellTarts]

Just to add to the above views of let her keep it. DD1 is 3.5 years and adores hers. We joke that we should have called her Linus as it follows her everywhere. Seriously though its a godsend. Guaranteed to help calm her down and settle and I wouldn't be without it.

[hazeyjane]

I still have the rabbit that I carried around with me when I was little and I'm 40 in a couple of weeks

Dd1 has a monkey comforter, and I hunt obssessively for spares on e-bay, because he has been lost a few times (and he gets filthy). She is 3 and sometimes he just sits on her bed, but if she is insecure, ill or tired (so that is pretty much most of the time!), she wraps him round her finger, and it gives her so much comfort I couldn't take him away.

[mummytowillow]

My daughter (22 months) has 'noo noo' which is one of those little velour blankets with a teddy on it, she is obsessed with it, kisses it, plays with the labels and wants it all the time!

I let her have it, its her comfort and really calms her down if she is upset. I have got three the same so there always clean. Have you thought about cutting it into four and having four on the go? Then it won't be as big and you can get them in the wash?

[LittleMissNorty]

My DD (2) has blankets that get dragged everywhere, but we have a fair few of them and one or two are always in the wash. At nursery there is a big pile of them by the time all the kids are in.

Even if she forgets to take one out, I always remember to put one in the car as the hissy fits just aren't worth it!

DS (4 months) is already showing similar tendencies

16 months is just a baby.....let her have it

[Caz10]

be gentle with the chopping up - I had a blanket too, and can still remember when, aged 5, I found out my mum had chopped my massive big blanket down to a tiny square. We were going abroad on holiday for the 1st time and this was the only way I could take it with me, but I still remember the trauma!!

[piscesmoon]

I don't think it would have been the same if I had chopped it up! My mother had crocheted it so I think it would have unravelled. It was a wonderful comforter-I can't think why you would want to stop her when she is a baby, she will outgrow it in her own time.

[mrsdisorganised]

DD2, 7 years and DD4, 20 months are both obsessed with their blankies and I really don't mind as it a way of giving them extra security if they need it. DD2 sneaks hers to school and she says it makes her feel better if she's having a bad day, she is lucky in that her school is tiny and the other children are not a bit fazed when she brings 'him' out. I would be wary about chopping them up though, can you find one the same?

[seeker]

My 8 year old ds has a silk scarf that he has loved since babyhood. It's a very very tatty rag now, but he still likes to sleep with it touching his face. It's a long time since he got really upset if it couldn't be found at bed time, but he still gets to sleep much quicker if he has 'loshy" And if he's tired he goes and gets it to hold while he's watching tv. please don't cut up your dd's blanket, or try ant take it away from her. it's not doing any harm, and it's making her happy.

[bellbottom]

Hi thanks to all!

My main concern has been really that she pulls it around everywhere, and this means she trips up, plus it gets dragged through dirty streets and god knows what else. I just find that simply taking the dirt tolerance too far. for the rest I'm relaxed. I just felt we needed a practical solution. But being new to all this, and a single mum, I guess I felt alone.

Today I did cut a strip off the blanket so that I can make several squares from it. I gave her a little piece to take in the buggy, and she seemed to be amused and contented with the mini version!

I just have a question about washing. Now that blanket is a permanent fixture, does this mean it can never be washed??! Whats the trick in these cases?

Thanks again for the support. Im finding motherhood quite a strain lately, now that the toddler stage has emerged. And I well and truely need mumsnet!!!

Love

[piscesmoon]

I had to wash it-that is when I had the sad little figure standing next to the washing line holding on to the end! I didn't wash it very often.

[mrsdisorganised]

I have to wash them too! Usually they don't have time to dry, luckily they haven't been bothered by the 'clean' smell although two of my sisters couldn't bare their 'pillies' (pillowcases) to loose the smell!