To blankie or not to blankie?

[Flossy78]

Hi all, am new to all this so not quite sure if I'm posting in the right place. I'll continue anyway....
My mum has suggested introducing a blankie (poss a muslin cloth) for my 11 week old DD now. She said it would help her settle herself to sleep when she's a bit older & help to
comfort her. 'd rather her have a blankie than a dummy but I guess my question is does she need anything at all? I think the blankie sounds a good idea (I had one & it didn't do me any harm cough cough) but am also aware my mums advice is 30 years old.
Any advice, suggestions or tips would be most welcome.

[lulalullabye]

Both my dd's had cuddly things. DD1 had a bunny that she used to suck the ears and dd2 had a blankie. I think it is a really good idea but just remember to pick something that is cheap, readily available so you can have a few to rotate for washing time.

Both dd's 5 and 4 have now lost favour and don't use them.

[nooka]

We introduced one for both of our children as babies. ds still likes his for sleeping or when he is stressed (he is 12) and dd was never that interested (but has a very large collection of stuffed animals). So I think whether they 'work' depends on the child, but it certainly helped ds to settle.

I agree with lula that it's worth choosing something easily replaceable/ interchangeable, although ds was very picky about his - we used flannelette pram sheets but some were just 'too roughy', and I had to resew the label in a few times too.

[LoveBeingAbleToNamechange]

My dd was bought one as a gift, one of the knotted ones with an animal head. It looked cute so put it in bed with her, as soon as she could she could grab it and hold onto it at might time, and still does at 3.4. I agree don't have just one, I've managed to get two others so one is at mums and the other is always clean.

[naturalbaby]

my toddler and pre-school kids have one and i've got several options waiting for my 5month old to choose! they really helped me get them to self settle themselves to sleep and they knew when i gave it to them it was time to go to sleep.
ds1 has a muslin that he got very attached to as a baby and ds2 has a velour bunny which we had to spend ages finding a back up version of as it came from france! he now realises there's a newer one for when the regular one is in the wash and sometimes asks for 'more bunnies!'. choose something that is easy to replace/wash 1000times - bunny has a big hole and one of the loops is coming of but i have a dozen muslins for ds1!

[JessieEssex]

I would give it a go - I can't see what harm it can do. 11mo DD has a fleecy bunny thing that she adores - and like others said, we have a back up! I've seen her reach out for it in her sleep and snuggle into it. She sleeps extremely well (7-7) and I think that this is in part down to her being comforted by it if she stirs in the night. Of course, she may have done just as well had I never have introduced it, but who knows?!
I guess she first had it when she was about 12wo.

[Flossy78]

Thanks for all the replies. Makes me feel happier about introducing a blankie now. We have tonnes of muslin cloths so I'll start giving DD one to handle and suck on & see how we get on. I suppose she may decide she doesn't want one! Thanks again for all responses xx

[lulalullabye]

Might be worth cutting the muslins up as I have seen them regularly being dragged along the floor by little people. Mouth gets one end, mud gets the other.

[MoreBoober]

Blankie all the way, really helping my DS. 1st introduced at about 4.5 months and a firm fixture at nearly 7 months.

[notcitrus]

I used blankets for ds from birth, for swaddling and helping carry him around and as winter came, for wrapping round him in the pushchair - simple half-metres of sweatshirt fabric.

He really took to them and at nearly 3 will be happy anywhere as long as he has a blanket. It's a clear sign he's a bit under the weather if he wants one outside nap time.

Echoing the 'easy to replace' calls - he started with 3 in different colours, one got lost so I searched for replacements and could only get blue and pinstripe. Blue was acceptable, pinstripe wasn't. But old flannel sheets my mum cut up are an OK substitute when others are in the wash.

Though chances are your child will ignore the blanket and latch onto a hideous soft toy that is totally irreplaceable...