If I was a small bear, where would I be?

[SuziLikeSuziQ]

My DS has lost his bear/best friend. We know he's somewhere at home! He was last seen in the garden on a chair but come bedtime we couldn't find him (we didn't go out in that time). He could be next door but obviously I can't scour their house/garden like I can my own. DS must have picked him up and put him down somewhere.

He's a jellycat bear, so not massive but not tiny. I've looked in obvious places like the drawers, bin, DS's bed etc. but want to ask the wisdom of MN for less obvious places to check!

I feel really bereft. Possibly more so than DS.

Behind sofa cushions
Inside a bag/backpack
Tree house/play house
Toy oven
School bag
Dining room chair
Behind curtain
On top of radiator

Joining because we have also misplaced teddy. He doesn't feel the same as the (just in case) replacement so he isn't right 😪

I found DD's lost jellycat rabbit inside a sleeping bag after a few weeks desperately looking, like you I was more upset than my daughter (we gave it to her in the hospital when she was born)

Who or what has access to your garden? Dog? Fox? Neighbour's child?
(How could bear be in neighbour's house?)

I would be with my friend Yogi looking for PickerNick baskets.

It's in a neighbours house.

Their cat brought it in

They're wondering where it came from.

Any red kites round your way. The ones round here have form for taking things from gardens and dropping them in other people's. If you do it might be worth a note on your local Facebook page in case someone has found it in their garden.

I found DD's lost Jellycat (thankfully not her most precious one) four years down the line. It was put in the basket of our compact-fold stroller and the thing was folded up, and the timing just so happened to be at the point we stopped using it. I kept the stroller in storage just in case there'd ever be a baby no. 2 and recently having accepted that I wouldn't be having another, I got the pushchair out to sell and lo-and-behold there was the lost jellycat.

Another place we found a teddy was in DD's toy kitchen - in the washing machine

In the past the laundry basket or dropped at shop

😱😱😱

Yes, red kites. I really, really hope this hasn't happened!! Will post on local FB sites.

Edit to add: forgot to say thank you.

Neighbour's child and DS were playing in our garden together. They can move between gardens very easily.

Replacement has been all but abandoned. Clearly he is too new and fluffy to even come close to being comforting. 😭

I hope you find yours soon.

Has neighbour's child been asked if bear came to visit?

Small children are sometimes really into enclosure so they like to put their favourites inside things... Then forget about them. We've had a couple of instances of the beloved soft toy being found within a bag, tangled within a larger bag, that bag within a box sort of thing.

Yes, apparently last he saw it was on the chair. Thanks for suggestions, though.

This bear came home with DS, too. He's slept with him every night for 5 years. I'm trying not to be too upset, it's just a bear, after all.

It's possible a fox has made off with him. How old is DS?

He's 5.

I don't think a fox, just because it was broad daylight and I rarely see foxes (maybe once or twice a year?) and have never seen one in the back garden. Plus DS and neighbour were playing out there mostly, so not exactly a quiet environment for a fox to be skulking around. A kite though... possibly.

Have posted it everywhere with a photo on FB/next door/WhatsApp, anyway, so keeping fingers crossed he's found.

Do you have a play kitchen? Maybe check inside the oven. It was where we found a teddy of dc's one time.

No, but thanks!

Watering can
Under bushes
Caught up in a blanket/sun hat/cardi etc that was outside and then folded/bundled away?
Kitchen cupboard where cups live (someone came in for a drink with bear in hand...)

Mine had a beloved pink snuggly t shirt of mine that went everywhere.

After retracing all steps back to the childminders one evening, it eventually turned up stuffed inside a toy space rocket.

Foxes. We back onto the common, and have occasionally found ‘nests’ of beaten down grass with a teddy or garden clog in the middle!

We had similar with youngest DS - check inside cars/play bus type toys and with any Lego. I'm sure you'll find the little bear, but good luck!