AIBU to not understand how to make a Jellycat toy crusty?

[Stringervest]

My daughter had two Jellycat monkey soothers which were glued to her everywhere she went. They did shifts which meant they got regular washes and there was always a backup on hand if one had an accident. DD thought they were the same monkey. She sucks her thumb and holds them to her face. They both got really rough and crusty despite regular washes in soft water with fabric conditioner.

Disaster struck - one monkey went missing. Thankfully, Jellycat still make them so we spent another seventeen bloody quid on a new back up, but it's silky soft and she won't touch it. She knows it's a different monkey.

It's been through the wash 20 times without fabric conditioner and is still like new. I've spent hours trying to scratch it up with a pan scourer. Still silky soft.

Help me! How do I make this monkey as crusty as the other one?

Think yourself lucky. I tried to buy a backup of dd's jelly cat penguin. Only bought last month, but turns out the bloody thing was discontinued three years ago!

We have a spare doggy but she'd instantly know if we switched him in because spare isn't disgusting. I figure if the worst happens and we lose doggy I figure we'll tell her he's been away to a health spa.
I'm considering buying a gps tracker to put inside doggy though. Seriously.

I love this thread! Taking notes for the future in case baby DS ends up with a favourite teddy.

Our jellycat monkey was so mauled & chewed that his nose fell off & Granny had to sew him a new one.

I’m afraid I think it comes from months of devoted battering.

Although which monkey is it? We have 6 disgusting crusty monkeys & only 3 are special. Some were bought in panic replacements that ended up either being accidentally half the size (can’t fool a child with that!) or the wrong type of monkey. So the ‘back up’ monkeys are not special toys here. Do you have a photo? I’d be happy to send a disgusting crusty monkey if by chance it was the one you needed

@Oysterbabe we have little name tags for clothes that clip on really securely & we’ve clipped the special monkeys with name & phone number (ours not the monkeys )

Yoghurt, then wash after it drys.

Haha. My DS has 3 jelly cat bunny comforters. Two are the same age and same “wear” level. One is newer. He calls it “the softly one”. Sometimes is happy with it but other times gives it back to me and says “Not the softly one mummy”. I think there is no way of roughing it up apart from just wear over time unfortunately.

Sit and chew it while you watch tv. The PP's suggestion of using milk is an excellent.

Special bunny in this house became known as Stinky. Ds2 was never quite as enamoured of Stinky 2 but you could still smell it from across the room even after a boil wash. He used to suck the nose to go to sleep so Stinky was also quite deformed...

Reganmum, have messaged you in case I can help with penguin.

Oh man, these have really made me laugh! Thank you everyone for your funny stories and good ideas. I am going to try some of these immediately.

@AverageMummy you sound like you have this sorted. I'm definitely going to try that name tag idea. The thought of lost monkey lying unloved on the street somewhere makes me feel very sad because he was so treasured by DD.

If you (or anyone else) has a crispy or crusty bashful monkey soother lying around you are welcome to send him my way

@grapefruitisgross i use a small clean nail brush to refluff after washing. The stiff little tightly packed bristles help seperate up the fur.

Some salt water might do the trick. Let it dry and the salt should make it a bit crispy!

Oh no I misread - we do have a little bashful monkey but unfortunately it’s not attached to a soother

And we only got it sussed after the trauma of thinking we’d lost one.

My son fell unconscious & went in to intensive care when he was 20 months old. He was out for days & we didn’t know if he’d live & if he did live, whether he’d have organ / brain damage on waking.

He opens his & sits up - first word? “Morris”

I actually had to drive home & get the fucking monkey so now all the household of monkeys are labelled & the kids regularly request the whole entourage of monkeys at bed time.

At the Just So Family Festival they actually had a designated tent for families to be reunited with lost mauled & battered soft toys

Except she found the duplicate and now frequently insists on having both to go to bed 🤦‍♀️

Yep. DD has Twin Dollies. They are called Wobbly Head Dolly and Stiff Neck Dolly. She hasn’t discovered Dolly Number 3 yet though!

We ended up with Monkey, Not Monkey and Other Not Monkey. These were all identical other than their level of crustiness which was due to me smugly having kept the two spares in a cupboard for six months until I realised how crusty Monkey was getting and realising I needed to bring them into rotation. It was already too late. DS never fully accepted the spares but would often insist on all three of them.

I feel your pain, We have jellycat elephants here and old elephant is crusty and loved. New elephants are thrown out the cot immediately. I may just have to drool on them and hope for the best.

We have 2 identical bun buns ... or so i thought... both were discovered so it was fine we just went with 2 bunnies until one day he started rejecting one saying no i want squidgy face i was totally confused until he said this one is long face want the other bun bun so i took a closer look. Same bunny same colour same pattern different face!!!!

Well. My dogs favourite toy is a penguin. It’s VERY crusty. We actually call it Crusty The Shag Penguin ...
Even washed, it’s crushed and crusty. It’ll be the dry humping 😂

It's easy!
I can explain this because I'm super sad, and still need a comforter. I had to throw my childhood 'rag duvet thing' away last Xmas.
I'd known it was getting to a point where it was unfixable and didn't have it's special smell so much as an awful smell anymore. So when St the start of October last year my OH bought me a cuddly sloth, I put it through a few wash cycles (NO conditioner) and started sleeping with it every night.
Fast forward to about March this year, and it was getting nice and matted.
And now, it's super stinky and matted and looks like its been loved by a child.
So, wash it without conditioner and slip it under your kiddy when they're fast asleep, it'll get the right smell from their bodyheat.
It shouldn't take long for it to become like the old ones.
I so have to name change now.

We have exactly the same!

In a case of unfortunate laundry planning DS found found the ‘spare’ Stinky Monkey the other day and declared ‘Mummy, Stinky has got a brother!!!! They are Stinky Twins!!!!!!!!’

From experience it takes 5 years of sucking and drooling to make them crusty! 😂 🐒

I am at least relieved that I am not the only one who is in this unfortunate position.

DD is also keen to have this new monkey interloper around. We told her that he is monkey's brother, and he has become Brother Monkey. But she will only entertain his presence as part of an ensemble and won't drool on him or do anything else which will make him crusty.

I am grateful for all the suggestions. I think our soft water is what is making the repeat washing fail. I may need to send him on a spa weekend to his grandparents' house where they have very hard water.

@AverageMummy I'm so sorry to hear about the scare you had with DS and glad that he was alright.

my son has had the same monkey since birth we got a back up and he hated it aswell. My son's is flatter and thinner now than the plump new one so I would try sitting on it , bashing it around a bit to get the shape right then lots of washing and natural drying. Good luck failing that suck it ?

Is there something wrong with my DS?! He has absolutely no attachment to any toys whatsoever! (16m).

@MissB83 my other child never had a strong attachment to any specific toy