I never had one myself... but a friend kept mentioning how it was a total game changer for getting her daughter settled at night time/ helping her self soothe.
Our son is only 8 months... so I had been avoiding putting anything, including a comfort blanket, in his cot... until just recently (I read that it’s ok from 6 months).
At first it just distracted him. But recently he’s liked it and used it to help
Him settle. So I put it in there until he was asleep then fished it out.
I’ve been a bit more relaxed the last few nights and left it in the cot with him.
We’ve been keeping a close eye and it’s a very thin lightweight one.
He usually rolls over on to him tummy (or side) to sleep, so I'm already a bit nervous about SIDS risk.
But he’s very strong, he can roll both ways and lift his head up well.
I’m a first time mum... and extra anxious as my sister died in her cot at 3 months old.
But back to the blanket. I noticed he likes these really thin, lightweight ones. As a young baby he used to suck on them if I let him. He would hold them, suck his thumb through them... so it would be all wrapped round his little thumb... One time I got a fright when I was pottering about (he was in his little bouncy/ reclined seat thing) and he started gagging and I realised he’d sucked the corner of the cloth right into his mouth - when I pulled it out I was shocked by how much I was pulling out. Like it was down his throat. I was so careful about it after that as it seemed like a choking hazard. He was so little that he couldn’t have pulled it out without help.
I’d never left him alone with them after that and had forgotten all about it.
However... fast forward to just now, he woke up crying (a cry I’ve never heard him do before, can only describe it as very sad and quiet, a tone I’ve not heard before)
I went in and he was on him tummy, I quickly realised his face was in a puddle of vomit. I scooped him up and he coughed a little, then as he leant against me he threw up again... it was like he emptied the entire contents of his stomach.
Whilst cleaning up and changing him... we noticed his comfort blanket... one corner was drenched in saliva. Just like when he sucked loads of it into his mouth when he was little.
Anyone experienced this?
I’m scared he’s sucking it down his throat and causing himself to be sick. It seems like a huge choking hazard to me.
I feel a bit shaken, thinking about what might have happened if he hadn’t vomited it up or pulled it out... if that IS what happened. He could have suffocated.
Obviously we’ve not put it back into the cot with him.
Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? I googled and found nothing apart from suffocation risks from blankets over faces etc- not about actually sucking and swallowing part of the blanket.
Of course it could have been a million other things... too much food (he ate so much today, and a real variety), or a little bug etc... it’s just when I saw the corner of the blanket I realised it was exactly like the time I’d pulled it out of his mouth. He gets a good 10cm of cloth into his mouth.
We offered him fluids as he’d thrown up so much and he’s fast asleep again. But I’m wide awake and feeling shaken.
Anyone else have a baby who insisted on sucking their blanket to the point that it posed a choking risk?