21 mth old DD refuses to be parted from her comfort blanket

[GalaGirl]

Hi, I'm new on here and looking for some advice or thoughts.

My DD has recently become incredibly attached to her comfort blanket 'silkie'. She's had the same one since she was born and often carried it around and played with it, but in the last month or so refuses to be separated from it. Its like it has become her best friend, and she literally cannot go anywhere without it. My DH took her to the swimming pool yesterday and all she did was shout 'silkie' the whole time she was there! It seems to have got worse since she learnt its name.

I am a SAHM and and my DD is an only child but isn't too clingy with me or DH, is used to spending time with other relatives and socialises well with other children so I don't think it is some kind of separation or insecurity issue, she just really loves 'silkie'!

I'm not sure if this is just a phase but think I should try and wean her off 'silkie' so she only gets it at bedtimes (she doesn't have a dummy). She will be starting creche in 2 months and she can't have a blanket with her the whole time then. Any advice or ideas on how I can get her parted from it without really upsetting her? She gets upset if she can't find it when she wants it, but when she is involved with an activity or around other kids she will happily leave it lying about and ignore it.

Thanks, and hope the post isn't too long, I just wanted to explain it all!

tbh I think it is a little early. From the sound of your post the blanket is not causing any problems ie preventing her socialising. I would not make an issue of yet - it may be that as she gets older the problem will disappear. She will be busy and distracted at the creche and may need the security at first but I would think that after a few weeks she will be too busy to be overly concerned with it.

I did have a friend who gradually reduced the size of her ds's security blanket over a period of a few months. He lost interest but that may have been because he was 3 and a half and the blanket ended up the size of a small face cloth.

When your dd is a little older you could start a new rule of only having the blanket at home, then change to only in the bed. But I would think this would be more succesful nearer the age of three.

Has anything happened in the last month to make her particularly anxious and in need of reassurance?

Personally I wouldn't take it away from her, she's too young.

Why can't she have it at creche? She's awfully young to have her comfort object taken away and I am not sure why you think it's necessary.

Agree with the others. Comfort objects are really important to small children, I really wouldn't worry about it. It's not doing any harm. Added to that, everything with children is a phase. You might find she's less dependent on it in a few weeks and it's far better for her to come to that decision herself than have it forced on her. But if she doesn't then it's not a problem for her to have it. Lots of children do.

Lots of children have comfort blankets. Its totally normal, no one in any creche or nursery would rause an eyebrow. 2 of my siblings had comfort blankets the rest of us didnt. Its just a need for some kids. They grow out of it, they get smaller, tattier and physically and mentally fade away. Restrict it a bit if you like, but i'd say just let it run its course.

It is fine-they all grow out of it eventually. My DS used to stand by the clothesline sucking it when it was washed (it was quite large). He used to hold it up to show it things out of the car window!
We gradually got it back to just in the house, and just bedtime, and to not at all.

Leave her with it, please - creche will let her keep it, she obviously needs it for a reason even if she's the only one that knows why. I speak as the parent of two children who took their cuddlies to school for the first term/half term. My eldest is nearly 8 and still takes it in the car to school occasionally to make sure it's there to cuddle at the end of the day (as well as sleeping with it) At nursery and home he had free access until about 2.5, then was encouraged to save for nap and upsets & bumps.

It would be quite nice for her to have the comfort of silkie when she starts creche I think.

My dd has her Blankie. I made it for her when she was a small baby and she needed to have an operation. She still takes it for sleepovers and when she needs extra reassurance - like when she did her grade1 violin exam. She is 10 btw!

I didn't make a big effort to wean him off it-it was just a natural thing. He was quite old by the time he stoppped sleeping with it.