Comforter

[Newmum26]

My DS is 16 months and wouldn't take a dummy when he was a baby, he went to bed with nothing and self settled himself.
Over the last few months he's taken it upon himself to have a little soft muslin blanket that he calls his 'Effer' we think because it has elephants on :)
So he loves his Effer and when he's tired or feeling like he needs it he will walk around saying 'Effer' and gets upset until he's got it and then he cuddles it and it comforts him.
I have no problem with it but just wondered if it's common for toddlers to have a cuddly toy or blankie that they carry round? We've not encouraged it at all but it's just something he's taken to himself ☺️

Yes, very normal!

Definitely normal.

Yes, DD who is 3 still sleeps with a muslin and will ask for it if tired or unwell, she would take it with her everywhere if we let her but she knows it's for bedtime only.

Very normal! DD (2.3) has a blankie that we offered for this exact purpose. I think it's lovely for them to have something they find comforting.

And if the comforter is big enough then they look like Linus from Snoopy, which is a bonus!

Oh, one tip - it's WELL worth having a spare in case of loss. Introduce it into circulation so it gets a bit worn, gets the right smell etc, and then put it away.

My son used to carry around his hippo comforter EVERYWHERE. He used to chew it as well. So after a couple of years, it just looked like an old rag with a hippo's head (in fact it looked way worse than an old rag). It was so manky looking that people would often comment on it, but I couldn't get another one and he wouldn't take to any other ones. It almost looked like a spider's web with all the holes.

He had that up until he was 4 when Mr Hippo went on holiday. Mr Hippo never came back. I have no idea where we lost him, but he has kind of outgrown them now anyway. My 6 year old also had a much nicer comforter that he just had a bed time. He outgrew that at about 4 as well.