When to give a 'comforter'? And is it safe?

[Schmaffy]

My 8 mo DS is still being fed to sleep at bedtime and has at least 1 feed a night. Sometimes -once in a blue moon- after the feed he will go to sleep from being awake, other times I have to feed him to sleep. He goes through patches of waking once or waking two, three, four etc times wanting boob or generally being awake for 2+ hours, which is exhausting.

DH and I are contemplating doing some sleep training as he can sleep from awake for his daytime naps. We'd like to give him a comforter of some sort e.g. a cuddly toy, blankie etc to help but, being neurotic, I'm scared he might choke on it, suffocate, etc. Am I being overly anxious? Do your dcs have comforters and if so, what sort of thing do they have?

My DS had a peculiar comforter which was the washing instruction label on the corner of his cot bumper. He liked the silky feel of the label and would rub it between finger and thumb until he went to sleep. When he grew out of the cot I had to unpick the label and sew it on a new piece of fabric. Well, I didn't have to but YKWIM...

My dd (11.5mo) has never shown any interest in any soft toys/blankets as 'comforters' although I have put one or two in her cot. She always used to feed to sleep but only does that when really tired or poorly now. If she's awake, she finds the electronic music box from her baby mobile calming (it has a little glowing light too), so you could think about something like that as well?

My DS only showed an interest in 'comfort' objects once he was around 18 mo. We'd introduced various teddies, muslins etc from about 5 months to no avail. Now he has a particular bunny and a blue muslin which he loves!

I think as long as the toy is 'firm' rather than 'floppy' IYKWIM then they are safe enough...

Oh - and as long as the teddy doesn't have any bits which can be pulled off and eaten/choked on - button eyes, ribbons etc - but I'm sure I am stating the obvious there! :)

My DS has had his 'snuggy' since he was 6 months old, he's now 20mo and has 3 of the same ones! They're a teddy attached to a blanket, soft and fleecy with a label on which he rubs on his cheek, we got it in mothercare. Teddy bit is the size of a small avocado iyswim? Blanket bit is double the size. Would reccommend comforters, I never worried about dangers because he was old enough to move himself around the cot, he likes to hold it to his chin whilst he drops off to sleep. Was also bf him at that age and I think having it helped him settle after a feed. Hope that helps