1-yr-old doesn't have a favoured comfort item

[EishetChayil]

Is this normal? She has toys she enjoys playing with, but she doesn't ever seek one out, nor does she seem to have formed an attachment with any item in particular.

We co-sleep and I still BF her through the night and for daytime naps. She's definitely bonded with me and DH. It's just toys she doesn't seem attached to.

Will she develop an attachment to a specific object? It would be nice for her to have a comfort item as we transition her into a cot.

Yes it’s normal. My youngest has never really chosen one and she’s 8 now.
Every child is different.

Yes normal ime.

Yes normal, you are their comfort object!

If you want them to have a comfort item then you need to create it - choose what you want (smallish, washable, easy to replace) and start snuggling with it every time you feed, cuddle or sleep together. Then it starts to have an association with all those cuddly, sleepy times and you can use it as a sleep prop in the cot.

My 2.5 year old doesn't have one specific thing she's attached to either. But she will chose a different teddy at bedtime or through the day to snuggle.

I think it's probably better this way, if one gets lost you won't have the heartbreak :)

Totally normal.

My 1 year old likes to hold a muslin cloth but it can be any, theres no particular one. If she doesn't have one to hand she will go and find a tea towel or some random item from the ironing basket

Dd dint have one, she pushed a pikachoo in a dolls pram for a couple of months when she was 3..

Ds was very attached to a can of meatballs after a caravan holiday one year....

Yeh my son was never really interested in them. He has a ra Ra lion now but even then it's more of a hold for a little while then chick him away lol.
I think it's good because there's no issues later going out and forgetting the comforter or losing it.
And also I think it means they are secure enough to not need one :)

My 1 year old is absolutely besottedly attached to a blue blanket - so much so we have had to by 3 copies of it.

Her brother - my 5 year old - never attached to any object till after his 4th birthday when he got very attached to a stuffed hedgehog and now wont sleep without it and would be devastated to lose it. But nothing of that sort till he was 4 years old.

They are both kids from the same household, same parents, same everything - just weirdly different as infants and toddlers when it came to comfort objects.

A comfort toy is used in placement of the primary carer they are known as a Transitional Comfort Object At the moment you are there so she uses you for comfort. If you are around less she'll transfer her need for comfort on to an object. I'd recommend something very easy to get duplicates or buy two or three, I tried with a Minnie Mouse from the Disney shop as they were so mass produced but Dd wouldn't have it and was never interested in one. I was a SAHM for the first 3 yrs, EBF and coslept so I guess she didn't need one.

Totally normal. One of my kids had a single toy that had to go everywhere with them, the other didn't really care which toy they had, if any at all.

My eldest had massive preferences - and still does, at 9.

My 5 year old never showed interest in teddies etc at all until about a year ago when they asked for a teddy from IKEA and suddenly says teddy was most important thing ever!

My son is 2 and doesn't have a comfort animal either. I think he is attached to my breast though...

I would be grateful they don't! The hours I have spent looking for their comfort toys and the fear of losing them and if you do misplace them trying to replace them is traumatic!

Mine wasn’t interested until about 4 when he suddenly got very sentimental about soft toys and still is at 7.

My youngest is like this. He’s 7 now.
Having already experienced two magpies who pocketed every toy they could find at nursery (leaving me to do the ‘here’s your toy back’ walk of shame to the nursery staff), it was and remains a relief to have a baby/toddler/child who could and can leave the house empty-handed and come home empty-handed.
Congratulations! You have an easier road ahead. Relish it! Christmas will be a pleasure! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed having one child who chooses not to be crushed underneath an avalanche of soft toys! Bliss!

DD is 2 and still no comfort items. I think it’s me still though, as we still BF!
She is in nursery 4 long days though and doesn’t seem to need anything when she’s there. I’m taking it as a sign of secure attachment.

Mine didn't at that age but developed one about 4.

Consider yourself lucky that you do not have to do the dash to the shops hoping they still sell "insert name of cuddly" because it has gone for a trip down the loo or got left somewhere.

Neither of mine had one they naturally got attached to. With my son I really regret not encouraging an attachment - he started thumb-sucking instead and still can't break the habit now he's 5, and his teeth are pushed out of place.
When DD got to 18 months we made a big deal of going to buy a special night time toy (a super soft jellycat bunny) and then we made sure we had that with us for every bedtime. She's now attached to it at bedtime but it doesn't leave the house. She's almost 2yo now and we'll probably stop breastfeeding and cosleeping soon so hopefully the bunny will help her transition.

Mine never dead.

I breastfed until she was 2.5 though, so maybe it was me.

Never did !!

Good lord. Quite the typo!

My DD got a teddy for Xmas when she was 8 months old. Literally couldn't care less about it. Then when she was about 18 months/2 years, she became really attached to it. She's 15 now and still won't sleep or go anywhere without it.

Totally normal.

Neither of mine have any kind of comfort item at all and never have. They have soft toys, blankets etc but nothing they 'need'.

@daisyjgrey

Mine never dead.

I breastfed until she was 2.5 though, so maybe it was me.

Haha, yes, never thought about this but you are totally right! My boobs were 'that thing'.