Confused about comfort blankets, taggies etc.

[Starpop]

Hi just wanted to ask people's experience on comfort blankets. My baby has been given a few of those small blankets with a little teddy on the end I'll attach a picture. Baby is only 2 months old, but the other day a member of hubs family was asking if baby used them for sleep. Which got me thinking, so far I haven't given him one because I thought the advice was for them to sleep on a flat surface with nothing around them? Aren't such as this included in that advice? Do I allow him to have one in times I can keep an eye on him like the car seat or pram? I'm just confused about whether to try him with them or not. other people must allow their babies to have them as I know people whose toddlers and older are very attached to their comfort blankets, but do people wait until they are older to allow them?

No for sleeping- definitely follow the advice, upto for other times, we didn't really bother tbh

This is what I'm referring to

I didn't bother. I actively didn't want DS to become attached to something which could easily get lost or damaged.

These can be great for helping babies with self-settling and independent sleep.
I would choose one now and start snuggling it between you and the baby when you cuddle him in the day and when you feed. If your baby becomes attached then buy some spares!
When he's a bit older, maybe from 6 months, you can start putting it down with him to sleep too.

I remember thinking the same thing! Wait till your baby is much older. I waited till past 1.

I would never give my child one of those to sleep - if it gets lost it’s an absolute nightmare!

For any of mine that liked a label or something to snuggle I used a muslin square - much easier to replace than one specific bear or toy.

I was thinking the same about if they get lost etc. thanks for the replies I think i will wait until he's older. It was when he was unsettled and she said doesn't he have a comforter I said no and was about to say it's not recommended but stopped myself because I thought I might have sounded judgemental because her child has one.

Have to say I'm really struggling navigating everyone's opinions and all the conflicting advice online about everything baby related at the moment I'm a second time Mum but big age gap and there was no where near the amount of info there is available now. Overwhelming!!

I don't remember when my two started sleeping with theirs. My son was more attached to a plastic James engine than a snuggly. The snuggly he sleeps with now is a toy rat he found 3 years ago.

My daughter has a unicorn one that she adores. I have pics of her with it from around 6 months old. I'm not sure if that's when she decided that was what she wanted.

Trust your instincts.

You’ve done it before. You’ll be fine.

Thank you @JustLyra

I proactively gave mine a small muslin to help him start to self soothe. I have three or four different ones so I change them around in case we have this business of it getting lost. It definitely helps.

Both of mine had sleep snuggly toys. Absolute godsend when it came to napping and bedtime. They never ever left the bedroom except to come on holidays! Even then they were watched like hawks in case they went awol.

If you do decide to, buy several and keep them circulating at the same time (so you're not replacing a loved worn one with a brand new one)

I never bothered. When he was about 8 months he started dragging around a teddy all the time from a basket of soft toys we had. For whatever reason he decided that one was his favourite. Now at 14 months he sleeps with the teddy.

Another one that uses a muslin. I watch her all the time with it and whip it away when she's asleep. And I have hundreds of the damn things 🤣

My little one does like sleeping with these however she's not fussy about any specific one, as long as it's got a nice label 🤣 from what I can remember she started using them for soothing from about 6m - she was still sleeping in our room at that point so I used to let her have one to fall asleep with and then remove it from her crib once she had fallen to sleep/once we were going to bed. It must have been around the time she turned 1 that I let her keep them all night - they also helped her self soothe if she woke up in the night.

We use a muslin. My 6 month old was (still can be) a sicky baby so wherever he was there was one with him so it's just now become a thing 🤣

We have so many of them and they so quick to dry once washed!!

After DS1 became attached to his comforter & it was a nightmare if it went missing/needed washing (we did buy a duplicate which helped). I couldn't face going through it all again with DS2. He ended up using a muslin as a comforter. Was actually much easier as we could swap for a clean one/replace if lost as any muslin would do

Gave one to DS around 6 weeks to help with self settling. He has dummy, comforter and heartbeat noise (nightime only) and he knows it is sleep time and goes to sleep instantly. You have to make your own decisions, but some sort of comforter or dummy will likely help baby to self settle

Never did so due to attachment issues- it becoming scabby and old and child not coping without it. I never saw the point on forcing an attachment to a physical item that may get lost, old, etc.

Thanks everyone appreciate the different experiences and stories shared