Share your stories about your children’s favourite toys with Munchkin Nursery Steriliser - £100 voucher to be won

[CeriMumsnet]

Whether it’s a cuddly bear or a favourite blanket, young children become very attached to certain toys and comforters. Many parents will know the struggle of keeping these toys clean - particularly when they get taken on outdoor adventures or when your DC won’t let them out of their sight, even at mealtimes! With this in mind, Munchkin would like to hear your stories about your children’s favourite toys and comforters, and how you navigate cleaning them.

Here’s what Munchkin UK has to say: “Life with a little one is always going to be messy, but luckily the Munchkin Nursery Steriliser means that in just five minutes you can make sure toys, blankies and soothers are clean and ready to use, meaning you can spend less time cleaning and more quality time having fun”

Which toys were your DC particularly attached to and what’s the weirdest place/situation your child insisted on taking them? Did you experience that heart sinking feeling when you realised the toy they’re attached at the hip to had been left behind or lost? How did you rescue them? How did you keep their favourite toys clean, and did you experience any washing related disasters? What distraction methods did you resort to when your children’s favourite toys had to be taken away to be washed?

All who post on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £100 voucher for a store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

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My little one loves his brio train set, he takes his train everywhere with him, even to bed!

DS always seemed much more attached to his cuddly toys than DD. He still has a Tinky Winky and a Pooh Bear that he's still known to chuck around his room on occasion (and he's late teens now!).

My eldest son had a yellow rabbit he was given as a newborn that was practically like a family member throughout his childhood. It has a name, a voice, a personality, a complex backstory and, if he'd been born a few years later, would probably have had its own YouTube channel on which to share its exploits. I've wished a few times we had a spare but thankfully it's made it safely through. My son is in his twenties now and every year we still put it on the top of the christmas tree.

My little one has become. Obsessed with mr bunny. He is only 1 month old, but Mr bunny is definitely his favourite. If he is crying and we don't know what's wrong. Mr bunny (who is also a rattle) never fails to cheer him up

My eldest who is now 6 when a toddler really enjoyed her stacking cups but in particular really took to the yellow cup! When I look back on pictures it’s quite funny and cute to see this yellow cup in the pram, on the table at cafes, at nursery and so on ...

My daughter loved Happy Spaniel -one of those walking toys which flipped over. Even though it had metal inside she insisted on taking it to bed with her, resulting it in being broken. She still loved it though. We bought her a different coloured one to replace it which was totally ignored!!

My DS's favourite toy was a cuddly Winnie-the-Pooh his Godmother bought for his first Christmas - he's 14 and still sleeps with it now (although he'll hate me telling you this). It has been ABSOLUTELY everywhere with us. My worst moment ever was when he dropped it going around the supermarket once and we only realised towards the end of the shop - he was distraught and I was frantic! We madly re-traced our steps around the whole shop and fortunately some kind person had picked him and popped him on the egg shelf. Never felt so relieved in my life!

My son's favourite was his Brio train set and when we went out you would always discover a train in his pocket. Very hard wearing and easy to wipe down kept it safe from germs. He may have outgrown it but I have put away for grandchildren.....got a long while to wait!

Daisy had a huge fluffy white dog that she was practically inseparable from. It was almost toddler size so when she was only a toddler herself she used to drag it along behind her because she couldn't lift it.
We had all sorts of struggles trying to get her to understand that she couldn't take it to her swimming lessons. In the end I had to take the dog with me and it sat alongside me on the benches at the side of the pools.
She really loved Snowy and I was dreading the time when she started at school because I imagined that we would fight to get her to understand why Snowy couldn't go to school too.
Weirdly though, just before she started school, Bruno the boxer dog joined our family. Bruno was only a puppy and initially obviously pined for his mummy and the rest of his litter. Daisy instinctively understood and one day she asked if we thought that Bruno would like to share Snowy with her.
So she introduced Snowy to Bruno, and Bruno immediately fell in love with it. Snowy began to sleep with Bruno ....and still does 5 years later!
I still remember feeling so proud of Daisy for being willing to share the love with Bruno because it showed how big her heart is.

A huge Barbie that is bigger than her and it almost appeared in a professional family shoot!

My DD loved her muslin square and we had to cut it into small parts and keep it in certain places eg in the car for the way home from nursery and at grandma's so there would always be on nearby! She used to hate it when I washed it too but it would get so dirty otherwise I have no choice

We have a rag doll that DD is convinced is alive, frequently to be found hanging out of light fittings and curtains. Fortunately its completely machine washable.

My son has a jingly lion and because he sleeps with it and chews it’s ribbon mane it gets quite disgusting, usually we wait until he falls asleep and then whisk it away to be washed gently in the washing machine and then place on the heated airer to dry as soon as possible. He takes this lion everywhere and he has his own little backpack to carry it in so we don’t lose it, I’m also always checking it’s still there, it’s like having another thing to keep an eye to.

Anything that makes a noise. A possible future musician?

My eldest daughter had this rabbit flannel toy that she took everywhere! She started to suck the ends of it for comfort and it was disgusting! I would have to wash it whilst she was at nursery and then get it dry for when she got home
I ended up cutting bits off it that i could not get clean - I told her the bird had pecked bits of it

H has a cuddly dog called woof - she sleeps with him every night even takes him on holiday. We have to wash him during the day and hope he dries by night when he gets grotty which now she is 7 is thankfully not so often

My son doesn't seem to get attached to any particular toys, but there are numerous rocks, stones, fossils and sticks that are by the back door and keep "appearing" in the house! Woe betide us if we were to throw any out!

My child's favourite toy was and still is LEGO

Littles one’s favourite bunny (since birth) has been getting progressively grubbier by the day, and we were worried wouldn’t survive another 6 months. A couple of weeks ago the dummy fairy came to take away her dummies, and as soon as they were gone she lost complete interest in her bunny too! Couldn’t believe it but so relieved!

Daughter had a small giraffe that even as a baby she could put her hand around it’s neck. Unfortunately when it was washed it came out with a very twisted neck.

This is actually me, not my child. I'm 28 now, but when I was a child I always loved teddies. Once I went to Portugal with my family about aged 5, and I took a whole hand luggage sized suitcase filled with exactly 40 teddies. No idea how my parents allowed it! I still sleep with some in my bed now (much to my boyfriend's annoyance!).

My sons favourite toy was a tangram wooden puzzle. We got it from a charity shop and it was made from Indian woods. Some of the pieces were lost moving house and I've never been able to find another like it.

My daughter, who is 21 now, still has her Fizz soft doll from the Tweenies. She still cuddles it too when she's poorly :( She used to take it everywhere when she was small, she once accidently let go of it as she was waving her arms around whist we were on canal trip. Can you believe it flew out of an open window and landed in the water!!!! The whole boat was silent in horror, thinking back it's hilarious but wasn't at the time and only because her dad ran back to scoop it out with a fishing net and came back with her like a fish over his shoulder. To this day I don't know where he got that net from lol

My great niece loves my doll which I received from my Mum & Dad when I was 2 years old way back in 1962. She's a beautiful black doll which they bought as a reminder of the sister on the ward in the hospital when I had my tonsils removed at a very early age as I was very ill as a child & couldn't eat solids & had no sense of smell or taste. The sister, called Jemima, used to take me around with her on the doctors' rounds each day & I absolutely adored her, as did my parents. I still have her to this day & my great niece Olivia loves her & my doll, who I named Jemima after the sister on the ward, will eventually be passed down to Olivia & hopefully to her daughter, should she have one in the future

My little one has a blanket- nothing cuter than seeing her watch it turn as it’s washed in the machine. We lost it at the park one day but a kind passer-by put it on a wall and we found it on the way back (only after a million inconsolable tears, of course).