children's comforters

Harrigran,my son had dummies but ONLY because the hospital advised them ,he was born 12 weeks premature and they said sucking a dummy helped keep his airways clear ...otherwise there wouldn't have been dummies/blankets or anything else.I dont like to see small children sucking old bits of cloth or tatty toys.Old fashioned? Maybe but my mother was the same and we all grew up without issues and none of us had "comforters"

My DD was a screamer of a baby. She was born early and cried until she was around 2 and even though I dislike them, I would have loved her to have a dummy but she wouldn't. She always rubbed the silky (care/size) labels you find on the back of clothes. Eventually I collected a few and made her a kind of soft square with them sewn around the hem. She loved it. Many years later when my first DGD was born I noticed you could actually buy them (I think they might be called taggies?) so there must have been quite a few babies the same.

My GD had Simba the lion. Her parents ended up buying three identical Simbas, for fear of one being lost. Eventually my GD discovered all three, and was amazed! Now she's four she's past all that, but when she started school in september she put Simba in her schoolbag.

I had a special pillowcase that I refused to be parted from. Hellava scene when I had to go into hospital for tonsils to be removed!I remember it had to be hidden when doctor called ( as they did in those days!) as he though it was unhygienic- Mum did wash it when she could get it away from me.It was brown with beige stripes ( um nice!!) & I called it Stripey.
I don't remember my boys having any really special toy for bedtime but the GC all have them. If DGD2 didn't have Miss Mouse to hand all day there would be ructions. I remember a few years ago they left here & she was very sleepy so would have gone straight to sleep in car & 10 mins later I noticed MM on the sofa. I just jumped in car & followed them home so it was back before she noticed. Luckily they only live 15 mins away.DGS3 has a dinosaur cuddly toy & DGS4 a mouse attached to a comforter blanket.the older 3 are out of the habit now but they had a BIG cuddley dog, a Womble in Wimbledon AFC strip (& that's a girl)& a lion.
I think it is a lovely thing if they do have them but I know my DIL would have bought another Miss Mouse if she could have found one as it was very traumatic when it went missing or worse still needed washing. Oh the tantrums!!

My eldest had a dummy and my old 60 year old blue teddy named Blue Pooh. Over the years I have replaced every little bit of him, bit by bit after I found a garment at a jumble sale made of the same blue fluffy material. She never noticed, even when he acquired new ears and then a whole new head. He still sits on her bed. My son had no dummy but chewed any material he was wearing which was a bit of a problem as he destroyed his clothes. My youngest was premature and had a dummy and when that was taken away she sucked her thumb obsessively.
My youngest grandchild has a Peppa Pig and tucks her head under his chin. If he thinks anyone looks sad he shoves her under their chin to cheer them up. We have a spare and he never queries how his dirty Peppa becomes transformed to perfectly clean and sweet smelling in the time it takes us to pop dirty Peppa out of sight and produce clean Peppa from my pocket.

I have loved reading all these posts. It reminded me of my beloved teddy (Edward Bear).

I came home from school one day to find that Edward had had a bit of surgery on his face - apparently the dog had got hold of him and had a chew. Mum was so concerned about what I would say that she had found a bit of yellow canvas material and mended him!

I still have him - and, dare I say, loads more soft toys because I can't resist them. Oh, the shame

Daughter is there now. Wee one 2, 3 in January day before me, tries to shut the washing machine door shouting, no mummy! no mummy! He’s so cute but he’s a ‘real’ boy’ hopefully he’ll grow out of it.

She tried to trick him and bought another ‘blankie’ the same to give him while other one gets washed but he won’t have it.

Even after both have been washed a few times he still knows and wants the old on.

WHen my great nephew was born I gave him a stuffed pig. Percy. He would not part with it not even for it to be washed. IT got so filthy that I decided to buy him a new one.. it was difficult to find as pigs are not favourite stuff ed toys. BUt he rejected it. He is twenty one and Percy still goes everywhere with him even though it is just a head with a dirty piece of rag attached. He even showed it to his girl friend. He does have Aspergers and is easily upset.

DD1 had her 'down' - a pram quilt with horse print, and when it was washed she would stand by the line holding on to it! I finally cut it in half, hoping she wouldn't notice, so that we could have one half in use and one clean, or spare in case of a loss. DS1 had 'cuddly'; a piece of cellular blanket with satin edge, and once these items were produced, with hypnotic effect it seems after the bath, their eyelids would droop and sleep was never far away. What would I have done without

All four of our children had muslin cloths which had to smell a certain way. We decided this was due to the fact the I always lined the head part of pram or cot with one of them...and they all preferred to sleep on their side or tummy( a no-no for our Gcs now). DD2 used to use her muslin like a burka... But covering her nose in order to enjoy the smell!

One of our SiLs( not British), on hearing about this habit, was very confused and wondered why these cloths were "muslim!!"

Two have French doudous, 5 Buns for DGS and 4 rabbit Stripes forDGD2. DGD1 has Lamby.

DD1 did not have a comforter though she could have done with one poor girl! She was a cryer but did not take to anything special..she liked to hold a hand as she went to sleep!!

DD2 liked her 'blankie' a Mothercare cellular (fawn coloured)which eventually shredded and had to be knotted together. It is still somewhere in her house!

Rinouchka. My aunty in S Wales always calls Muslim people Muslins ( bless) she just thinks that is their name ?

My 37 year old son still has his cellular blue blanket which went everywhere with him. I have just repaired all the satin edging which was falling apart, so that he can put it in his new baby daughter's cot. I didn't realise he sill had it! He would be mortified if anyone found out.

None of mine had anything. #2 child was addicted to the breast, so when I had to have a lumpectomy, I reluctantly bought him a dummy, which was spat out immediately!
Grandchild #2 was a wee premmie, and the hospital recommended a dummy in conjunction with tube feeding, to get her to associate sucking with feeling full.

Can I ask this out of interest? How did the comfort items become such? Surely the parents must encourage this? I find it hard to believe that a very small child will refuse to sleep without a certain toy/garment/blanket.
This is not a criticism, as when #2 was at his peak, I'd have done anything to shut him up! ( Sorry, I meant to say " comfort the little treasure".

I often felt like leaving my DD on some unfortunate souls doorstep in the hope that they would take her in. She literally cried continuously and was permanently red and snotty. Her little tight curls were always wet and looked like they were glued to her head. I would have given her anything to make her stop crying. She wouldn't/couldn't have a dummy as she couldn't howl and suck at the same time. We laugh about it together now and maybe it's because of this she hasn't got any children of her own.

DD had a small hand knitted yellow bear with a black felt nose ..made by Mil, took it everywhere and called it Andrew Crunchy !! used to twiddle its nose until she went to sleep, she still keeps her beloved Andrew in a shoe box , she'll be 45 next birthday.

My daughter had muslin squares. She took to them after I started putting one under her head in the cot or pram as she used to "posset" a lot when abscess a little baby. My son didn't need a comforter, he had his thumb.

abcesses, where did they come from, I am sure I typed " she was".

I Have to say, judging from my own children and grandchildren they attached themselves to favourite cuddly toys or blankets or other bits of cloth without any parental intervention. On at least one occasion my DiL made a bit of cloth with labels all round th edge to try to help the baby get to sleep. This was rejected in favour of the silky edge of the cellular blanket. Those with comfort objects have all been able to get themselves to sleep much more easily than those (like my eldest son) who had no particular comforter and didnt suck his thumb or a dummy, and just screamed! So Im all for them! The main problem is the panic of they get lost and my DiL has identical 'substitutes' for when they are washed or temporarily misplaced.

My daughter had a pair of my silk knickers! I really can't think how it all started but I well remember the cry " Where's knickers?" & they were once found down someone's sofa, where a rather disgusted voice said" ugh, whose are these?"! They went everywhere along with Gladys monkey & Lamb, known collectively as "Glaslamb'. Our son had nothing beyond his curls - we could tell he was tired or upset as his fingers went straight to the curls on his forehead. I still know now as, although he's 30 with a son of his own, his fingers creep to the tiny bit of hair remaining after a Number One haircut!

My son had pink bear. A small pram toy and he used to suck its feet, we offered a dummy but he hated it. My daughter like clothes tags and used to rub them between her fingers. Oldest GD has bun-bun and until she was three my second GD had a goo-goo (dummy) .

DD1 was attached to a small tea towel bought from a door-to-door salesman who was disabled and attached to some sort of work charity (it was no good as a tea towel). We lost it one day in town and immediately retraced out steps from where we knew she had had it - only a short distance - and we never found it, we even looked in litter bins. I gave her a similar tea towel but she didn't attach herself to it. Later she became attached to a pink patterned flannelette (not sure of spelling) nightie I had made for her baby sister. It fastened at the back of the neck with a loop and a button (from my button box, see other post) and she always sucked the loop. It went grey and tatty! We don't know what happened to it eventually.

Daughter as a baby was given 2 matching small white teddy bears which were interchangeable (Used 1 while I washed the other) Now on their tenth(?) reincarnation and still in use. She's almost 36 with 2 children of her own and can still be seen cuddling one when she is stressed or tired!

Daddima My son just found a piece of material and decided he liked the feel of it and became attached to it they are called transitional objects. It actually helps a child to feel more confident and calm when the parent is not about.

www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/Pages/Transitional-Objects.aspx