children's comforters

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.

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

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 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 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.

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.

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"

This brings back such memories. My DS had a toy puppet raccoon called Razzle which ended up as just a head with threads. My DD had a satin edged blanket which she still has to this day. It's mostly just threads but I sewed a bit into her wedding dress, as we had always said that she would never give up 'Blanky' even when she got married!

My DD had her fingers,first and middle, which she gave up when she was 4 ... much easier than I'd thought it would be as my sister sucked her thumb for years!

DGD has a dummy for sleeping times only (bed and car) but apparently the Christmas elves will be taking them all away to give to all the new wee babies as she'll soon be a big girl 3. She is also quite attached to a fluffy cat, but that's a recent thing.

My daughter became totally soporific with the feel of wet hair! If she was restless we just had to wet a strand or two and she would fiddle with it and be asleep in no time. We had some bemused expressions from babysitters when we explained what to do if she woke up!

No 1 son: a yellow fluffy squirrel called Cyril until he was 2 and a half when Cyril was lost on a shopping trip and never mentioned again!

No 2 son: a pale blue fluffy elephant called Ellie which he has passed on to his daughter, although she is now nearly 7 and no longer uses Ellie as a comforter.

Me: a classic brown teddy which my children played with and then the grandchildren played with. Teddy is now 70!

My elder daughter had a dummies and gave it up when she was about 3. My younger daughter had a satin cot quilt with a frill which she rubbed between her fingers. She is almost 46 and still has a ragged piece of frill which is used occasionally.

None of the family have had comforters, not something I would have encouraged in DC, they settled themselves.

"Daddies Ted" came into his own for my son. I still have him and was much loved by both DH and DS. His tummy split (Teddy not DS!) so I stitched it up and knitted him a little red woolly trouser suit. DIL refused to have him anywhere near the children but he is still tucked up in my scarf drawer and much treasured.
Mu Mum threw my venerable old Tibby away - he was a mid size Chad Valley bear and I often see identical bears on Flog it etc and it always brings a lump to my throat.

Eldest DGD has just started school ( @ 4 yrs and 1 week old - barbaric). She is surgically attached to her rabbit. Up til half term the teacher said OK - then just before half term we said she (yup the rabbit is apparently female) had to stay at home - bribery turned out to be the solution to avoid total meltdown. Now so far no real problems - but its a fragile situation!!!!!! She is just so tiny - DGD I mean.

My children didn't have anything special but my oldest grandson had a blanket with a satin edge that he liked to rub.I repaired it many a time for him.My youngest grandsons comfort was his mom's long hair -he would sit and twirl or stroke it for ages.

Both mine adopted "blankets", pieces of well worn flannelette sheeting. DS sucked his thumb and DD two fingers.
I had made a bag for the duplo lego out of the same material and for some reason the blankets came to be called their "lego bags".
Every so often we would get one child walking into our room in the middle of the night with the words "I can't find my lego bag" so the "lego bag" was duly found and child tucked back into bed. They were both very attached to these blankets. They were about 10 before they decided they did not need them any more. DS had a Teddy and a felt duckling made by my mum.
I put these two toys on the bed when he and his now partner slept in when they first stayed over.
I had a much loved teddy bear. I finally threw out about two years ago. It was a post war straw stuffed object.

I get overwhelmed with nostalgia when I see small children with what is obviously their special soft toy or blanket. Number 1 son became very attached to a cot duvet cover which became quite ragged over a period of time, we still have somewhere in the house he always had that plus thumb in the mouth when he was tired. Son number 2 another thumb sucker had a muslin, which we called his bye byes, but others we knew referred to it as a noo noo. Granddaughter had a floppy bunny who lost his arms in the wash and was replaced by another floppy bunny plus a special blanket and thumb. Grandson aged 2 has a dummy, only when tired, which is called a dodo and he also has a blanket. I even remember being little sucking on knuckle first finger of right hand with a piece of material from my dress wrapped around thumb of left hand (how strange) I don't do it anymore though, I'm glad to say.

This is a lovely thread. When I was a child I didn't have a comforter in fact my mum told me that before going to sleep I threw all my soft toys out of the cot. My eldest child didn't have one either, but my middle son had a small pillow called Peeoh and my youngest had a piece of striped sheet called ahhhh.

DGD1 is now five and a half. When she was born a floral display was sent to her mum. That came with a teddy with a ribbon round his neck. For as long as we can remember that teddy has become DGD1's beloved Ted. He goes everywhere with her, calms her when upset and is never far from her side. He goes to school in her bag, ready to comfort if needs be. Knowing how traumatic it would be if Ted was lost, her mum was able to source another one online. Now if Ted gets wet or needs a wash there is Magic Ted who lives in the airing cupboard ready to take over. DGD1 is totally oblivious to the duplicity!

Only one of my DDs had a comforter. Unfortunately it was the hem of her vest, which therefore was always protruding from her clothing and filthy! At the same time she sucked her first two fingers on the other hand.

DS1 had a very manky teddy bear which became so 'bare' that I had to knit him a new body. DS2 had a blue cellular blanket which had to go to hospital with him when he was 2. As he went in to theatre, Sister handed me the squalid object and asked me to wash it while he was 'out'. It wasn't easy getting it dry on the radiator in my room. DDG2 still has a tired-looking dog that goes to bed with her even at the age of 14; her cousin, aged 11 has a big dog and his younger brother has 'puppy'. These things even go to cub and scout camps with them.

A bit confusing there, sorry. The new baby is coming to DS2 and DGF, and will be their first.

As a child I had my teddy and my thumb. Teddy still sits close to my bed. I think having an attachment to a comforter is to be encouraged and is preferable to the modern style of parenting where babies are rocked to sleep or need a parent in their room until they go to sleep. DS1 and DDiL hardly spend any together time in the evenings. When the new grandbaby arrives I shall
interfere advise them to give her a teddy to cuddle, a soft night light, a bit of gentle music and let her go to sleep by herself. There was a piece about babies sleeping on the radio this week and this seemed to be the best advice. I think parents staying the room are doing it for their own needs not for the child. (Can of worms opening?)

D had "whiskers" a slightly indeterminate soft toy which we called a mouse.
S had "Dino" a soft toy dinosaur made of shiny satin type material which was lime green in colour !