I know no 2 kids are the same and there's no sense in comparing children; I get that. However, my older 2 kids kind of grew out of the 'blankie' stage around 2 (1 by choice, 1 by force), so blankie was only for bedtime.
My 2 year old son's blankie (he calls it 'nigh-nigh', like 'night night') I now call blankie SCRAPS, because it's literally 1/8 the size it originally was. I was trying to gently phase into the 'blankie is only for bedtime' thing, which he, being the stubborn 2 year old he is, came back with this newfound attachment to it. That's fine, he's not ready, we'll try again in a few weeks.
I'm just afraid that blankie isn't going to make it a few more weeks. The entire purpose of keeping blankie for bed time only is so the poor thing doesn't fall apart anymore than it already has. He'd literally loved it to death! He's going to be MORE upset if there's no more blankie at ALL, than if we phase blankie into bed time purposes only, you know?
So what would you do? I've been keeping the scraps that have fallen off, and I am going to hand wash them, then stuff either one of his old baby onesies stitched shut or an empty stuffed animal with the pieces for him to sleep with, but do you think I should be more persistence in keeping blankie in bed right now? Even though he's not ready? The ONLY reason I'm being more lenient this time around, and I know this is silly, is that he's 'the baby', the last child, and part of ME is trying to hang onto that (although I'm definitely not hindering him from growing up into a big boy; he was a HORRIBLE baby!!)
So what to do?
It was like a crocheted or knitted blanket... when he was about 8 or 9 months old, he learned that he could loop his fingers/toes/teeth around the lines and pull and it would snap; it's this weird soothing thing for him. I literally have 2 gallon size freezer bags stuffed with blankie pieces!! He loves pulling it apart, there's hardly anything left! I can't even describe it, LOL!!
my almost 3 yr old is acttached to her blankie, we call her linese(from charlie brown with the blue blanket i know i spelled his name wrong lol) and she WILL NOT sleep without it, throws a fit when its washed, but its fine
I would let him keep the blankie for sure. Wondering what the state of the scraps is -- could you top stitch them onto a new blanket or quilt so they can be visible to him? You could tell him you are "fixing" his blankie. If the fabric is fragile you could even stitch across the pieces for stability. Once the scraps fall off the new blanket, hopefully he'll consider the new one his blankie!
Hmmm, maybe tie the last shred of blankie around the neck of a new teddy bear (of his choice), like a bow?
No kidding, I slept with the last shred of my blankie til I was at least 18, I turned out ok (more or less, teehehe).
:)
Just think about what you will think of this in 10 years. If it makes him feel secure, by all means, let him have it until he is 20!! I guess it won't last though, right? I wish it were in better shape. Golly, when I look back, I wish I would have let my now 21 year old have anything that made him feel good (within reason, of course).
You are such a good Mother.
Blessings,
M.
It must be hard for both of you, as at 2 year old I am not sure if he can understand that the blankie is just getting old and it would not hold for much longer.
Give it another try and see if he can find another blanket or a stuff animal, maybe put the old one in a picture frame hang it above his bed?
So he doesn't feel that it is complete gone?
However be careful, my daughter was attached to a stuff cat, so I introduce her to another stuff animal, then it was the cat AND the dog, lol.
One day she lost her cat, and I worried so much but she cry for 2 days and move on.
Now the dog is only one more toy for her to play.
AND
I do miss it now =*(
I LOVE Theresa's idea!
~I guess I would just let him continue to love it whenever he chooses and then when it disintegrates into nothing bust out with Theresa's idea and be like 'Surprise! I saved some of nigh-nigh'!!!
Perhaps if you put the blanket in a pillowcase then let him have it. I can't imagine he'd like it but the falling apart would stop a bit..
It makes him feel secure so I say let him have it.
I remember when I was little & my parents tried to break my sister of her
attachment to a tattered little stuffed animal.
I was 5 years older & I remember thinking at that age "Really? You couldn't just keep the peace & let her have it? Now she's devastated & none of us get any rest/sleep. I was not thrilled."
My son loves his blankie. Yes it's tattered. It's actually quite funny.
I will let him have it until he outgrows it. I guarantee you he will not be 18 & taking it to college w/him or 21 & taking it to a bar.
I have my attachments: coffee, my favorite purse, my Christmas ornament I recieved in 3rd grade from a teacher, my ratty old sweatshirt from 10 years ago (blah blah blah) etc. ;)
-Hang in there, let him have it & the cycle will be broken naturally. Better a blankie than thumb sucking.
the more you try to take a childs favorite lovie from them, the more they are going to get and stay attached to it. i am sorry, but doctors are wrong, wrong, wrong telling parents that children should not become attached to lovies. its a security object, it also reminds them of their mommies and daddies ( and siblings too), because it smells like them, it makes the child feel secure, let him keep it, its not like the child is going to carry it around with them for the rest of their life ! our daughter has her duckie, and she sleeps with him, and she will not get in the car without him, her duckie sits in the place of honor on her bed and she will go and check on him throughout the day, offering him the occasional snack. sew the pieces of your childs lovie back together, use another fabric for backing ( pure cotton), if need be. when the child finally gives up the lovie on their own, you will be glad you saved it.
K. h when we have to ( hand wash) her duckie, she will stand in front of the dryer the ENTIRE time," patiently" tapping on the dryer !
I would piece it together as best I can or try and find a blankie #2. I had to have a backup baby for daughter #2 when we couldn't find the real Baby.
Also, don't fret about taking it away. I still let my 5 year old have her blankies (and she has a large collection). She doesn't take it to school - anymore - now that she is in Kindergarten. One day she won't care about having her blankies and that will be a sad day for me.
Kids grow up too fast! Blink and your baby will be in kindergarten - that's what happened to mine!
Hi Rach!
I'm sorry, I don't have any advice for you. I just wanted to let you know that I'm in the same boat as you! I have 3 kids. When my two older kids got to the age of about 4-5, I told them that the blankie fairy is going to come and take their blankie from them but that she will leave a very nice present for them. They had no problem with this. My youngest daughter, however, is another issue. She calls hers baby. It is one of her burp cloths from when she was a baby. She grew very fond of it and it is the only thing she will take. I tried numerous other blankets to no avail. This thing (as I call it) looks like a used up, dirty, old, torn shred of a thing. And, I'm being nice. I sat her down the one day and told her the same thing I told my other children. Blankie Fairy will be coming soon but will leave a nice present. She flipped! She asked me to write an email to the Blankie Fairy begging her not to come because she's not ready to part with hers.
So, I'm in the same boat!!
there's something about the smell and feel of a woobie that is so important to them, isn't there? my grown boys don't *need* theirs (i'm happy to say<G>) but they loved them long past babyhood and both still have theirs, pillapilla and blankie. both are so patched and worn you literally can see nothing of the original fabric.
can you take a new blankie and sew the scraps onto it? just having a bit of the dear familiar fabric to rub will probably do the trick.
so clearly i'm in the 'fix it and let him keep it' camp.
:) khairete
S.
