Do Your Kids Have a Special Blanket or Stuff Animal They NEED to Have at Night

Yep! Not allowed to leave the house though! Unless it's for an overnight trip! We have special Quilts made by grandma. Love having them...and yes some days, naps, nights can be pretty crazy especially when a blankie has gone lost!!

When daughter #3 was a little one, she had a blanket that she chose as her special blanket. It stayed in her bed (no dragging around the house or leaving the house unless we were going overnight). Well, now she's a Dean's list college sophomore 3 states away -- and she still has her blanket. It's more like her rag, at this point, but it still lives in her bed.

Sigh...

Oh God, if my daughter's blankie was lost I think my 4 year old would just die herself! It's her best friend and has been since she was 5 months old! It has a "face", arms, etc. It talks even! Lol.

My son's 9... and he USED to need to.

Now he just loves to, but doesn't need to.

But I'll tell ya something... When my son is at his dad's? *I* need to sleep with his lovey.

I'd forgotten what 'Mom and Dad's Magic Bed' FELT like, what pure magic felt like...until I slept with his lovey his first night away. I finally realized why my mum kept our loveys ("for safekeeping") when we moved out if we'd let her. Rather like the Velveteen Rabbit.... they've been loved so much and for so long that they've been loved 'real'. So when we left, she got to keep a piece of us. And when my son leaves, I still have a piece of him. And warm all over from heart to fingertips and toes, I can sleep.

Yes. Both my kids do, since they were babies.
They are 5 and 9 now.
And they have a whole "nest" of special Loveys that they go to bed with.
Its fine.
I did that too as a child.
It is a real fond memory of childhood.
I even still have mine, that I had back then. It is a collector item now. And still in good shape.

This is one of the cute things about childhood.
And yes, I have had many moments of going to look for it, for my kids. Before bed.
I find it, endearing.
But sure, now at their ages, my kids keep track of it, themselves. With their uncanny memory of things.

Yes, the 2 y/o has two stuffed animals, a heart shaped pillow, and a ratty blanket (and a pacifier). All 5 of these things have to come out of the bad with her in the morning, and after nap. Luckily she can't transport them around all day because there are too many. But she tries. And come bedtime we have to round them all up and cuddle with them all at once.

My older two had *me* as their security object, and now have each other :) I tried SO hard to get them attached to a blacket or lovey or some sort - any sort - but they wouldn't.

My youngest has very recently adopted a baby doll that she MUST have when she's sleeping or there are tears and screams. She's 16 months old, so I'm not sure if it's a phase or if "bay-bay" is going to become a permanent member of the family ;) lol

My son has a favorite blanket and a stuffed animal he takes everywhere. He is now five and he's starting not to miss his stuffed animal as much. However, we still have to make sure he has his blanket.

My grandson needed a specific stuffed donkey in order to go to sleep until he was 6 or 7. He would cry and cry without it. One time he threw it out the car window because he was mad. He wouldn't stop crying. I drove the route and found the animal and he was then OK. He didn't throw it out again after that. My granddaughter still takes a stuffed animal to bed with her, tho it's different ones and she is able to sleep without one. She's 11.

I don't know your children's ages. If they're 4 or older, I would have them find the animal. Perhaps they could keep it on their bed during the day time. If not, teach them it's up to them to know where it is. Take them around while you hunt. Eventually they may be able to look on their own.

My grandson can't see something even tho it's in plain site. Looking for himself doesn't usually work but he's still asked to do it, hoping that he'll eventually catch on. He is getting better about finding things. I've been reminding him to remember where he leaves his shoes and jacket as well as toys. Once he looks I will help him look some more.

My 4 yr old has had a bunny since she was 1month old. She now leaves him at home but every night she wants to rub his ears when she is very tired. She still sleeps with him every night, but doesn't even think about him during the day.

At 3 and 4 my son was very attached to his favorite blankie and stuffed animal. Now he is 6 and wants them in his bed but can go a night away from home without them (actually his idea). My daughter is 3 and loves her stuffed animals but doesn't have a favorite, just several she likes (she likes at least 1 or 2 to go to sleep). I had a favorite doll for years as a kid (I still have it packed away somewhere).

Oh yeah. It is pretty serious. My daughter has a "Lovie" that is a little mini blanket with a head. We even bought several "fake lovies" when she took to the first one for back ups if she lost him. We have had many close calls to losing him and have lost him for a day or so and the entire time my daughter was grumpy and a wreck. She does not want the "fake lovies" when she loses the real Lovie. He used to be beige but is now a kind of grey color. She freaks when I try to take him to give him a bath. She is not allowed to take him to preschool so that is the only time I can wash him (I work 4 days a week) unless I sneak him out of her arms at night. If she wakes up and he is not in her arms at night she will come and wake me to help her find him. It is crazy. We even joke around and call him "stinky lovie".
My younger daughter rotates babies and it is sooo much nicer but she has a thing with holding a sippy cup all the time if she is tired. I guess all kids have their thing. Hee hee.

My son is 5, bedtime means his 5ft teddy bear, Thomas Pillow Pet, McQueen Pillow Pet and Tiger Pillow Pet and his silky sheet called "Sheep" and some nights when he is extra needy his smaller teddy bear and the dog stuffed animal that I had when I was a child that he has now adopted as his. It's a zoo in his bed but he LOVES it and sleeps better with them all in there than with only one or none - so, I allow it.

He does not need them at Grandma's or other places because he normally sleeps in bed with Grandma or on the couch with cousins or Auntie etc but at home where he sleeps alone he needs them all - diaries of a co-sleeper!

Yep, my 14 year old, yes, that's 14, must have her "bunny" at night. She's had him/her for 13 years and it is as ratty and nasty as you could imagine but she won't give it up and sleeps with it every night.

My 10 year old has about 6 lovies that she sleeps with. They have about 20 "friends" that they rotate every now and again. It's become part of the nightly routine "pick out your lovies and climb in bed".

Depends on the age I guess. However, my kids learned by age 3 that they got an announcement, that they were to have all their nighttime routines in place and when they got into bed that was it, I'd let them cry it out if they didn't get their blanket or toy or whatever. It may sound harsh but with 5 kids, bedtime used to be a disaster. So they get an announcement to gather up everything they need to go to bed because after bedtime it is too late. They learn quickly and now I don't even have to really say much but "gather up! It's time for bed!" None of my kids have to have any one particular thing anymore, I think it helped break that habit. (Not that it's bad, but I don't see the need). Take care, you'll do what is best for your kids! Good luck!

Oh heavens, yes. DD is 4.5 and has had her pink "pancake bear" since she was a baby. "Pancake" is essential for sleeping, but also likes to go on rides in the car, hang out in DD's backpack while she is in school, watch from the sidelines when she's in gymnastics class and swim lessons, and offer moral support for visits to the doctor and the dentist. At least she is okay with him staying in the car when we are going to the store. I swear, if our house was on fire, it would be the first thing I would grab before getting out (besides ourselves and our pets, of course!). Now that she is going to be 5 soon, I tell her she needs to keep track of him herself - if she asks me, "Where's Pancake?", I ask her right back, "Well, where did you leave him?" Same thing with everything else. I usually try to wash him while she's getting her own bath, so she doesn't miss him too much!

Yes. My son has "Green Bear". That's his name b/c... well, he's green. He has a ton of stuffed animals, but only Green Bear will do as a sleeping companion. He made him at Build-A-Bear with my mom over a year ago and I think that has a lot to do with it. My parents see him often, but live in FL... he LOVES Grammy, so having Green Bear is like having a little bit of Grammy with him. He'll remind me often that it's his bear "with Grammy".

We always make sure that Green Bear is on his bed before we leave the house in the morning and he is NOT a show-and-tell option b/c if we left him in school... not so sure we would sleep!

never had a meltdown because of not finding it - bless his heart my son (5) latched onto his flannel receiving blankets. he does have to have his "little blankie" at night (no longer sucks his thumb, since age around 3, and doesn't take it anywhere else, we limit it to bedtime) but since i saved them all, we still have i think 4. counting the one i put in his "treasure box" to save....which i have had to go pull out once or twice, then wash and put it back when another one turned up lol.

Oh, yes. Both of my boys have their favorite blankeys and loveys. When one of those things gets misplaced, the whole house gets torn up looking for it. It's not fun:( My older son is going on a trip today and I am debating whether or not he should take his blankey. I don't want to even imagine what would happen if blankey got lost on this trip!