She and an old silky nightgown of my mom's (named Cuddle, if you must know) were my two "loveys" growing up, though I never knew that word until about this time last year. I couldn't go to sleep without them tucked into bed with me for companionship and comfort. And though she doesn't come to bed with me anymore and is looking pretty old and tired (how many times did I bite her nose off? Poor thing!), she will always have a place of her own somewhere in our house. (My husband's childhood bestie, a stuffed sheep named Rammy, is equally honored here.)
For the first 10 months of her life, our little L has spent the night in a sleepsack with no other blankets, toys, or cuddly comforts whatsoever, thanks to all of the scary warnings about SIDS. Now that she's pretty much past the danger zone, though, I'm curious: how do you introduce a lovey to a child? Our pediatrician recommended that we start giving her something as a comfort at night besides us, so we'd like to find something soon. Plus, this post over at Naptime in Suburbia has made me have loveys on the brain this week.
We have several darling options, all in that head-with-blanket-body style that seems to be popular at the moment: a frog with a silky layer for baby fingers to stroke, a cuddly lion, and an owl from a German toy company with big eyes L likes to poke. Baby girl loves her pacifiers more than life itself, so I've also thought about trying one of these.
So far, though, she doesn't seem to have a particular preference for anything -- and when we put one in bed with her at night, she either plays with it (which keeps her awake) or throws it away from her in frustration. Do we have to wait until she chooses one of her own? And how does that happen, exactly?
Tell me about your lovey experiences -- your own or your child's! Inquiring minds want to know.
After our comment discussion yesterday, I went to Target and saw that they have a couple of new styles of Taggies! I also have a couple of Mommy-friends who SWEAR by the Wubbanub. Noah basically refuses a pacifier (unless he's chewing on the outside of it...), but I would have tried it otherwise!
ReplyDeleteGood luck :-)
You are totally the inspiration for this post! In fact, I should credit you. Off to edit this entry...
DeleteFrom my years working in the nursery my best advice is that whatever you choose, buy several identical pieces! And don't wait, do it immediately before that item is no longer in production. Also, I always marvel at the genius that one parent had when her daughter attached herself to a crocheted baby blanket that was gifted to them. When the daughter was a baby the blanket was cumbersome to carry around everywhere so she cut it into 4 identical mini blankies. They were the perfect size for her to hold in one hand and snuggle. It reduced the size of the lovey, but also provided for 3 additional backups when one started unraveling or another was left behind on a trip.
ReplyDeleteVERY smart idea about the blanket pieces. I've already thought about ordering multiples, once L has decided on something...we'll see what she picks first!
DeleteOne of my favorite books when I was a kid was about this! There was a little mouse who loved his blanket and took it everywhere...but he went to school and had trouble with it there, so his mom cut it into little hankies!
Deletehttp://www.amazon.com/Owen-Caldecott-Honor-Kevin-Henkes/dp/0688114490
Our pediatrician told us the same thing, because Avery had so many problems sleeping through the night (for THREE 1/2 YEARS). She had night terrors and woke up repeatedly every night. She never slept in our bed, but we were continually getting out of bed to calm her down, and soothe her. So I tried EVERYTHING to introduce a blanket or stuffed animal to her. And nothing worked. I put them into her crib at night or naptime, and she wanted nothing to do with them. I even went so far as to take one blanket with us everywhere we went for about a year, and finally when she was old enough, she told me "I don't like that blanket." So now she sleeps through the night (most nights) with nothing. Oh well!
ReplyDeleteWe started giving E a taggie blanket (hand-made by GMaD from Express Yourself) each time we put her in the crib. At the beginning, she didn't care. But now she waits for it to stick her thumb in her mouth and roll to her side. It's a lifesaver when we go other places to try to get her to sleep; but also sucks if we forget it. Not to mention it stinks and needs to be washed quite a bit. I am making sure I wash it frequently so that she get used to the fact that, yes, her lovey will be washed:) Good luck!
ReplyDeleteAdelaide hasn't attached herself to anything but my boobs :) I've been thinking that I will night-wean her this summer over break, so now would be a good time to try and introduce a lovey so that if she wakes up in the middle of the night, she'll have a substitution (though we still plan to have her in the sidecar crib/bed even after night-weaning). I've got 8 weeks till summer break and will *probably* start that process right away so we can have it down-pat before school starts back. I've thought before that she was "claiming" a lovey, but after a couple days would lose interest in whatever it was she was loving on. I'm with you: how to do it?
ReplyDelete