My daughter Leah loves, loves, loves her blankies. Yes, I said blankies because she has 3. They all have satin trim and 90% of the time, she will take whichever one we give her. At times, she does want all 3 at once. It's always fun carrying her and 3 blankies! :) The fact that she is not "blankie specific" is great, though, when it comes to washing them!
If Leah is sad or hurt, she wants a blankie. When we are in the car, she holds a blankie. At bedtime, she snuggles a blankie. And now, more recently, when she plays, she carries around a blankie. Leah associates sucking her thumb with her blanket, so as soon as she gets her blankie, her thumb goes in the mouth! Yes, Leah is a thumb-sucker and despite people constantly giving me their opinions regarding this habit, I don't mind it terribly. I've been reassured by many people and online articles that sucking her thumb as an infant and toddler is not going to cause her to have horrible teeth.
Lately, Leah drags her blankie around like Linus, which of course means her thumb is in her mouth a lot more. I try to leave all of the blankies in her crib but then when we go to change her diaper, she sees them and starts banging her chest "Please" while saying "ban" (her word for blankie). Then there are times when we walk past her room to go to the playroom and she sees one through the rails of her crib. Her little hand is still tiny enough to fit between the bars to grab them. There are also times she just gets so upset for one reason or another and climbs the stairs to her room and points to her crib, begging for a blankie.
Sometimes I feel like she is very dependent on her blankies. However, from what I've read, it's completely age-appropriate for her to have an attachment to an object such as her blankie until she's 3 or 4. In my opinion, she's still young and since she can't communicate all of her feelings appropriately yet, I am OK with her needing it once in a while. It's her "transitional object" and I know it provides a sense of comfort and security that she needs.
So instead of breaking her of this habit, I'm trying out some other strategies:
- I offer blankies only while in the car or when she is going to sleep.
- I try to distract her with toys, puzzles or books when she starts looking for her blankie.
- When she does get really upset and needs it to calm down, I give her lots of hugs and kisses and even try to tickle her or make her laugh.
- When my comfort isn't enough, I give her a blankie until she stops crying and then when she isn't looking, I throw it in her room.
When did you break your child of a transitional object?
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