See Mason’s new buddy? He got this soft, snuggly tiger for Christmas. I’ll admit I had an ulterior motive behind this present. You see, so far the only comfort object Mason really has attached to is Mommy. He’s never cared for a blankie, a pacifier, or anything else.
We’ve decided it is time to make a concerted effort to help him find a comfort object. This tiger is our first attempt. The plan is simple. Every time he is ready for a nap or bedtime we snuggle up with tiger. We will play with tiger during the day and bring him along to doctors visits and hospital stays. Hopefully with a little bit of time Mason will find tiger to be a comforting buddy for his many medical appointments. And if he does we will buy at least one or two more for backups!
I have a question for you – have you ever tried to deliberately get your child to latch on to a comfort object? Do you have any tips or ideas for me? 
In case you’re wondering, we got this tiger on Amazon. There are quite a few different animals available. They are by Melissa and Doug and called Longfellows. Here is a link to see what they have available right now. Yep, it’s an affiliate link. I love shopping on Amazon. Seriously, love it.
Absolutely! Kasen has a monkey (x3) that he has loved since the beginning. Maddie has a bunny (x2) but she didn't attach to it right away and was more attached to me for the longest time. Just do exactly what you said - have it with him for naps, bedtime, anytime he may be scared or uncertain about something. Hold it whenever you are holding him - that way he'll start relating it to you comforting him... and it'll probably smell a bit like you, too. We also always play with Monkey and Bunny, making sure they are included in decision making, meal time, etc. to help grow the friendship :)
ReplyDeleteYes! Both of my girls had those little square blankets with the ribbon loops. I think they are called Taggies? Anyway, they are affectionately nicknamed "kankets." I did with both girls what you are doing and it worked wonderfully. I always made sure I had 3 or more of each type. They can only have 1 at a time...but if you wash one then you have a back up...if you lose one, you have a backup. Food for thought: Buy an extra for your 72 hour kit! I keep one for each of my girls in their 72 hour kit that just stays in there...just in case. ;)
ReplyDeleteI did the same thing with stuffed animals for all my babies. It never really worked for my third child (my first son), though. No matter what we did, he would never attach to a pacifier, his thumb, a blanket, or his tiger. Mommy was definitely his comfort object. I weaned him from nursing at about a year old, and to this day (he's almost 3) he is still comforted the fastest and easiest by being allowed to touch my bare belly! He is finally starting to carry around, play with, and snuggle his tiger.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
I'm in the process of doing the same thing with PJ. His only comfort right now is me or his oldest sister, so I'm slowly incorporating a comfort object too. Our target is a little blue blanket with a doggie head in the middle of it (we call it his wubbie) that was given to us by a friend when he was born. I'm really hoping that he will take to it for comfort so that I don't have to constantly cuddle and love him to sleep (like right now, he just cuddled to sleep in my lap). I did it with all the girls, except the oldest who discovered her thumb almost at birth and still won't give it up at almost 10, and just keeping it with us when we go places and cuddling with it while going down for a nap is what does it for us. It is a transition that just seems to happen naturally as time goes on in my home. (it also helps when the lovey we are transitioning to smells like me)
ReplyDeleteWe buy three of the blankets with stuffed animal heads before our babies are born and sleep with them in the bed with us then when baby is born it already smells like us and is there from the beginning, they don't get attached till much later but that's always worked for us.
ReplyDeleteOur oldest was attached to a teddy bear, and her pacifier. Our second was attached to a blanket and her pacifier. Our third had a stuffed turtle and her fingers (she ditched her pacifier in favor of her fingers at 2 months old). Our fourth had mommy and his fingers (he sucked them from 2 months to 7 months old).
ReplyDeleteOur fifth liked his pacifier, until I took it away at 2 months, hoping he'd switch to his fingers because I listened to everyone else say how bad pacifiers were. He didn't ever find his fingers, and had no comfort objects at all. With our sixth she didn't really like her pacifier OR her fingers.
So with our seventh we encouraged the pacifier, and he did attach to it but he also developed a skin-rubbing habit around 11 months old. When he was older I tried to get him to attach to a silky blanket instead of skin-rubbing, but failed. As he reached 2.5 we began to limit the skin-rubbing more and discourage it. He did stop that mostly by the age of 3. With our 8th, we encouraged the pacifier again, but she just didn't care for it past 10 months. She does like some of her teddy bears, though.
We have bought most of our babies a special teddy before they are born and I make them a special flannel blanket with a satin ribbon binding. We'll do the same for the 9th baby, due in 9 weeks, and I will encourage the pacifier again. I need the baby to have some comfort objects beside me. We do sleep with our babies and I nurse exclusively (no bottles) so they are always well-attached to me, but I need them to have other objects, too.
My first was attached to a binky and any soft blanket. Luckily it didn't matter which. My second son has a minky blanket, affectionately called "Hank" since he couldn't pronounce his "bl" sound to make blanket. For each of them we cuddled together with the blanket between us. Now I do the same thing with my baby, we nurse and sleep with his blanket and/or a stuffed dog he got for Christmas. Whenever I hand him one of those, he starts rubbing his face in it and gets all cozy with it. So I know it's working. My middle son still asks for his "Hank" when he gets hurt or is tired, and of course he MUST have it for bed. I think your tiger idea is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteIf your beautiful son will accept the tiger and you buy some for backup, make sure that they smell like you. Put them in your bed or whatever smells like you, because the fragrance is what the child likes. :)
ReplyDeleteAll the best and blessings!