If Hailey had a best friend right now, I think it would be her blanket. When she was born, a woman that Eric works with made this little 18×18 blanket for her. It’s soft and silky and her name is embroidered into it.
We started giving her this blanket in bed when she was about 5 months old. We would give her the blanket and her baby doll and she would grab them both, smile and put her thumb in her mouth. Ever since then, she’s grown really attached to that blanket. It stays in her crib and when we put her down for naps or for the night, she immediately looks around for it. This blanket also has to go with us to Nana & Grandpa’s house when she spends the night, as well as her other two grandma’s houses.
The only time she sucks her thumb is when she is holding this blanket. That’s mostly why it stays in her crib. Other than that, the thumb doesn’t go in the mouth. I am wondering how long we can keep this up? I like for her to have something comforting when she’s in bed but I don’t want to have the same problem my mom had with me, I carried my blankie EVERYWHERE with me. She had a hard time taking it away. I hope that we can maintain some kind of control over it, where she only has it when she’s in bed. For now, it doesn’t seem to be a problem and she’s willing to leave it in the crib and seems to forget all about it when it’s out of sight.
I love that blanket. It looks like it was really well made. Does it show any wear at all? Gabby had a taggie. Did you ever see one? She kept it in her bed until after Gillian was born. Even though it was there, she had lost interest in it a long time before. I asked her if she wanted to give it to Gillian, and she said….”mmmmm no…just put it away”. So we put it in the hope chest. Gillian got a new one from Santa.
i think that’s so cute. we tried to give violet a “lovey” that she would associate with bed. no dice. i think that having one helps them make the bedtime transition.
I love that. I am trying to find something that G.G. will become attached to, thinking it will help her with bedtime and sleeping through the night. Hasn’t worked so far.
Joey has a blanket that I think he “named” “kitty”, it’s one that my mom crocheted for him and he loves the fringe on the ends. That particular blanket isn’t a necessity to fall asleep but something with fringe pretty much is.
nat~ it’s actually holding up fairly well. it’s showing just little signs of wear, there’s a “blood” stain on it from when she fell in her crib and bit her lip and blood was spewing all over. yeah, that was fun. anyway, the spot didn’t come out. i try to wash it a couple of times a month.sv & kristi~ i don’t know if it made much of a difference at all but from the time we started giving it to her at nap & bedtime, i would always make a point to lay it on top of her and say, “here’s your blankie & here’s your baby”. she loved that. she came to expect it. now, she just automatically looks for it.kim~i think that is sweet. hey, anything to comfort them at bedtime, ya know? =)
We picked a style of blanket (that sort of thermal underwear type) to put Jack to bed with, exchanged them regularly, and now own 5 of them to ensure that we are never without. He chews on them continuously. I’m guessing it’s the teething thing, but they are SO gross I’m about ready to buy 3-4 more so I can wash them more than just every other day or so… OY!
It sounds like you have a good system going, I wouldn’t change anything!–Kelly