When my daughter was born, I made a soft flannel "blanket" to put under her head in the crib. She grew very attached to it and carried it everywhere with her. It's a good thing I made two so she'd still have a blanket when the dirty one was in the wash.
Tiffany loved to nibble on the corners very daintily.
Then three years later, our son was born. I decided to make even more flannel blankets so I'd be REALLY prepared.
I made Jon's blankets blue so that Tiffany would not get the blankets mixed up.
I always put Jon on the blue blanket in order to get him to imprint on it. I didn't want him to imprint on a stuffed animal that would be hard to clean.
Unfortunately, even as a child, Jon did things his own way. He didn't care for the nice blue blankets I'd lovingly made him.
He chose to latch onto the cloth diapers I used to shield my shoulders from drool when I burped him. Those cloth diapers were never used for what they were intended. I used disposables... feeling guilty as I did so.
On the other hand I had lots of these cloth diapers.
Unlike Tiffany's dainty nibbling Jon used to stuff whole wads of it into his mouth. We had to unplug his mouth whenever he went to sleep.
When we asked our wonderful pediatrician-child psychologist, Dr. Cibul what to do he said we had a choice. Either pay $2,000 for braces or much, much more than that on psychiatric services later in life.
When my granddaughter was born, Tiffany was all ready to design her own special security blanket for KC. She made a bunch of spares and even some small ones for car rides or trips.
Tiffany got really creative and put these little ribbon tabs on them.
UN...fortunately, KC fell in love with just one or two of them that had a velvet ribbon on the corner. The others just didn't have the same magic.
Poor Tif. It was too difficult to undo what she'd sewn so carefully so that it wouldn't come apart.
KC is five years old now and still very attached to her blanket. She calls it her "Nene (sleep) blanket" and still takes it to bed with her for comfort and peace.
Gosh...
I wonder where Tiffany's blanket is. I'd love to hold it one more time.
Did your children have a special toy or blanket they were attached to?
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| 1976 Tiffany |
Tiffany loved to nibble on the corners very daintily.
Then three years later, our son was born. I decided to make even more flannel blankets so I'd be REALLY prepared.
 |
| Almost 3 year old Tiffany with Jonathan |
I made Jon's blankets blue so that Tiffany would not get the blankets mixed up.
I always put Jon on the blue blanket in order to get him to imprint on it. I didn't want him to imprint on a stuffed animal that would be hard to clean.
Unfortunately, even as a child, Jon did things his own way. He didn't care for the nice blue blankets I'd lovingly made him.
He chose to latch onto the cloth diapers I used to shield my shoulders from drool when I burped him. Those cloth diapers were never used for what they were intended. I used disposables... feeling guilty as I did so.
On the other hand I had lots of these cloth diapers.
Unlike Tiffany's dainty nibbling Jon used to stuff whole wads of it into his mouth. We had to unplug his mouth whenever he went to sleep.
When we asked our wonderful pediatrician-child psychologist, Dr. Cibul what to do he said we had a choice. Either pay $2,000 for braces or much, much more than that on psychiatric services later in life.
 |
| KC and her nene blanket |
When my granddaughter was born, Tiffany was all ready to design her own special security blanket for KC. She made a bunch of spares and even some small ones for car rides or trips.
Tiffany got really creative and put these little ribbon tabs on them.
UN...fortunately, KC fell in love with just one or two of them that had a velvet ribbon on the corner. The others just didn't have the same magic.
Poor Tif. It was too difficult to undo what she'd sewn so carefully so that it wouldn't come apart.
KC is five years old now and still very attached to her blanket. She calls it her "Nene (sleep) blanket" and still takes it to bed with her for comfort and peace.
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| Tiffany and blanket |
Gosh...
I wonder where Tiffany's blanket is. I'd love to hold it one more time.
Did your children have a special toy or blanket they were attached to?
thats so sweet Fay, the photos are just adorable.
ReplyDeleteOur children had a flannelette recieving blanket they toted everwhere, I didn't make it like you did though, it was store made.
No, my son was way too outgoing to get attached to any things. Other than chocolate chip cookies, that is. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy son also got attached to the cloth diaper I used as a burp cloth. My girls never got quite as attached to anything as he was to the diaper but they did have favorite blankets. One of my granddaughters is attached to the terry cloth burp cloths they use now, but what she likes is the satiny tag attached to it.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember if my children had security blankets but all of our grandchildren did.
ReplyDeleteAren't children wonderful. I remember my older daughter waiting by the dryer for blinky. It grew smaller and smaller. She carried it finally in her pocket, then in her ear. I don't know when or how it disappeared.
ReplyDeleteNone of my children had comfort blankets or toys and only one of my grandchildren (so far!)
ReplyDeleteI smiled at your paediatrician's advice-)
Funny...our local pediatrician said the very same thing to me...braces or psychological help. Our son put three fingers in his mouth with only the thumb and pinky exposed. It looked so funny like a "shaka" planted on his face. Our daughter on the other hand didn't suck a single finger. I like the photo of your son with his blanket stuffed in his mouth like a long beard....it probably still brings a chuckle!!
ReplyDeleteL. from W.
Oops, I failed motherhood. No blanket attachments at our house.
ReplyDeleteYou must have Tiffany's blanket somewhere. I can't imagine you would have ever thrown it out.
ReplyDeletesuch a sweet story! I can't remember any particular attachments, but I know I did have a special material, texture that I was attached to.
ReplyDeleteYes, they did. I nearly couldn't read this because I remembered Julie's blankie. Of all the children, Julie was the one with the greatest attachment to a blanket. It was a beautiful pink blanket bound with ribbon to begin with. In the end, it was a rag. I had cut it down and cut it down to try to have something that didn't drag in the dirt. The small square wore down to just the edging that was really by then a rag. When she had tubes in her ears, the doctor left in on her bed as he did the surgery. He said he wasn't going to be the one to take it from her. One time she dropped it in a parking lot at night in the dead of winter. It was a very muddy parking lot. We didn't realize it until we were home. My husband drove back into town, found the 'rag' in the parking lot, and brought it home. She cried until I let her have the filthy thing. I wanted to wash it first. Finally, the thing disappeared. I think it just wore down to nothing after so many washings and I was able to throw it away.
ReplyDeleteJill had a blanket that she was attached to for a while, but not like her brother Jacob. He needed his blanket for a long time, and yes, we still have it. It survived because he got to have it only in bed. As an adult he still has a Mexican blanket that he curls up with on the couch that he has had for at least ten years.
ReplyDeleteAnd Isaac! Oh, his cow! That thing is so bedraggled and worn, but he loves it so, and he is nine. Irene has her "Fluffy Dog", which is no longer fluffy, that she sleeps with, and she is attached to it, but not like Isaac.
Number One Son Oliver took a fancy to his cot sheet, so I cut it up into six pieces so I always had spares. So he had that and his thumb. When he started at Playgroup, aged three and a half, he declared that he was too old to take it into school, so I kept it in the car for him when he came out. When he was four he said he was too old to have his 'cloff' or suck his thumb, so stopped, just like that. Never used either again. I still have one of the pieces tucked away somewhere. Number Two Son on the other hand never sucked his thumb, never got attached to any piece of cloth or any toy except his teddy, which he used to clamp tightly under his arm whilst he got on with other things.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember any of this kind of thing in my experience, either growing up or being a parent. I learned about it from the Peanuts cartoons by Charles Schultz. Didn't Linus always have a security blanket? I have heard of situations where the security blanket couldn't even be washed without causing World War Three. Come to think of it, one of my daughters may have always had a security dog, a real one I mean. Does that count? She still sleeps with her dogs and they are full-sized police dogs or, as she would say, Belgian Malinois, the breed that got Osama Bin Ladin.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, I always remember Lucy, the mean older sister who always pulled the football at the last minute when Charley was trying to kick it. My cousin who used to spit watermelon seeds at me with deadly accuracy was a real-life Lucy. Once Lucy lambasted Charley by telling him he was full of self-pity. Charley's answer was "I'll take all the pity I can get." Brilliant cartoon strip. ---Henry Hank Chapin
Not washing a security blanket would be pretty darn bad. Yuck! Just think of where Linus' blanket went. I guess my kids needed a blanket since we didn't have a dog.
DeleteMaybe so, but from the primitive magic point of view which, after all, is what's going on here, the "mana" would be washed right out of the blankey. It's like the song Mary Martin sang in "South Pacific": "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair." ---Henry Hasnk Chapin
DeleteLoved this post..my daughter still has her teddy bear that has been everywhere with her...
ReplyDeleteThese pictures are sooo precious!!!! I too had a pink towel like blanket that i loved. I wonder if my baby girl will have something like that? Why did they recommend braces??
ReplyDeleteShaka sherry
The pediatrician mentioned braces because we were concerned that his ferocious sucking on the diaper was perhaps causing his teeth to bow outwards. He did have braces eventually and now his teeth are beautiful and so is he.
DeleteHow did you wash the blanket since he sucked on it? My daughter is 17 months and she also sucks on her blanket. I've gotten the smell out by using vinegar but now my problem is getting out the stubborn stain out of the corners. Any suggestions? Did you happen to run into this problem?
DeleteHi Stephanie,
DeleteWow! It was such a long time ago that I can't really remember. My son is now 34 years old so it's been a while. I don't think I did anything to remove the stains. In fact, I remember looking at a few I kept in the attic before we moved to Hawaii and they weren't that badly stained. I must have just washed them in hot water and a laundry soap with a little bleach in it. Cherish these days of your little one. I'm very proud of my son and daughter now, but I wish I could hold them again when they were little.