Inside: When you were a child did you have a strong attachment to a special blanket or a favorite toy? Do any of your children have similar attachments? Do these special objects act as security blankets? Security toys? And what is a security blanket? Here’s what science says about reasons children treasure blankets.
Reasons Children Treasure Blankets
When my granddaughter was three-years-old, she had a favorite blue and white muslin blanket that extended back three generations to her great-grandmother. She fell in love with this blanket the moment her mother swaddled her in it as a baby.
She took it everywhere and when she went outside she wanted it wrapped around her head like a scarf. Cherished to death, it is now in pieces. But she continues to carry around those pieces and will not go to sleep unless one is clenched tightly in her little fist.
Are there reasons some children get attached to a certain security blanket or toy, while others do not? What is a security blanket? What do child development experts say?
Autumn loves her blanket so much that when she goes outside, she insists that her blanket is wrapped around her head like a scarf
4 Reasons Children Treasure Blankets & Other Toys
#1: Security Blankets and Toys Contain Essence of Original Owner
First, a security blanket or toy is any object a baby or child is attached to and wants close to them.
Studies suggest that a child’s affection for certain blankets or toys might be triggered by the belief that certain objects have invisible properties or contain some essence of their original owner. This attachment and affection are similar to adults who are nostalgic for certain heirlooms or other memorabilia.
As I’ve watched my granddaughter grow more and more attached to her “towel,” (as she calls it) I can’t help but feel that the threads of this blanket have woven together hearts of love between a great-grandmother and her great-granddaughter. And like studies suggest, she feels the essence (or spirit) of her great-grandmother in, what is now, a tattered piece of cloth.
Autumn has loved her blanket to pieces…literally! Only a few tattered pieces of cloth remain from what was once a cherished blanket. However, she still insists on taking these little pieces to bed with her each night.
#2: Security Blankets and Toys are Transitional Objects
Growing up I had a teddy bear that I loved. My brother Howard was “glued” to his stuffed teddy bear, and my sister Jeannette’s yellow blanket was her constant companion. My nephew Mikel took his favorite childhood blanket to college. Melissa, my daughter-in-law still has her beloved purple blanket from childhood.
Child development experts call these favorite companions, “transitional objects,” meaning they help children transition from the familiar to the unfamiliar and from dependence to independence. An illustration of this is when my nephew left for an unfamiliar college and took his familiar blanket with him and me dragging my teddy bear with me every time I went someplace new.
Other child psychologists believe that these security blankets offer an emotional benefit to a child as they wean from breastfeeding, thus transitioning from dependence to becoming more independent from their mother.
Reasons Children Treasure Blankets and Toys: My Beloved Teddy Bear: A Transitional Object
I loved my teddy bear. He was an Algy rubber-faced teddy bear with light brown fur and blue eyes that I could open and shut (which was considered rare for 1950s teddy bears). He was the first hypo-allergenic teddy bear that Ideal Toy Company made.
In the 1950s there was a television program called Miss Francis’s Ding Dong School (a precursor to Sesame Street and Mr. Roger’s without all the bells and whistles). This Algy bear was the featured teddy bear on the program.
I don’t remember the specifics of why I loved my teddy bear— I just did. I dragged him around the house and slept with him every night. Clearly, he was that “transitional object,” because whenever I went to my grandparents to stay overnight, my teddy bear was the first thing I packed in my suitcase.
Maybe watching my granddaughter with her blanket has triggered happy memories of me and my bear.
Many children have a favorite blanket or stuffed animal that they carry with them everywhere. Child development experts call these “transitional objects,” because they help a child transition from the familiar to the unfamiliar.
#3: Security Blankets and Toys: Part of Bedtime Rituals
The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that particular blankets and toys are an important part of a child’s bedtime ritual. Many children carry that special blanket or toy to bed with them each night and refuse to go to sleep unless those things are by their side.
Special blankets and toys provide comfort and security to a child throughout the night. If they wake up during the night, many children will reach for their security blankets or toy, find them, and quickly go back to sleep.
Bedtime rituals that include security blankets and toys are talked about in children’s literature. In the children’s book, Ira Sleeps Over, Ira is excited to spend the night at his friend’s house but worries about being teased because he still sleeps with his teddy bear. To his relief, Ira finds that his friend also has a favorite teddy bear that he sleeps with.
What could have been an embarrassing moment for Ira has a happy ending as both boys fall to sleep with their teddy bears in tow. Another reason why children treasure blankets and toys!
Many children love to take their favorite blanket or stuffed toy to bed with them at night. When the lights go out, it brings them comfort to have something they cherish close to them
#4: Security Blankets Offer Comfort to Children in Uncertain Times and New Situations
Have you noticed when you take your child to a strange or unfamiliar place, or into a new situation, or when they’re feeling insecure, they insist on carrying their blanket with them? Or when the lights go out in their bedroom at night, they hug their toy or “blanky” even closer?
These can be scary situations for a child and having a security blanket or object close by brings them comfort. The American Academy of Pediatrics concurs: special blankets or toys can be an important part of childhood and can bring comfort and security to its owner.
Hospitals today recognize that many children love having a blanket with them for those scary or stressful and uncertain times during their stay. Many hospitals have adopted a program called, “Project Linus,” a nonprofit effort that gives sick children security blankets to provide a source of comfort for them.
Other reasons children treasure blankets include those moments when children feel their parents stress (due to uncertain times, etc.) During those times, children will cling to their security blankets and toys even more.
Special blankets and stuffed animals offer emotional security and other benefits. And some children have more than one stuffed animal that they cherish and cling to.
Let Your Child Have These Security Blankets and Toys for as Long as Needed
Whatever the reasons your child loves a particular blanket or stuffed animal, the experts agree: let your child have these objects as long as they want. They need them for a reason, if for nothing else but to remind them of happy childhood memories.
It does not mean your child is insecure or has other issues. They just simply have an attachment to something they love and treasure.
Linking Generations: Mitochondrial Eve
I’ve often wondered if there is a deeper connection between my granddaughter and her great-grandmother. Perhaps a connection at a cellular level. It seems that there could be…
Like the threads of a blanket mysteriously linking a great-grandchild to her great-grandmother, science now sheds light on the thread that links generations together.
That thread is a mother’s mitochondria.
Mitochondria are the powerhouse or energy of our cells and contain 13 genomes (genetic material) which are passed down from a mother to her child. They contain their own genetic material distinct from the cell’s DNA.
But, only a daughter can pass her mother’s mitochondria to the next generation. If a mother only has sons, (as in my case) her mitochondrial genes are lost.
Because of the mitochondria in our genes, scientists say that it is possible to trace our lineage back through our ancestors to Eve, the original mother of us all.
Mitochondria in our cells contain genetic material that links us to our ancestors. Somewhat like the threads in Autumn’s blanket linking her to her great-grandmother.
Using this information, Bryan Sykes, a world-renowned geneticist wrote a book, The Seven Daughters of Eve, where he identifies and traces the world’s population back to the first woman calling her “Mitochondrial Eve.”
Here he poetically links us from our mothers to Eve by tracing this ancestral connection from one woman to all her children:
“I am on stage. Before me, in the dim light, all the people who have ever lived are lined up rank upon rank, stretching far into the distance. I have in my hand the end of the thread which connects me to my ancestral mother…I pull on the thread and one woman’s face in every generation, feeling the tug, looks up at me. These are my ancestors. These are all my mothers who passed this precious messenger [mitochondrial DNA] from one to another through a thousand births, a thousand screams, a thousand embraces of a thousand newborn babies. The thread becomes an umbilical cord.”
Special Blankets and Toys: Family Connections
My granddaughter’s blanket is made of one continuously long thread, a sort of umbilical cord that symbolically unites her to three generations of women: her mother, her maternal grandmother, and her maternal great-grandmother.
Like Mitochondrial Eve, it represents a simple connection to family.
What is the story of your favorite blanket or toy? Or your child’s favorite blanket or toy? Perhaps, like my granddaughter’s blanket, there is special meaning in those objects that connect you to something larger.
Or like my teddy bear, it is just something to love.
Both boys and girls form attachments to certain blankets, toys or teddy bears.
Consider this…
- Don’t forget these special companions from childhood
- Write the stories down
- Take photographs
- They may be symbols of priceless bonds
A child’s security blanket. A child’s toy. Meaningful objects of childhood. Cherished heirlooms. Treasured connections.
You can access the 2-minute video here
Do you have a favorite blanket or toy that you cherished as a child? Do your children have a favorite “something” they cling to and love? Is there a meaningful story behind these blankets, toys or heirlooms? Please share in the comment section below
Me personally am a 34 year old first time Momma to a 19 month old daughter. I had coslept with my Mom till I was around 9. We’d have interlocked arms and I’d feel if she tried to escape. Eventually, I transitioned to a teddy bear. I believe I still have that teddy bear. I won him at Denny’s. And, I went through other stuffies that i still have, now that I’m actually thinking about it… Anyhow, my last stuffie is care bear. I’ve taken that care bear to every music festival, every concert, or any outing I stayed the night at. This guy used to be yellow. He’s now a loved, dingy, grey/yellow, brownish color. With white eyes because the black wore off.
I held all these stuffies like my mom’s arm.
Now, being a mom, I’m all for bedsharing, cosleeping, and we’ve contact napped since birth. **yes, I’m well aware of the tragedies that have happened, no I don’t want to hear about them anymore. My heart goes out to them. My family, my decision.) I’ve trained my whole life to have my daughter be in my arms. Thanks to my Mommy having me in her arms.
My daughter has a very loved object. It’s her Sailor Moon blanket. She carries it around like Linus off of Charlie Brown. Her name is Luna!
Keisha–thank you so much for your very heartfelt love of the sleep rituals you enjoyed with your mother and now your daughter. I love that you still have your favorite teddy bear–what a comfort it must be! And your daughter’s Sailor Moon blanket–those childhood sweet animals and blankets are long remembered even when we’re adults! Thanks for sharing!
My 2-year-old son’s birthday is coming up in two weeks and I want to get him a blanket for one of his gifts. I appreciate you mentioning that blankets can provide a child with comfort and security at night while they sleep. My son often has nightmares that wake him up, so giving him a special blanket will hopefully make it easier for him to sleep through the night.
It certainly helped our sons with security and comfort to have a blanket at night. However, what also helped them when they had nightmares was having a night light in their bedroom. Have you tried that? And I would suggest leaving his bedroom door open at night. Maybe not when he is trying to get to sleep, but before you go to bed–open his door. Good luck and thank you for sharing!
Thanks for sharing its really helpful for me
You are welcome! Glad it helped!
Actually, some gifts are very special for a child be it a toy or a blanket. Even my child keeps such gifts treasured at a place where even I am unable to discover at a certain place.By the way I was planning to buy a blanket for my child and suddenly discovered about CuteRascals.Has anyone ever shopped from there before?
Thank you for sharing–I’ve never heard of CuteRascals, but it sounds like a fun place–I’ll check it out! And I agree–some kids have a special toy that they treasure as much as their special blanket.
All 3 of our kids had a “blankie” or stuffed toy. For our son it was a “Pound Puppy” -remember those? -I think they put them in a child’s Happy Meal from McDonald’s. In fact he had several of them. I belief we bought a mother Pound Puppy from somewhere other than McDonald.’s. I remember checking him each night in bed. He was sleeping on his back with his arms wrapped around “Spot”. I knew he would sleep well because Spot was there. He grew up to be perfectly normal and doesn’t need Spot now. Thanks for allowing me the memory tonight.
Thanks for sharing Mary! Love the story of your son and the “Pound Puppies!” Yes, I do remember them! And it should be a relief to all of us that we can love these special toys or blankets into adulthood for no reason except we love them and they bring happy memories of childhood…in other words, the attachments we feel don’t mar us in any way, in fact, I think they may even make us better–adjusted adults! I wish I could find a replica of my teddy bear from childhood. I made the mistake of leaving him behind when I went to college and when I returned, the dog had loved it to death.