"I Want My Blanky!”

Whether a child calls it a blanky, bankie, cuddly or wuzzy, all “security” objects help young children feel emotionally safe and comforted. Child development experts refer to these physical objects cuddled by children as young as 8 - 9 months old as “transitional objects.” Young children often use these security objects to bolster their confidence and provide a sense of well-being in routine situations such as falling asleep at bedtime. In unusual or unique situations such as meeting new people, cuddling a security object may even symbolically take the place of the primary caregiver.

Most children become attached to a blanket or teddy bear, but some seem to choose some very interesting objects. So…what is the most unusual “security object” a child has brought to your program?

Here’s a few of ours:

• One 3 year-old child in a preschool class always wore a pair of knitted gloves and carried an old Nikon camera – everywhere. He had even learned to put two gloves on one hand when he needed to touch or feel something and one glove got in the way!

•One child used her own ear as a “cuddly” all through early childhood. She would wrap her entire hand around it whenever she felt tired or stressed.

• A 4 ½ year old child was once overheard telling another child who had been a VERY close friend and constant companion for two years in our program, “I just can’t carry you anymore.”

• An infant who suffered from colic and projectile vomiting became attached to a collection of gauze diapers that her parents used to lay over their shoulder to sop up accidents. Don’t worry – the diapers were routinely washed!

We'd love to hear some of yours?