Blankie - Attachment item

SeasideBride06

DD1 has slept with this particular blanket for most of her life. There is a "spot" that she rubs to go to sleep...but she is good about only having it at bedtime/naptime. For the past few months we have joked with her asking when she was going to give blankie up because she is becoming a big girl now, etc. She has told us several times that she would give it away when she turned four because she would be big then (her birthday is Saturday.) However, she has made it clear that her only condition is that she needs to give it to a baby that needs a blankie. A friend of mine at work is about to have a baby and Allie came in the bathroom with me this morning and told me that she knew she could give it to this new baby. Do you guys think I should take the opportunity to have her get rid of it (the attachment mainly) or is it just too young to have her get rid of it? I am torn.

Wally3

I still have my blankie - I don't sleep with it but I will always keep it. So I would not have her give it away. My Ds still sleeps with his blankie and will watch tv with it or get it if he gets upset.  It doesn't leave the house unless we are traveling overnight. I'm in no rush for him to get rid of it.

SeasideBride06

I wouldn't let it go forever.  I would let her think she has given it away, but I would keep it put up with her other things that I will always keep.

WhitePicketFence

Eh, I don't think it's a big deal for a 4 year old to still use a blankie for comfort. If you and your DH feel it's time for it to go, however, I think giving it away to the new baby is a great way to handle it. We did something similar when we wanted to break DD1's paci attachment.

74dragonfly

Honestly if she only uses it at bedtime I'd let her keep it. My DD sleeps with a lovie. It is an octopus with satin tentacles. She loves her octy.

rsd12

All three of my boys sleep with their blankets since they have had since birth. My oldest is going on 7. Only the youngest takes his everywhere... the other two only have it in bed with them. Eventually they will be ready to part with it.

If she is ready that is great! I plan to keep my kids blankets.

jlw2505

Honestly, I would never push this or give it away.  There is nothing wrong with having a blankie or any type of lovie.  She only has it with her at bedtime so what is the harm?  My DD will be 5 in March and still sleeps with her Little Giraffe Brown Blankie that has slept with nightly since around 9 months.  It used to go everywhere with her but over the last year, she has moved to only having it in the house (we used to let her bring it in the car but never in anyplace and never to daycare, etc other than when traveling).  She went from having it with us all the time to just in the house to keeping it on her bed.  I have walked into her room in the last month at night and notice that it has fallen out of bed and DD doesn't even notice where in the past she would wake up if not holding it.  I am letting her let go at her pace and would never force it and even when the day comes that she doesn't want to sleep it. now way in he** would I get rid of it.  As she gets older and sees baby pictures of her from 9 months until around 4 1/2, she will see this blanket in most picture and I want her to have.  I still have my baby blanket put away.

TMWarren85

You could always let her "give" it to the new baby but have your coworker give it back to you in case you need it. DD had a wubbie (sp?) when she was 1-2.5 - a pink giraffe head with a blanket attached that she carried everywhere and slept with all the time. When we were moving from Chicago to Texas I packed him a few days early and told DD we didn't want to lose him. I still have it in the top of my closet but we never unpacked it. She asked about it a few times in the weeks after we got settled in but she moved on to a small stuffed polar bear that has taken it's place. She still has the polar bear now- and I'm worried about when he takes a turn for the worse; it was a give-away from the car dealership where we bought our car so it's not the best quality, and when it starts to disintegrate there's no replacing him...