Sleeping with Stuffed Animals/Blankets

My daughter started sleeping with a stuffed animal when she was 4 1/2 months old. I was really freaked out about it, but she's done fine. She's 9 mos. old now. The bunny really helped her b/c we've had a lot of sleep issues with her and she did really need something.
M.

Hey E.!
My son was attached to a bear when he was 9 months old. He wouldn't go to sleep without it. My son wouldn't sleep on his back either,....so much for SIDS, because he is a healthy 17 month old.

My daughter was born July 9, 2006. She is nine months and has been sleeping with a blanket since she was 3months olds.

My daughter slept with a blankie and doll baby from 5 months on every night and nap,,, and she's 15 months and great,,, it's a lifesaver to have them because she rubs the satin on them to put herself to sleep.

well I read what other people wrote to you. my son is 10 now but when he was a baby I used to put him in his pack in play for naps with a stuffed animal when he was 6 months old and slept real well. But at night he was having problems. So I put the stuffed animal in at night with him to but he was still restless. I figured out that it was the pack and play. He slept better in the pack and play because he was more familiar with that then his crib. I wonder if that might be part of your problem. Have you triend putting that up at night and seeing if she sleeps better in that at night? Also is there anything on when she naps like tv or radio that might help to. She might be one of those baby's that the nighttime is to quiet for her. My son was like that. When I figured out his attachment to the pack and play I started doing naps in his crib . We would play in his crib so he would get familiar with it enough to sleep. He also needed a radio at night. Just thought I would mention some other alternatives in case the blanket or animal doesn't work.

Hi E.:
Our 9 mo. old has always slept with one of those really tiny blankets with a little stuffed animal head on top. It's not a full size blanket, more like a 6" x 6" square piece of fabric -- fuzzy on one side and silky on the other. She loves the textures and it has a little bell inside that comforts her and tells her it's time for bed. In fact, we only keep it in the crib because when she plays with it outside of her crib she starts yawning! She likes to rub it on her face to soothe herself to sleep, but it's definitely not big enough to be constricting. I'd recommend something like that if you're worried about a larger blanket being dangerous.

oops! i didnt know i was supposed to wait to give my daughter a stuffed animal at night. she had one since she was about a month old. tho im sure there are rules about this for a good reason, we never had a problem. she still sleeps with the same animal every night and she is 2 and a half.

Both of my kids were sleeping with a stuffed animal blanket at about 5-6mos. They loved holding onto somethings as they fall to sleep. In my opinion, by the time they are about 6 mos. they can turn over and move their head well, I think they are fine.

i let my kids sleep with stuffed animals fromt eh time they were old enough to play with them but they didn't get blankets untill they were in toddler beds, after the point in time when they could pull themselves up and move around i put a few toys in the end of thier crib so that when they woke up in the mornings they could play with them even and it generally got me an extra half hour or so of sleep and i'd get to wake up to giggles and not screams

my son always had a small blanket to sleep with. I never took them away after swaddling...just covered him up from nipple levels and lower. Leaving his arms, shoulders and head out. We only had trouble sleeping through the night when he was sick, otherwise he did very well through the night from week 3...11pm to 5 or 6am.

My daughter has slept in her crib since about 4 or 5 months old. She has always had a blanket and 1 or 2 stuffed animals with her. She is now 1 1/2 and has a Marie kitty from Aristocats that she has to have every night or is restless for the whole night! She should be fine. If she can roll over on her own then she is not that much risk for SIDS anymore. This was my first child and I was a freak over SIDS. I was one of those moms who was up every hour checking on her! So she should be okay at this age.

I have had 3 little ones (4th is on the way). Both of my girls (12 yrs and 3 yrs) were born when it was still cold out... so they have used blankets since I brought them home from the hospital. My little boy (21 mo) was a June baby, so he really didn't need a blanket, but as soon as it got colder out he was given a blanket too. I didn't use big think blankets, just the crib ones like they have in the hospital to begin with, then as they get bigger they get bigger blankets. The only one that really likes sleeping with a stuffed animal is the oldest - but I can't rememeber how old she was when she started sleeping with them - sorry.

I know the main concern time is when they have a hard time lifting and moving their head, or atleast that is what I was told. You know your little girl the best... do what your heart tells you.

We put our baby in his crib, swaddled, the day he came home from the hospital. Within 4 weeks he was kicking the wrap off so he's been with a fuzzy blanket (and stuffed animals) for 7 months now and doing fine. His favorite thing to do is pull the blanket up over his head when he goes to bed or is in his car seat!?!

E.,
My daughter just turned 1 today (my, how time flies!). She has been sleeping with a small stuffed lamb since she was about 5 months old. Like I said, it's small, only about 6 inches tall, so it's not something she's likely to get her nose buried in. She must really like it because when I've checked in on her the past two nights, she's been hugging it while sleeping!

As for blankets...I've been covering her lower half with a thin, receiving blanket for a long time. I have sort of stopped doing it, though because she wiggles around so much at night now that she doesn't stay covered anyway. But until they start moving around, they are not likely to get tangled up in it anyway.

Hope this helps. If you're uncomfortable covering your baby with a blanket, there are sleeps "sacks" you can buy. I'm not sure exactly what they are called, but they are esstentially a bag that you put them in (they don't cover anything above the shoulders, of course.) These work great!

Hello. My son is a year and a half now, and I'm a first time mom. My son has slept in his crib w/ a blanket since he was 4 months old. I'm pretty sure I've always had at least 1-2 stuffed animals in his crib, but he didn't mind them till he could sit up and throw them out. Now he has his certain "blankie" that he needs to take his nap and go to bed and he needs his soft bunnies around him in his crib. My advice, do what works, it' about time you deserve a full nights sleep. Good luck!!!

When my daughter was 3 or 4 months my mom was watching her. She was always hard to keep asleep and fussy with colic too. But my mother cut up a thin skily(what was one of her nightgown) not to small but not so big to get twisted in the bed. But it really clamed julia down and it became a habbit from that day on. She liked it on her face but i didnt want it to close so i put it on her body the just the top on her chin and she would lay and rub it in her little hands and on her chin and in mins. she was out. I did keep light small blankets that were ment for her size in the crib. But i never let it become crowed with alot of toys. sounds like u r concerned with that too. It could be a danger with to much. But i feel like a secerty blanket or small stuffed amianal is safe and rather cute. Julia helded on to her slikys up to age two. This day i buy toodler bakents that have something skily on them. Its really cute and alot of my familys kids had something like that as well. Hope how of all the moms imput u find ur answer. If ur still worried just call and ask the babys dr if its ok.
take care:D

I let mine start before 12 months with their stuffed animal, I don't remember when, but I do know that if I put my daughters on the crib rail at night so she could see it, she would manage to pull it down, even before she could pull herself up to get it, I never figured out how she did it, but it happend every night and she would scream if it was not there.

I've always since mine was born (she's 13 mos now) covered her w/a small blanket from the waste down. she doesn't really like to start out being covered so I wait till she falls asleep and then I go up and cover her. I wouldn't care so much if the weather was nice but I hate thinking she'll be cold at night. She's always had stuffed animals in her bed but she really hasn't paid any attention to them till she was about 11 months old. Now she carries her Pooh Bear everywhere w/her. You need to do what works for you, that's my opinion.

S.

HI E.,

My son is almost 8 months old (next week he will be), anyways, I gave him his blanket to sleep with at about 5 1/2 mos-6 mos I cant remeber exactly. What i did do though before I plopped him in the crib with the blanket was to make sure he could pull it off his own face and was mobile enough to move the blanket if he needed into in the night while I was asleep. Everything has wokred out well and he loves to cuddle with it in his crib when he wakes for a few moments in the night. Good luck.

Hi,

I started my daughter with her stuffed animal at around 9 or 10 months of age. As for a blanket, we still don't use one. She wears a sleeper and that keeps her nice and warm. I will probably wait a while before using a blanket since she doesnt seem to need one.

Hi E.!

My son was sleeping with stuffed animals and blanktes since the day he was born. He was also terribly gassy and I had him sleep on his stomach since he was 2 weeks old. It proved to be more soothing for him. My son's pediatrician even told me do what works for him, and if sleeping on his tummy helped, then so be it. Point being, your mommy instinct is definitely something to listen to. Sometimes "rules" were meant to be broken!

I felt comfortable putting him on his tummy because he could pick his head up on his own since the day he was born. The same thing with blankets and animals. I knew he would shift if something was blocking his airway. Having animals in his crib was and still is very soothing for him. When he wakes up, he sees them and knows he's safe. He usually hugs one to fall asleeep. He still wakes up at night, but he plays with his animals, and then falls back asleep. Those animals have enabled me to get a full night's sleep!!

Each child is different. Go by what your child needs and what you think will help her. Afterall, you know your baby better than any expert and doctor.

Mine uses a little security blanket, and he is 8 months. I think as long as it isnt a huge blanket they could get lost in it should be ok. At six months she can probably roll over, and maybe sit up, so I think I would feel comfortable with that.

Hello E.!

I let my son jacob sleep with beanie babies when he was first born. They were the only animal thats not too stuffy that i let him have to sleep with. But when he got older he slepted with everything from pillows to stuff animals to blankets. SO i figure stay with something small at first then gradually add bigger things in.

jacob never slept thru the night LOL. it took him about 6 months to finnaly start so he always in bed with me, nothing ever happen.

Hi E.-

I let my son sleep with a blanket before 12 months. I know I can't sleep without one, so why should he! I just made sure it was a thin, simple blanket. Nothing fancy or something that can be easily tangled. As for the stuffed animals, it's hard to remember, but I do think I had one stuffed away in the corner of his bed. Or let her fall asleep with her toy near by and then go back in and remove it. But I think having a blanket would be fine. Even just cover her bottom half with it.

Hope that helps!