I think I let my LO take a very small jelly cat stuffed animal to bed starting around 12-14 mo, but I always snuck in and removed it after she fell asleep. Now at 20 mo, I've been letting her go to bed with bigger stuffed animals. I've continued to take them out of her bed after she's asleep, but all night tonight she's had her arms firmly wrapped around her bear. I am nervous about leaving it though (I am anxious about her in her sleep in general as my friend's 2 y.o. died in her sleep last year...it was eventually determined to be due to an undetected cardiac issue, but I think I will never be the same after that funeral). Anyways, should I pry it away from her? ...or am I being neurotic? (I fully recognize that could be the case).
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I voted 12-18 months. Around 15 months, I started putting a teddy bear in the crib with J because I want him to get attached to a lovey... but he always tosses the bear out right before he settles down to sleep!
I would be anxious too if I personally knew someone whose daughter died in their sleep.
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I'm
Anxious about sleep too ... How awful about your friend's 2 yr old
I feel like she will be Ok but that you will probably sleep much better if you try removing the bear .but I see your
Conundrum w/ possibly waking her. -
i think sometime around 12 months?
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When he started to ask around 12 months we let him have his lovey (stuffed animal, but not too fluffy), but I would check on him before sleep for peace of mind. Once he started escaping and had to move to the toddler bed (18 months) all bets were off because he would get out and put all his "friends" in bed. I would take them out before I went to bed, but by morning they were back. Currently he has 4 must-haves or he won't go to sleep (24 months)- but usually they are near the end of the bed by morning.
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Hmmm does a wubbanub count? If so, from birth.
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I think around 12 months? She has a couple of soft blabla dolls. I used to be nervous too, but at some point I stopped taking them out. It's understandable to be nervous too - sorry about your friend.
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I am so sorry about your friend
LO has an angel dear lovey that she sleeps with. For whatever reason, she likes it touching her face and sleeps much better with one that without one. When she falls asleep, I usually pull it away from her face, if it's touching it, but I leave it in the crib.
@78h2o: Can I ask a question? (No judging, I promise!) What is it about the stuffed animal that makes you nervous? Are you afraid that she is going to suffocate? I ask because your post touches on a bigger issue for me. I've seen so much literature on safe sleep practices, but if I'm honest, some of it doesn't make a ton of sense to me. I don't see how sleeping without a stuffed animal is going to make a child less likely to die in his/her sleep, especially once they have good head control, can move on their own, etc. There's a part of me that wonders if some safe sleep protocol is more for our own peace of mind than the actual safety of the child. Sure, there are some crib deaths that occur because of unsafe practices (too soft of a mattress, lots of pillows/bedding, etc), but SIDS is sudden, unexplained, and not entirely preventable. It's SO scary to think about, mostly because in the end, we don't have the control we'd like to think we do. (I was thinking/worrying about this last night at bedtime, can you tell?
)Anyways, my answer is that if LO slept better with a lovey/stuffed animal than without, I'd probably just leave it in the crib.
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I let E have her jellycat since 7/8 months.
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I let DS have his jellycat at 12m, plus his lovey (one of those tiny blanket with a head things). Now at 18m, he has 3 jellycats in there and his lovey. He loves his animals.
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I started putting E's lovey in with her at around 5/6 months, I think. I wanted her to get attached to it to help her self soothe. She loves her Bun-Bun.
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I tried an Angel Dear lovey and an A&A security blanket after 12 months but R wants nothing to do with them most of the time. I'm so sad to hear about your friend's LO.
ETA - I understand your hesitation. A coworker's 7 month old granddaughter choked on a stuffed animal's tag and almost died this past year. It was terrifying.
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Both of my DDs have had stuffed animals in their cot from birth - it's not something I've ever really worried about. They each had a stuffed animal that sat in the corner of their cot and a lovey that sat in the other corner. As long as they don't have any choking hazards (eyes, buttons etc), I am just not that fussed. Granted, DD1 slept in a portacot next to me for the first seven months, and DD2 is still sleeping in a portacot next to me at 6.5 months, so I was/am able to take a peek at them every time I wake during the night, but even if I weren't, I still don't think it's that big of a deal.
That being said though, if I experienced a similar situation to you, with a friend having tragically lost their child, I would probably be a whole lot more paranoid. I would say though at 20 months, as long as there are no choking hazards, it is fine for your LO to sleep with a stuffed animal.
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My LO has been sleeping with the A&A lovey blanket since about 8-9 months. I know it's not a stuffed animal, but she sleeps with it right up around her face (because she sometimes chews it) and I don't move it until it's completely covering her head.
I used to obsess over SIDS. I mean, obsess. But finally now that LO is 13 months I obsess less now, mainly because I realized I myself sleep with my blanket enveloping my head (with my face peeking out) so it made me more okay with LOs lovey blanket up around her face.
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She started sleeping with a jelly cat bunny right after she turned 12 months. She holds it till she falls asleep. It is seriously adorable.
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@Smurfette: same!!
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LO is 12.5 months old and we just started giving her a leopard angel dear lovey a few days ago. Not sure if that counts as a stuffed animal.
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@lawbee11: If that counts, then my answer is 6 months. We first gave her a lovey then. She liked it for 1-2 months, I bought 2 more, and now she zero interest in them. Urg!
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Oh man. We gave her a lovey around 6 months. Then slowly started putting more and more stuffed animals in her room, until now at 15 months she seriously has like 10 of them. As someone else said, I'm not worried about her suffocating since she has head control. She buries her head in a pile of them and holds a blanket in each hand when she goes to sleep - she loves them.
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A small soft baby doll since Easter...I think she was around 6 or 7 months then? She plays with it sometimes while falling asleep but she doesn't need it to fall asleep. It was my hare brained idea to try & create a lovey for when we paci wean. But she doesn't give a crap about the doll
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Around 15 months she insisted on sleeping with a soft doll, now at 22 months she has 3 dolls, a stuffed monkey, 2 blankies, and whatever else she feels is necessary to sleep. I usually sneak in and take out most of it but leave her favorite doll and monkey.
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I put a lovey in her crib since she was about 3 months old? She now has a decent sized Minnie Mouse stuffed animal in the corner of the crib at 9 months. I don't really see what the danger of it is...
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He has slept with his Jellycat elephant pretty much since birth (it just sat in the corner of the crib) and he has been sleeping with a tiny mickey mouse since 6ish months.
ETA: He couldn't care less about either but I still leave them in there....
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@LovelyPlum: Yeah, my fear is that she would suffocate, or something would come loose and she would choke. I know that's extremely, extremely, unlikely (the animals don't have button eyes and the tags are sewn in tightly), but I have this irrational fear that she could have some unknown issue with breathing regulation (like they are thinking happens in SIDS, where the child can't arouse himself/herself to reposition), so having something in her face at night makes me anxious. She often goes to sleep face down or on her side, with her face nestled in the animal's fur, which is why I worry.
I ended up getting it away from her last night and moving it to the corner of her crib. I might try to just get her to sleep with the 7" jellycat animals vs. the 14" animals (since AAP says that after 12 mo they are ok if smaller than baby's head)...but if she reaaally wants the bigger animals, I think I need to just suck it up and let her do it. I can't force her to sleep without anything in her bed forever and I don't want to overprotect her just because of what happened to my friend's child (I have to remember it was a cardiac thing). Man, it is hard being a parent!
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LO has had a lovey in his cot at night since about 4.5 months. It's one of those blanket with a head jobs, so not really a stuffed animal though. Once he had good head control, and I'd seen him remove fabric from his face (we made it into a game to encourage him to learn, and he thought it was the best thing ever!), then I was comfortable letting him have it. He wasn't too fussed about it at first, but now (8mo) he cuddles it as he goes sleep and drapes it over his neck. It worries me much more when he goes to sleep on his front with his nose smushed right into the mattress!
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@78h2o: Oh my goodness about your friend's 2 yo. I can see how you would be a nervous wreck after that. I do think its okay at this age to let her have a stuffed animal in bed. My LO is 2 and sleeps with like 10 of them! But I can understand why it makes you anxious!
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I gave my LO one of those little animal heads with a fleece blanket attached at 3 months, but I put a hair tie around the blanket so it was more like a long tube. Now that he's 4.5 months and rolls all over and has great head control, he's got a whole collection of untied loveys
A&A lovey blanket, the fleece animal head, and a taggie animal. He uses them to soothe himself to sleep, so I'm a fan!(I do worry about it though, and if I notice he's sleeping with it right against his face, I'll try to nudge it away. He seems fine.)
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LO sleeps with two mini jellycats. We started with one at maybe 12 months. Then she ended up with two at some point. She sleeps with one tucked under each arm. It's super cute and they're great sleep cues for her because she only has these particular loveys at bedtime. I was too nervous to give her anything in het crib when she was little but I feel ok about it now.
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@78h2o: it's really hard! (says another nervous nelly mommy)
M didn't get a lovey in her crib until after 18 months, if I remember correctly. I really hated putting things in her crib but so far we haven't had any problems. I think a stuffed animal is a good option as compared to a blanket at this age. She is less likely to suffocate or strangle herself with it. I would just check it for loose parts and remove any tags that are on it before tossing it in the crib.Do you use a video monitor? The video monitor helped me calm some of my fears because I could see her breathing on it. I still go in and check on her at night before I go to sleep, though. And I used to go in and move her lovey away from her when she slept so it would make me feel better before falling asleep.
I don't think the irrational fears go away but I do think they subside a little as they get older. M is now 2 years and I let her sleep with a blanket and whatever else she wants in her crib. I just make sure it's not over her head or wrapped around her when I go to bed.
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My LO went through a week long phase with sleeping with stuffed animals around 26 months.
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She's had her Wubbanub with her since 8 weeks.
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@Amelieisme: It does help to hear that other parents allow it and all is well. Thanks! I know I am worrying too much.
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@78h2o: how terrifying and tragic! I don't blame you for being wary! Fwiw, our LOs are the same age, and mine has recently taken to insisting on a whole menagerie in there with her! I didn't give her a stuffed animal (other than a wubbanub) before a year, but she's had at least her favorite stuffed puppy and a blanket since about Christmas.
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I put Violet (the talking dog one) in her crib around when she turned 1. Playing with it often helps her wind down and go to sleep. Sometimes she rolls on it and it goes off in the middle of the night - but it never wakes her up.
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@rattles: Yeah, it was so, so awful and sad.
She died the day before her 2nd birthday. I posted about it here when it happened. That imagine of your little one with the whole menagerie is so adorable. They are at such a cute age right now where they are really loving on those things!
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I think it is okay at 12 months. My pediatrician said the biggest risk at a year is making a pile to use to climb out of the crib if there is too much stuff in there.
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Just recently, so maybe 18 months. She just started to get super attached to Paws and Patch (her bears) so I let her sleep with them for comfort.
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a little before a year old. now she has a wholeee entourage of animals haha
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@NovBaby1112: yeah, it has quickly evolved to that! I am doing better being less anxious about her sleeping with one or two. I have been sneaking in to reposition them before I go to sleep, but not removing them entirely. Although, I will take out a few of the ones she went to bed with tonight.
She is super into swaddling since she saw me swaddle my nephew back in June and she insists that I help her swaddle some of her dolls/animals before bed, lol.
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Gave her a lovey at 6 months because I noticed when we snuggled together she would rub my blanket in bed. I thought it might help her sleep better since she had been regressing quite hard. It didn't help her sleep longer but I keep it in anyways for her but she usually ends up at the opposite end of the crib. She is crawling and can pull herself up to a stand already so I feel she's mobile enough at this point. She's been tummy sleeping since she figured out how to roll at 3 months so being paranoid about sleep isn't an option for me (or I would never sleep!)
)
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