Why do children look for them at bedtime and when they need comfort?
Something about the stuffed animals they like so much. They are soft and cuddly and can be bitten, crushed, loaded, filled with kisses and wet with saliva. They are the perfect companions to go to bed or to hug when mom or dad are not at hand. They are your best friends and accompany you through thick and thin.
Manuel has been sleeping with his rabbit hugged since he was six months old. Hugo, two and a half years old, looks for his little green frog every time he hits a stick. And Claudia, two and a half years old, does not leave the house if she does not carry her brown bear with her arms around her. All are objects of consolation and all fulfill a very important function: to give security to their owners.
Not all children have them. Some little ones do not need them or have not had a particular object that has accompanied them more than others, so they have not established this “connection” with any toy, blanket or handkerchief. Because, it must be said, not all comfort objects are a bunny, a bear or a sheep … Although in 90 percent of the cases the chosen object is usually a stuffed toy, a child can achieve that special bond with the child. Mom’s handkerchief that smells like her, with the blanket she sleeps with every night or with the rattle her grandmother gave her when she was a newborn.
Not everything serves to become an object of consolation. The “chosen” has to fulfill several requirements: to be soft and soft, not to have been imposed (it must be chosen by the little one) and, most importantly, to have accompanied the child during the first months of life. Some even from before he was born. Carolina tells how she slept with the little mouse? Martita? before her daughter was born so that she could “catch her scent”. When the girl was born, the rat was already waiting for her in her crib. Today, ten months later,? Martita? It is part of her life and she accompanies him in difficult moments, especially when the little girl cannot sleep.