Do Kids Give up Their Loveys on Their Own?

My daughter will be 14 soon and still sleeps with her "blankie" LOL She doesn't take it anywhere with her, but she has it in her bed. It was a Gymboree blanket given to her when she was born....it is pretty ragged on the edges. My other child gave hers up when she was much younger and has nothing that she has to sleep with. I would just let it be there until she puts it away. That is what my youngest did. She folded it up and put it in her closet. Good luck.

My 20-year-old son still has his. I bought a couple of what I thought were identical in case we lost it, but he only likes the original.

my almost 5 year old still uses his blankie.....refuses to sleep without it. my daughter gave hers up at 3. i would keep it and keep them folded.....if she says she is done then put them away. my mom gave me my blue blankie when i moved out. :) it made me cry. :)

Some kids never give them up. My 14 year old daughter still has her "bunny" and even takes it with her when she goes to sleepovers (of course she hides it in her pillowcase but she knows it's there). She's had it for 13 years and it's super ratted up, dirty and nasty, but she loves her bunny! My 10 year old has about 5 lovies and I doubt she will give any of them up. She's quite attached.

My daughter will go off to college in the fall with hers. It stays under her pillow! Its see thru just about!

She also had a "flip kitty" (white beanie baby cat names "Flip" on the tag). She quit needing that about age 8 or so and it went to a special treasure box in the closet.

If you still have scraps of the old one, make her a special blankie jar with it for a shelf or dresser. Get a large canning type jar and put the blankie scraps in it with some other tidbits of hers....and other things..colorful buttons, a photo of her, whatever small things and seal it up good as a keepsake. Jars are a great way to make keepsake reminders as you go thru your childs life....great shelf-sitters all over your home!

Eventually they will outgrow needing them so much....but that doesn't mean they don't need (or want) them at ALL. My daughter slowly stopped carrying Pluto around in the car everywhere (including buckling him in his own seatbelt) but still had to sleep with him. Then it didn't have to be HIM, she would rotate through her collection of stuffed dogs. She's 10 now, and got a pillow pet for Xmas 2 Xmases ago... that's about when she stopped sleeping with a 'lovey' every single night. Now she just uses her pillow pet, and takes that on trips with us, lol. One day she'll put that away too, I'm sure. Her stuffed dogs are all in bins that slide under her bed. She still knows all their names.

Our son had a stuffed snowman that he slept with every night from the time he was about 8 months old. He got left behind at a hotel once, but we noticed the next night (duh!) and called the hotel. The housekeeping manager was on duty and located him and mailed him back to us. After that, he stopped taking him on trips. He was probably about 7 or 8 then. Around age 9, he started putting him in the closet when other kids were at our house (he didn't want them playing with him, so he put him up on a shelf tucked into the back of his closet, hidden). Eventually, he just one day didn't take him back out of the closet. He's still up on a high shelf in there somewhere. My son is 13, but I'm sure he knows EXACTLY where "Mr. Snowman" is. Probably the ONLY thing he knows exactly where is, too.....
He's a pretty sentimental kid. Not just about that, but other things, too. I would not be surprised if he takes him with him to college. Or if he decides he is 'safer' left at home. Nor would I be surprised if he collects him from home when he is grown and gets married and has his own home..... but I don't think he'll "share" him with any kids he might have. lol

Yes, they usually give them up on their own, my son did. But I would keep it around just in case. Plus, as they get older they like you to tell stories about them. Where they got it from, why they liked it, when and how they needed it, what they called it, etc.... My son's was a crocheted light blue blankie we called "Blue blue blankie" or "Blue blue" for short. Even when he was older and didn't need "Blue blue" on a regular basis he would still ask for it periodically. He's 12 now and obviously doesn't need it, but it's in his room and we periodically reminisce about it.

heh. my grown sons STILL keep their woobies in their rooms somewhere. i have no clue at what age they stopped 'needing' them because i never felt the need to deprive them of them. i mean, they were toddlers when they quit bringing them everywhere.
:) khairete
S.

My boys never gave theirs up. My oldest is 14 and still has his blankie and his stuffed snake on a shelf in his armoir near his bed. He didn't stop sleeping with them until he was about 9 (unless he had friends over, then he put them away). My youngest will be 8 next week, and he has a blankie and a giraffe that he still sleeps with, and often carries around the house. I don't see them going anywhere anytime soon. :)

As for your daughter, I agree with the others. I would put it away, but keep it nearby in case she asks for it. Not all kids are as attached to their loveys as my boys are, but in case she wants her blankie back, you'll have it.

My youngest DD is 10 and she still loves her little stuffed monkey named "Harry" She doesn't sleep with him every night, but often she asks for him, and she goes and gets him on her own when she's feeling the need for comfort. We kind of worried about her a few years ago she was so attached, we tried to have conversations with her about "Harry" not being a real creature with feelings, etc. She just said, "how do you know, they could have given him a little heart" Awwwww. Love that lovey. Never put them away, IMO. "Harry" is actually a baby monkey stuffy that came attached to the mama monkey at Disney that DD's older SISTER picked out at Disney when they were 4 and 6, but "Harry" became hers. The next time we went to Disney we found carts full of brand new "Harry" monkeys, but they were nothing compared to the worn down ragged one she loves.

I would leave it on her bed just a little while longer.. Just so she can see it.

If you put it away she may revert back to it.. Not that there is anything wrong with it.. But make sure she is really finished with it..

Maybe when you change all of the sheets on her bed.. Ask her if she wants to put it in her closet or a drawer for when it gets cold again and see how she reacts.

My son just turned 4 and he has had a teddy bear attached to a small blanket since he was about 4 months old. It was only after getting it that he was able to sleep through the night and self soothe. He never really took it out of the house (he would not accept a replacement) and even now asks for it before bed, if he wakes up at night, and in the morning. So I don't think he is giving it up! I think he would have a very hard time sleeping without it.

Each child is different. I bought a "replacement" early on for my daughter, just in case. It's in my closet. I found it on e-bay. She sleeps with Panket (pink blanket) and if she manages to get it into the car with us when we go out, it must stay in the car and wait. I won't make her give it up or take it away, I'll let her decide.

I'm 31 and still have a "blanket", not my original but a replacement that I chose myself. My parents decide I was too old and stored my original away, I went through several replacements including sheets, a pillow case and now my quilt. Quilt is torn and folded up on my night stand so I can reach over and pet it when I need to. I also still have my teddy bear from infancy, he's sitting on the floor beside the bed. My husband jokes and calls him "the other man" in my life. I took Huggie to slumber parties and got teased be cause he's ratty and well loved, but I love him and would never give him up for anything.

My matron of honor still has hers. She took it with her to college, backpacking in Europe, and to grad school.

My 18 year old daughter's "lovey" was my Gund bear and she found it when she was real young. Life was great, she never tried to bring him to school but he did vacation quite a bit with us . On December 23, 1999 we "misplaced" him in PARIS, FRANCE. We ultimately found him, she loves French people and the idea of the replacement hit me then. I located a great looking one on E-Bay and planned it for her birthday six months later. She was so sweet when she opened it "oh, this one's for you mommy". She wants nothing to do with the replacement and the original is BEAT-UP!! As long as she doesn't actually bring him to classes I'm fine. He does make a great pillow for her when I'm driving home late from San Diego.

So to answer your question: mine has not given it up on her own but she makes good choices obviously..

i say put it away but if she asks for it fold it up and put it back on the bed.. most of the kids i know will give them up ontheir own.. however im not ashamed to admit that at 23 yrs old wen i go to sleep i have to have i my bunny sitting on my bed (who is all ragged and full of holes and missing an ear) that i refused to let go of til i was like 4 or 5 .. i have a cousin thats the same way.. shes the same age as me and her stuffed dog that she carried around still sits on her bed too .. so id consider yourself lucky that she decided that at 2 she doesnt need it anymore

You could put it up in the closet and see if she asks for it and needs it, then you'd have it. My guy will be 3 next month and has a bear for a lovey, "Arnold", and he shows no signs of giving him up and I haven't been able to find a replacement...could get scary if anything happens to him!

My mom used to always tell me the story of when I was a baby and I had a blanket that I LOVED. When she could tell that I wasn't SUPER crazy into it anymore, to get rid of it at night and such, she eventually had me "give it to my baby doll." So she said "Maybe baby should have the blanket now since your not a baby. It helped you through so much." I apparently agreed and "tucked" baby in at night with blankie and go to bed myself. But, if she doesn't ask for it, I just wouldn't remind her.