We’ve been having some sleeping difficulties over the past month or so. Last week after two nights of practically zero sleep, I became desperate and searched the Wisdom of the Internets for advice. I bought a couple of books and also decided it was time for Thomas to have a “lovie.”
I should probably back up here to say that, as many of you know, Thomas has been a very good sleeper for a long time. He learned to put himself to sleep quite a while ago, and is usually perfectly happy to suck his thumb and lull himself to sleep. The sleep problems we were having began because of travel and disruptions of routine and continued because of a bad cold, and because of those two factors, Will and I were leaping to the rescue too quickly, preventing Thomas from putting himself back to sleep. In fact, I think our intrusions actually woke him up rather than helping him to sleep. But, needless to say, we’re back to a routine, over the cold, and Will and I have stopped intruding, so things are basically getting back to normal. Thank GOD.
Anyway, that’s not the point of this post. The point of this post is that in my desperation to solve this problem, I bought Thomas one of these:
It’s a 13″ square blankie, with satin edges and backing and a super-soft plush polka-dotted front. (More info available at amazon, if you’re interested.)
The idea, of course, is that Thomas has something (read: something that is not mommy or daddy) there in the crib with him that feels soft and nice and helps him to fall back asleep when he awakens in the middle of the night.
What with all the warnings about SIDS, we had until this point not let him have anything in the crib with him (no bumpers, no blankets, no toys, pillows, etc.), but now that he can crawl and sit up, I am convinced that he’s strong enough to be able to move his head around if something is obstructing his breathing. But that’s why I went for this little blanket rather than giving him something we already own. We had a few good candidates (especially the awesome fuzzy hippo blanket that my Aunt Jan gave him, which he loves loves LOVES to play with, but which seemed to me a little too big and fluffy to have in the crib at this point…). I really wanted something small and lightweight.
At any rate, it seems to be a success. When we offer it to Thomas at naptime and bedtime, he clutches it close and jams it and/or his thumb into his mouth. If he still likes it a week or so from now, I’ll probably buy a couple more, one for the babysitter’s house and one to keep as a backup in case this one is in the laundry, or (heaven forbid) it gets lost.
Anyway, this got me thinking about the security blanket–aka “Pink Blankie”–I loved when I was a little kid. I was pretty seriously attached to it; in particular, I used to hold it in my right hand and use it to press my earlobe gently into my ear. For some reason that felt so, so, good. (Actually, I just tried it right now, sans blanket, of course, and it still feels nice and comforting and sleepy-like. You should try it.) I’m guessing that’s what I did to help get to sleep when I was an infant and toddler.
My mom was a part-time stay-at-home mom and part-time piano teacher, so occasionally, before I was kindergarten-aged, I would go to my town’s (municipal?) day care center for a day or an afternoon. Once while I was there, Pink Blankie got lost. I’m sure someone mistakenly took it home. But I was so attached to that blanket that every time I went back to the day care center, I would spend the majority of my time looking for it. I would search through all the toy bins, all the cubbies, behind the beds, in dark and forlorn corners, everywhere I could think to look, always in search of my Pink Blankie El Dorado. But it was all to no avail. My memories from that pre-school era don’t include very much awareness of time, so I have no idea if I was at the center once a week or once a month, and neither do I know if my search for the blanket lasted months or years. But I do know that the loss of and search for Pink Blankie is my strongest memory of the day care center (well, that, and my memory of the evil woman Vickie who worked there, but that’s another story).
So all of this got me thinking: did you have a security blanket (or stuffed animal or other object)? Did it have a name? Was it only a bedtime buddy, or was it an all-day companion? Were there certain ways you held it or played with it that were particularly comforting? How old were you when it no longer held a special place in your life?
