I have known many people over the years that seem to have an extreme dislike for children becoming attached to comfort items. Countless times I have seen parents introduce a comfort item to their child, such as a pacifier or a stuffed animal, just to spend an enormous amount of effort directly afterwards on taking it away. A lot of parents set very specific time limits on when the blanket or the bottle should be taken away for good, often times much sooner than when the child is naturally old enough to comfort themselves without it. These parents cannot be blamed however, in this day and age all we hear about are what we should and should not do, and at what times, from doctors and in parenting books. What I think parents should try to remember is to always follow their instincts first, and to just go with the flow.
We give these things to our children with the intent of comforting them when they aren’t capable of comforting themselves. In light of this, shouldn’t we let them keep these things until we determine for ourselves that they don’t need them anymore? I think we, as parents, are more than able to decide when our kids are ready to be without a pacifier, a bottle, or a special blanket. No doctor or book should be making the decisions for us, or pressuring us to do things by a certain magical age. We know when our kids are ready. I gave into these pressures with my older son when he was a baby. I was young and impressionable, and I felt like I was required to take advice from certain people and follow through with it. I took the pacifier from him at seven months old, when he was still very much reliant on it for comfort, and I still regret it to this day. It simply led to an attachment to his bottle and subsequently to his sippy cup. It was as if I simply traded one attachment for another, and if you ask me the pacifier is a better alternative for healthy teeth and the like. It also required a lot of crying and unhappy days to accomplish this, which I do not enjoy looking back on. To this day I wish I would have just let him keep that thing! I gained absolutely nothing out of taking it away from him so early, except for maybe the approval of onlookers.
I waited until my older son was obviously ready to give up his sippy cup just after turning four, and he has done amazing with it! He was <I>very</I> attached to it up until this point, took it with him everywhere, and needed it at all times. I saw the signs that he was becoming less attached to it and more interested in drinking out of “big boy” cups and straws, and I went for it. I told him how it was going to be, and he agreed. The next day it was regular cups only, and he only nonchalantly asked about his sippy cups a few times after that, otherwise the transition was drama free! Some may say that I allowed him to have it for too long, but I am very happy with the way things went this time around and I wouldn’t do it any other way.
As kids get older, they have an easier time comforting themselves and they grow out of the things that they were attached to for so long. I promise you, you will not have a 14 year old walking around sucking on a pacifier and I haven’t seen many teenagers that still drag their blankies around. Try not to get caught up in the here and now, consumed with the “cut-offs” and the “professional advice” you hear from other people and read in parenting books. Sometimes it’s just about what <I>you </I>feel is right and the cues that your children give you to make the right decisions for them. Give them a little longer with those comfort items, they will only be little for a short while, and there’s no need to worry about what other people think. There is nothing wrong with kids using these special items for comfort. We want our kids to be comfortable! Am I right? It’s natural for them to find comfort in special items, and there is nothing wrong with it in the least. There is no need to rush getting rid of them. You will always know when the time is right and that is what you should always stick with.
We give these things to our children with the intent of comforting them when they aren’t capable of comforting themselves. In light of this, shouldn’t we let them keep these things until we determine for ourselves that they don’t need them anymore? I think we, as parents, are more than able to decide when our kids are ready to be without a pacifier, a bottle, or a special blanket. No doctor or book should be making the decisions for us, or pressuring us to do things by a certain magical age. We know when our kids are ready. I gave into these pressures with my older son when he was a baby. I was young and impressionable, and I felt like I was required to take advice from certain people and follow through with it. I took the pacifier from him at seven months old, when he was still very much reliant on it for comfort, and I still regret it to this day. It simply led to an attachment to his bottle and subsequently to his sippy cup. It was as if I simply traded one attachment for another, and if you ask me the pacifier is a better alternative for healthy teeth and the like. It also required a lot of crying and unhappy days to accomplish this, which I do not enjoy looking back on. To this day I wish I would have just let him keep that thing! I gained absolutely nothing out of taking it away from him so early, except for maybe the approval of onlookers.
I waited until my older son was obviously ready to give up his sippy cup just after turning four, and he has done amazing with it! He was <I>very</I> attached to it up until this point, took it with him everywhere, and needed it at all times. I saw the signs that he was becoming less attached to it and more interested in drinking out of “big boy” cups and straws, and I went for it. I told him how it was going to be, and he agreed. The next day it was regular cups only, and he only nonchalantly asked about his sippy cups a few times after that, otherwise the transition was drama free! Some may say that I allowed him to have it for too long, but I am very happy with the way things went this time around and I wouldn’t do it any other way.
As kids get older, they have an easier time comforting themselves and they grow out of the things that they were attached to for so long. I promise you, you will not have a 14 year old walking around sucking on a pacifier and I haven’t seen many teenagers that still drag their blankies around. Try not to get caught up in the here and now, consumed with the “cut-offs” and the “professional advice” you hear from other people and read in parenting books. Sometimes it’s just about what <I>you </I>feel is right and the cues that your children give you to make the right decisions for them. Give them a little longer with those comfort items, they will only be little for a short while, and there’s no need to worry about what other people think. There is nothing wrong with kids using these special items for comfort. We want our kids to be comfortable! Am I right? It’s natural for them to find comfort in special items, and there is nothing wrong with it in the least. There is no need to rush getting rid of them. You will always know when the time is right and that is what you should always stick with.
My blanky passed away (haha) when I was around 13 and I moved on to a purple teddy bear that I slept with pretty much up until ODS was born, then I started cuddling with him at night instead! 
