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A Hard Habit to Break
Part Four Baby Blanket Bingo
By April E. Clark
Dr. Lumeng reports that the biggest question on the minds of most parents who are concerned about their child's blanket attachment is: When would you expect a child to stop using the object regularly and in public settings? She says this answer often varies, depending on the emotional development of the child.
"There is no hard and fast rule about this, but generally speaking, at the outside limits, you would expect a child who is still bringing their blanket to the kindergarten classroom to be able to reduce their reliance on it within those first few months," she says. "For children who are shy or inhibited or easily overwhelmed, a security blanket is a wonderful tool. If the goal of early childhood is to help children develop the ability to regulate their emotions (to stop from falling apart into a tantrum when a parent drops them off at childcare or a child pushes them) and having a security blanket assists them in doing so, it is a wonderful tool."
Dr. Lumeng also notes that recent studies support the benefits of a child being attached to a blanket. "Children primarily use these attachment objects or 'transitional objects' like blankets as they are falling asleep, and it helps them to do so," she says. "If a 10-year-old still has a special blanket in bed with him/her that is part of their bedtime ritual or routine and it helps them fall asleep, there is no reason (psychological or otherwise) that a parent should feel the need to take it away. This should be the child's choice. Second, studies have shown that children's use of security blankets varies based on their temperament. Temperament is thought to be an inborn character trait – a way of responding to certain situations. In other words, does the child 'jump in' to a new situation, or is the child 'slow to warm up,' or is the child persistently very shy? All of these behaviors are in the normal range, and all have good and bad things about them."
