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Home › Articles › Toddlers › A Hard Habit to Break

A Hard Habit to Break

Part Four

Baby Blanket Bingo

By April E. Clark

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Since 1952, Peanuts comic strip character Linus Van Pelt has found comfort in his baby blue "security" blanket. If that image of lovable Linus is likeable to your child, there's no reason to worry that this common habit is a bad one.

"Studies have shown that children who are attached to security blankets are securely attached to their mothers and psychologically healthy," says Dr. Julie Lumeng, of the University of Michigan's Center for Human Growth and Development in Ann Arbor, Mich. "The same studies show that when these children are in stressful or new situations – for example a new playgroup, preschool, going to the doctor's office, a babysitter – that if they have a security blanket they are much better able to keep themselves calm than children who do not have such an object. These children are actually better able to socialize, to learn and to regulate their emotions when they have a security blanket."

Becky Povinelli, a mother of three daughters from Indianapolis, Ind., recalls her youngest daughter's connection to her "blankie," which was a handmade gift from a family friend when Jenny was born. "It was in Jenny's crib when she was a newborn and then she literally carried it with her everywhere as a toddler," she says. "It really provided a sense of security for her."

According to Dr. Lumeng, studies of children's attachments to blankets have shown that their habit is most intense between 18 and 24 months of age, declining from there. However, at 36 months, more than half of children are still attached to their blankets. "There is no specific age at which a child should no longer be attached," says Dr. Lumeng. "Children can retain their affection for a cherished attachment object like a blanket well into adolescence. In fact, how many adults still keep a childhood attachment object in a trunk in the attic for the sentimental value?"

Lynn Smith, a mother of three from Houston, Texas, says her oldest daughter's security blanket was a cherished object that she still remembers more than a decade later. "I bought my daughter's blanket at a craft show before she was born," she says. "It was a handmade blanket with a lace border in a colorful wrapped-candy print. She slept with it as a baby and carried it everywhere with her in the toddler years. She had one special corner that she would wrap around her hand, then suck part of the blanket along with her thumb. She could even find this corner in the dark. She told us it smelled different. Her blanket had to go everywhere with her, or she would not sleep. As soon as she could grab for things, we knew that this would be her special blanket. We just recently found this blanket while cleaning out our closets. She is now 13, but still remembers it."

Emotions in Motion
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