What sleep association does your child have?

[CrazyCatLady]

After years in childcare I'm a big believer in sleep associations. especially a specific blankey or the likes that has been used from very early on. Now with our first bub on the way I'm uming and ahing about what we'll use. I was originally just going to use one of those little soft blankets with a bear head or the likes on it. Get a few so we can rotate them. But then I remembered the old lambskin trick our parents used to do. Almost everyone I knew had a lamb skin in the botom of their cot. This way when mum went to someone elses house or out in the pram you just put the lambskin underneath the baby and it's a familiar smell/feeling etc and baby is settled and at ease (or so the theory goes).

So which do you think is a better option or should I have both? I know the toy/blankey is easier to wash but I reckon the lambskin would be effective from a much earlier age. Did you do something similar with your child and what was it?

[Benji]

My boy was always wrapped in a muslin wrap and he went to sleep all nice and snug with that. Now that he is 2 he has a teddy bear AND a toy puppy :laughing: one on each side.. not to mention his keys, book and sippy cup :rolleyes:

Just look out for SIDS hazards, as some snuggle blankets etc can be known as a hazard, especially if it's something close to their face or something that they could get smothered in.

[jembelina]

The Boob. LOL!!!

[0BleSseD0]

DS has his teddy and pocks. Pocks (while it sounds contagious) is just a pillowcase.

He is allowed to take one small toy (that doesn't light up or make noise) to bed with him.

When DS and DD were infants I never had to do the 'Mummies scent on the go' thing, as they were never without me. :rolleyes:

I do believe in it though, as that's what I used to get DS to sleep in his cot in the first place.

DD has boob right now and I put her into her cot after she goes to sleep.

[AliCat]

We use a sleeping bag for our son, now at 6 months, he knows it's sleep time when we pop him into it.

Works really well and he can't kick it off and get cold.:yelclap:

As for a cuddly toy or blankie, I am waiting for him to pick it himself :yes:

[punkbaby]

First was LaLa the teletubby she would chew its antenna thingy its ten years old now and packed away finally :)
DS has a blankee its shot to sh!t but he wont sleep without it if i had of known he would still have it i would have bought two and washed them together but too late now
DD who is three has to be touching mine or dhs neck pinching it almost, she wont sleep otherwise
DD 7 months needs to have her face snuggled into something, i wrap her loosely she leave a little bit under her head so she can pull it to her face, she wont sleep unless she has something to hold and rub against her cheek, if its not that its the boob and my t shirt

[MummaBear03]

The Boob. LOL!!!
So did mine! Now she has me :)

Probably why she's never never been anywhere away from me where she's had to sleep.

[SalTheGal]

DS has a snuggle minkee blankie that we cut into fours so that we always have a spare.

[sam's mum]

DD1 still sleeps with her teddy bear. It is great that she has something that she loves that has such meaning to her.

the downfall is that it is a specific teddy bear, I have never seen another the same. he has bald patches and the seams are loose in places. when she was 3 she lost him for a couple of days and she was :hissy: hysterical at bed times.

DS we have managed to avoid a specific item. He just has various teddies.

DD2 :slap head: my sister bought a beautiful rabbit for her in England and she has been going to bed with it. It was only this week that I realised what I have done. I am going to start adding something else to the cot as well and then after a while alternate with the rabbit.

[JATS]

Tom had a baby snoopy blanket but hasn't used it for over a year.

As far as the lamb wool underlay: DON'T (http://www.thecauseofsids.org/sheepskins_cause_of_sids.htm)

[0BleSseD0]

Interesting article you have there JATS.

I don't like the idea of having some animals SKIN near my baby anyway. :no:
I would choose cotton flannelette. :yes: Its so soft!!

Maybe just buy some patterned flannelette and make your own blankets that can go with bub everywhere. Then they are unique but you can have a few without a huge price tag. :yes:
Some thin wadding inside would make a lovely pram inlay.

[Ange&Seth]

DS had a TOMY starlight that he loved and I guess that was his association thing. He never attached to any teddy bears or blankets or anything like that.

[Lilyloo]

In the early days, I would wrap my DD before very sleep time. She loved being wrapped up.. I actually only stopped wrapping a few months ago.

We now use a sleep bag, which is a very good sleep association.

[Samaras Mummy]

Boobies :hissy:

[Bron]

What is this sleep thing of which you speak??? :confused:

:laughing:

Seriously, Hamish has an ookie snuggle doll. His evening routine is so completely worked out now that he can go to bed squealing with delight and giggling and still be asleep within one minute with no crying or even grizzling. We have a breastfeed, then shower with dad, into pjs, story while cuddling snuggle doll with either mum or dad, then into sleeping bag in cot, kiss goodnight. Out like a light. He loves this routine. He actually leads us around the house to do it. At about 6 he takes me to the couch and flaps his arms at me until I give him a breastfeed. After the feed, he wriggles to the floor, waits for me to take his clothes off, then he marches nude into the bathroom for his shower. After getting into his pj's he carries his doll into the loungeroom and snuggles in for a story. It's very cute.

Day sleeps it doesn't work though, not at all. Day sleeps we need a blanket, a dummy and to be rocked to sleep.

[Lissa7]

Both my girls have a teddy that goes everywhere with them especially at quite time and bedtime. If you are wanting to use a blanket I'm pretty sure the SIDS website sell a blankie/security type think which they recommend is as safe as it gets.

I think it's nice for them to have something as a little security especially when they are away from mummy & daddy

[♥Heaven Sent♥]

The boob,always has been!

[Harlequin]

The boob unfortunately.

[PreetyInPink]

The Boob. LOL!!!


:laughing::laughing: true that..

[abiishu]

DD has a blankie. I read somewhere that quite often babies will sleep with their blankie over their face, so you need to ensure it is a breathable fabric, rather than one of those satin backed blanket things with the teddy head attached.

Also beware of any kind of stuffed animal full of beans, as if bubs puts this on their face the beans can settle to block their airways! :eek:

For DD, I cut a muslin wrap into four, and these are her blankies. They are great cause she can easily breathe through them if she puts them on her face, and there are four of them for easy rotation when its wash time! And I just poke it down my top for an hour or two so it gets that mummy smell!

[dawnygirl]

When Charlotte was newborn she loved being wrapped in a muslin wrap; kept her nice and warm and snuggly. Now that she's rolling and wriggling and sitting up we don't wrap her anymore. She has a 'sookie'; it's a teddy bears head with a little blanket for a body (I think they're about $12 from Best and Less; her aunty bought it for her when she was born). She only has this when she goes to bed. She also likes to pull the blanket over her heard, which scares me sometimes, but that's just how she's comfortable and feels secure, and I can't really do anything about it!

[Frankie41]

DS routine goes: dinner, bath, pj's, boobie juice, and a particular song.
Occasionally I rock him to sleep lol.

[MilkOnTap]

The whole night routine is a sleep association for Jedd. Dinner, Bath, Dressed, play, read, boobiejuice in-between, sleeping bag (BIG association) Brauers Calm drops and then bed :)

[Hollywood]

Boob......still :D

[AnnabellesMum]

Hi everyone :)

My lil girl is 13 and a half months now. When she was tiny she loved a pink blanky with a bunny head on it (the rattle ones), then for ages she wanted nothing and since 1o months became attached, herself to a Pooh Bear and now is equally as attached to an ugly old doll with hard head and hands, which my sis played with 20 yrs ago! I too am one of her sleep associations, along with my boobs. She is a funny lil thing. So now I sleep with all of them :) We have always coslept. :)

FYI She hates sleep and hardly does it! :P

[Sammilee]

We use a sleeping bag for our son, now at 6 months, he knows it's sleep time when we pop him into it.

Works really well and he can't kick it off and get cold.:yelclap:

As for a cuddly toy or blankie, I am waiting for him to pick it himself :yes:

:iagree:

The sleeping bag is the cue for my DS that it's now time for big sleep. I only use it for night time. For his day time sleeps I just follow the feed-play-sleep routine so he goes down when he shows tired signs after his play time. Rightly or wrongly DH and I didn't want to tie ourselves down to a night time routine (ie. we have to be at home to bath-feed-bed by a certain time) so as long as I have his sleeping bag with us he will fall into a deep sleep anywhere if we are out at night (mostly either at my parents or close friends). Seems to be working for us so far...

As for a toy, if he decides to become attached to a toy when he's older then so be it.

[chicky2lala]

Lucy's is dinner, bath, brush teeth,go through the alphabet, story time with mummy, say goodnight to all to all our fish then bed with her dummy.


Rory has his sheepskin under his sheet in his cot and his little star that lights up and plays lullabys.

[ThisIsLiving]

My kids chose their sleep associations themselves - and both wound up attached to their cot blankets! They both love rubbing their fingers up and down on the satin edging whilst going off to sleep. I didn't encourage it on either of them....it just happened. I'm still laughing about how DS is so much like his big sister and went for exactly the same thing she did as a baby! I was actually hoping he would become attached to a teddy or something, but there you go, its his fav and I'm not about to take it away! :)