The Blankey, The Soother, The Teddy Bear

Every one who has had an infant, toddler and preschooler know that their comfort tool such as a soother, blankey or teddy bear, is most important to them. They cant sleep without it, relax without it, sometimes even eat without it. But when is the right time to toss that comfort tool and allow them to carry on without it?

Ben has a blankey, he calls it "Baba" When he was 6 months old and we had just left his father I began rocking him in his stroller to fall asleep because he would not go down on his own. Id transfer him the minute he was asleep and he was fine, but eventually realized that I should not be spending 2 hours rocking my baby to sleep. That is when I introduced him to "Baba". He took to his blankey right away, and he began to suck it like a soother which helped put him to sleep (Ben never took to a soother). After that he could not go anywhere without "Baba". He could not fall asleep without it, relax without it, enjoy a car ride without it, and he even had to have "Baba" on his chair while he ate his meals. Today Ben still needs "Baba" for the majority of these things and he is already 3 years old. I have asked his doctor how to put a stop to his attachment and she only suggested cutting it up into smaller pieces. She did not see an issue with him having such a strong attachment to his blanket.

We were in Florida last year and Ben had lost his "Baba" at an outdoor shopping centre. We decided to wait until the following day to buy him a new one thinking that he would not take to that new one. The night without "Baba" was excruciating, Ben cried all night like he had lost his bestfriend and I cried right along with him. The next day we bought a new blanket and amazingly Ben took to it but he did not suck it which I was so happy about. For 2 weeks he did not suck new "Baba" and thought that he had broken that habit until he fell ill. He was sick with the flu and needed that comfort so he began to suck on his new blanket. It has not stopped since.

Now my question for all you single mothers out there, how did you take away your child's comfort tool? When is the right age? What is the right way? Do you ease into it?

Would love to hear your advice on this subject!

Thanks!
-Staci SMFS