How long does baby's first special stuffy last?

Question

My son chose his favourite stuffed animal at 9mths old (it was a christmas gift) and ever since then he's slobbered on it, thrown up on it, won't sleep without it, and comforts him when he's sick. Its a black and white dog thats been washed about half a dozen times so far, and has no stuffing left in its neck or tail.

How long do young toddlers hold onto their favourite stuffy before turning to a new one? if ever? I am concerned about the life expectancy of 'puppy'...I don't want him to die and have to replace him with difficulty lol. :P

My son is now 14mths old.

Answer 1

A friend of mine has a fluffy [well it was soft and fluffy now its just kinda...attempted fluffy?] lamb and shes had it since day one. Shes two now and drags it everywhere its stained and ragged but she loves it and wont sleep without it. lol i suggest you buy more of the same one for later if you can >.< cause some people never grow out of em

Answer 2

Well, first of all i have to say that i still have my stuffed animal from when i was young.  Many children do keep their precious stuffed animals until they grow up.  It isn't really that weird or abnormal to keep your stuffed animal and have it around just in case you need it for support.  Now because the dog has no stuffing in his head or tail you can always undo it and put stuffing back into or have it done professionally.

xoxo

danceforeva

Answer 3

My daughter is 24 yrs old and she still has her Hamlet (a Gund) piglet which she got from a friend for her first Xmas. It was just the ideal size for a 9-month old to carry and cuddle. It's still on her bed.

Answer 4

My son was attached to a dog and when it got totally beyond repair, I took him to choose one, we hugged and squeezed nearly every one in the shop!!!

It still sits on his bed now and he's 14!!!!

Answer 5

maybe you could take him to a place where he could pick out another stuffed animal.

Answer 6

well

my sis is 14 and she still has it

but she keeps it in a glass container

Answer 7

I've had Kitty for the past 20 1/2 years(I'm 20 now!) and I;ve had her since.

You can get him another stuffed animal, but nothing will ever replace his favorite and first stuffy.  Don't replace it.

My daughter got a build-a-bear when she was first born and her name is Kimbie and my daughter is almost 4. I've had to fix up Kimbie quite a lot!

Answer 8

I still have my Smokey Bear and now its my daughters LOL

She had latched on to a Woody doll and we had to take it everywhere and she wanted to make him walk too LOL I told her she had to carry him. She still has him on her bed at 9, funny thing is she had not even seen Toy Story, she just loved him. My youngest latched on to one at 6 months and still sleeps with it at 7. I loved my Smokey Bear, so I have no problem with my kids having it for a long time. At about 3.5 I made her stop taking it everywhere, we lost it once in Wal-Mart and luckily a nice person had set it on a shelf. After that she (pink baby) stayed home unless going to family, though I have had to run to grandma's at 10:00 pm for her as well.

We have just sewn and patched pink baby to the best of our ability, it helped once she quit packing it everywhere though.

Answer 9

1-2 years... buy a new one that is exactly the same now and he probably won't know the difference...

Answer 10

I got a stuffed polar bear which was about my size when I received it (my 3rd Christmas). I didn't sleep one night without it until I was about 16 years old (other than slumber parties) - although, by then, it was more of a body pillow. It might be a while. Just keep patching it up as best you can. My mom performed a lot of surgeries on "Teresa" over the years... :)

Answer 11

I feel lucky because my son has an array of special stuffies.  Some are more precious to him than others, but we rotate them through a bit so that none of them get too worn.  We have 5 that we use, and I'm able to pull one out every now and then and replace it with a new one, so that we can preserve their lives a bit.

Is it possible that you can get his puppy a new friend?  He doesn't have to really like it now, but if he sees something around now that is there with him when he sleeps now, he may be more willing to let go of his puppy when it does die.

Answer 12

it just depends.  Mine lasted until I was 18 and was so shredded looking that it eventually was just rags and  I think somebody threw it away.  It couldn't hardly sleep that night.

Answer 13

my daughter is almost 3 yrs and takes her bear everywhere, mostly for sleeping now, we bought two more when she started getting attached at about 3 mths, so we could wash them easliy, so now knows there are three, but knows she can only have one at a time, as they dont like sharing her cuddles!!

Answer 14

My son has had the same bear (which he has been given the loving name of 'Stinky Bear' by our son) since he was born. He is now 3 and I see no end in sight of poor stinky bears affection.

He came by the name honestly, he stinks! he been through the ringer more than any stuff toy deserves to be haha

Answer 15

My son has had a blue bunny since he was 4 months old, he'll now be turning 3 in September. It is completely ragged. And has gone through a battle with our jack russell which resulted in an open back, no stuffing, and a missing eye. But he loves it and sleeps with it every night.

Edit: Oh and I am 22, married, lol and a mommy of three and I still have my baby blanket that is usually folded nice and neat on my chaise :)