My younger son was never a clingy baby. He didn’t really have a favorite toy or TV character.  But around the time he turned two, he developed a relationship with his blanket, which he calls “ya-ya”.  It started slowly, with my son asking for “ya-ya” when he was upset, scared and always at bedtime. Then he would take “ya-ya” as soon as he would come home from day care and drag it around for the rest of the day.  So far, we’ve been able to keep one rule regarding “ya-ya”: it does not leave the house unless we’re going on an overnight trip. However I did catch “ya-ya” trying to sneak in the car with us on several other occasions.

 

You’re probably wondering why I even bother so much with this; just let the boy keep this comfort object. Well, first, my son almost outgrew the darn thing. Second, with all the mileage that “ya-ya” gets, I have to wash it several times a week; with a full time job, it barely makes it out of the dryer in time for bedtime, and if it doesn’t, all hell breaks loose.  And I can’t imagine letting him take it to bed without a wash- who knows what is crawling on that thing.  Third, ever since BBQ season began, every visit we have to a friends’ house, my son whines that he wants to go home. We end up searching our friends’ houses for something that resembles “ya-ya” because otherwise we end up having to go home. Our friends think we’re insane for tolerating this behavior.

 

All the materials I was able to find on the web about “lovey” and comfort objects say that you shouldn’t force the separation. But I can’t get the image out of my head of my son moving away to college with his “ya-ya” in tow. So if anyone has any ideas or suggestions I would appreciate the info.

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