Motherhood comes with a host of choices about what is best for you, your family, and your children. We at Boston Moms Blog are a diverse group of moms who want to embrace these choices instead of feel guilty or judged for them! Our “Parenting Perspectives” series is currently focused on the topic of comfort items. Our contributors will share their experiences with comfort items for their children.
My daughter had no love for lovies. Or pacis. Or teethers. Or stuffed animals. Or really anything that promised to sooth or comfort her. My girl was stoic — or stubborn. And I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree — or so I’ve been told (hi, Mom).
It’s not that we didn’t try. A few hours after P was born, the nurses took her for blood work. When they wheeled her back into my room an hour later, she was blissfully sleeping, pacifier and all. “Aww, how cute,” I thought. She loves her paci. And she’ll be totally soothed by it when she’s cranky.
I don’t know if it was the sleepy newborn state or the hospital environment, but as soon as we got home she opted to spit the paci out anytime it was offered. And so I turned to Dr. Google. And everyone said to try different kinds of pacifiers. And so I sent the husband to Target with simple instructions: Buy. Every. Single. Pacifier. $50 and 2,000 pacis later, still no luck.
Later we tried the cute little lovies that we got by the dozen from friends and family. My daughter took one look at them and turned her head. As if, “Mom, stuffed animals? Nah.” We have a huge collection crammed into storage in our basement. (Side note — where, oh where can you donate these things?)
And then she started teething. Surely she would take a teether shaped like a butterfly. Or the cloth strawberry. Or the one iced in the freezer. Or the one that vibrated and claimed to be the best at soothing sore gums. Um, no. No, no, and no.
And that’s my girl for you. She was never into comfort items. And as you can tell, we tried them all. It made things challenging for sure. She wanted to nurse more or be held more — that human comfort. But recently, she’s become attached to a baby doll my Mom bought her. She likes napping and sleeping with her at night. Maybe she just needed some time to grow into her comfort item? I’m not sure, but it sure is cute.
What about you? What comfort items did your kid love or hate?
Parenting Perspectives: We Love the Lovey
Parenting Perspectives: My Kids Suck Their Fingers
