Why We Should Hold On To Our Childhood Blankies

Whenever we're on the cusp of a big, new step in our lives, we're likely going to feel anxious about it. Even if it's something we're really looking forward to, any kind of big change can be a scary one. Uncertainty in where we're going and the uncharted territory that lies ahead can let our imagination fill in the blanks in the worst possible way. Whether we remember it or not, this is hardly a new phenomenon for us.

It's important to remember that for very young children, all sorts of new sensations feel big and foreign because many of them are happening at once. Whether they cry when this feeling comes on or not, there's a certain cautious care on their faces with every new experience.

When things get a little too overwhelming, these children will turn to the comfort of their parent. Yet, the way life goes, that parent won't always be around. So what can they do when they're left alone?

For many children, they'll seek comfort in a familiar object. It's often a blanket or a piece of soft cloth, but it can just as easily be a stuffed toy. Whatever it is, they may be unwilling to part with this object, which can be a little worrying for some parents.

Yet, a little context for what's going on behind that attachment will help clear up why it's nothing to worry about. In fact, it may even be a good idea to take some inspiration from these children.

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Some parents may have noticed that their child will only accept one specific object.

This can get frustrating when the object gets old and worn and they try to replace it. No matter how much the new object seems identical to the one before, only the old, worn one will satisfy the little one.

So why is this happening?

A child's comfort object has a specific "character" to them.

They know their blankie isn't alive, but it has a personality of sorts. A kind of intangible quality that can't be copied. Researchers measured this phenomenon by showing children a special "copying machine" that they said could make an exact duplicate of their comfort object.

It didn't do anything of the sort, yet children who had their item "copied" mostly refused to take the supposed duplicate and wanted the original back. Even though the original was right in front of them, they suggested that they were looking at a copy, making it worthless to them.

This "character" we assign to specific objects isn't something we outgrow, either.

After all, consider the value of an original work of art compared to a very skilled forgery. Even if they're exactly the same in form, only the original has any value in the art world.

Before the 1970s, child psychologists thought attachment to a blankie was a red flag.

Specifically, they tended to blame a perceived failure of the mother for this kind of attachment. Fortunately, modern research casts doubt on this way of thinking.

For a start, researchers have found no link between comfort objects and "behavior disturbances" in children.

Some research has even found a positive association between object attachment and lower levels of separation anxiety from their mothers.

In fact, security blankets have been found to help children cope with anxious situations in general.

This is because having a familiar object available that they can control allows them to work out the situation they're in and what they need to do to meet their needs.

These needs aren't so different from the ones you have as an adult.

It's likely for this reason that numerous adults report still sleeping with a stuffed animal. While it's hard to get exact numbers, Bruce Hood from the University of Bristol said his experiments on the subject are never short on participants.

Even when adults and older children don't use them, these objects are often still in their thoughts.

An earlier study found that although 21 percent of girls and 12 percent of boys still used theirs at age 14, 73 percent of girls and 45 percent of boys still knew where theirs was.

Researchers also found that women are more likely to use comfort objects than men.

Hood said this is likely due to the social pressure boys experience compelling them to put away soft toys by the time they reach school age.

Adults often can't bring themselves to destroy these objects, either.

To test this, Hood asked subjects to cut up photographs of their childhood objects. By measuring their sweat production as they did this, he found that they experienced a significant amount of stress when cutting up photographs of a comfort item compared to photos of neutral or valuable items.

Curiously, the subjects were distressed even when cutting up a photo of their comfort object that was too blurry to recognize.

While there's not much research on why adults still have them, those who do report using them to relieve stress.

Of her pink cow, Puffalump, 24-year-old Kaitlin Lipe said, "she's been there for me when I've been sick, when I've been lonely and when I really needed a hug and no one was around. She's the Woody and Buzz to my adulthood, really, a reminder of my past and definitely a connection to my family."

Don't forget to SHARE this and reassure anyone who might feel strange about these little helpers.