Are Stuffed Animals Positive For Your Child?
Stuffed animals have been idealized by many cartoons. It is also demonized by many mothers who are afraid of mites or that their baby might suffocate while playing.
In fact, you can get rid of mites by washing them regularly, especially if it’s an anti-mite stuffed animal. Accidents can also be avoided if you keep them away from the crib when the baby is there.
Also, stuffed animals and blankets have a very positive use. They can be transitional objects that help the child adjust to the daycare or crib when needed.
The truth is that there are different types of plush. For example, a group of scientists recently created a stuffed animal that, through sensors, measures the temperature, heart rate and oxygen level in the blood of children who hug it. Best of all, the kids don’t even realize what the pet is secretly doing.
The measurement is made by the pet in a few seconds. Then, this data is sent by message to the cell phone of the doctor and/or the child’s parents. All this while the child has fun playing. This animal in question is a bear with a plastic heart that lights up in different colors as the temperature changes and flutters at the same rate as the baby’s heart.
However, not everyone can have a “guardian teddy” at home. In fact, the first specimens of this bear are in hospitals in the UK. But at home we can have any teddy bear our children can play with.
Take precautions with stuffed animals
There is no problem buying a stuffed animal for our children. The fact is, these toys themselves are neither good nor bad for our children. Its benefits depend on the use we make, just like with any other object.
The only certainty is that we must take certain precautions, especially if the child is young. It is not convenient for a baby a few months old to sleep in a crib with stuffed animals or pillows because there is a risk of involuntarily suffocating.
Also, stuffed animals or pillows can be a great reservoir for mites. It is for these reasons that plush toys have often been seen as an evil that should be avoided. However, there is a solution for everything. For example, to avoid the risk of suffocation, it is recommended that the baby does not sleep with stuffed animals while he is still very young.
Certainly, the composition of some stuffed animals can help or worsen the condition of a child who has allergies. These toys can accumulate large amounts of dust, mites, pollen and other environmental factors. However, on the market you can find stuffed animals certified by the American Asthma and Allergy Foundation and Allergy Standards Ltd. Many of them are called “Friends of Asthma”
These products are natural, hypoallergenic and respect the environment . One of the instructions for these animals is to freeze them at -18ºC for 24 hours before using and repeat the process every 4 weeks. This procedure aims to eliminate the mites. Therefore, it is recommended to do it at least once a month.
Stuffed animals are an emotional support
In addition to decorative objects, stuffed animals can help your child deal with “separation anxiety”. Almost all children go through this when they are about six months old until they are two, two and a half years old.
Separation anxiety is a feeling a child experiences when he separates from his regular caregiver. For example, separation from the mother. Such a strong bond has been established with this person that any kind of separation can make babies feel insecure.
To overcome this feeling, there are so-called transition objects. According to the English pediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald W. Winnicott, these objects help children to deal with the moments when they need to move from familiar places, such as their own home, to unknown places, such as the nursery. In addition, these new places also involve unknown people, such as caregivers, who, as loving as they are, are definitely not like their mother.
In this way, these transitional objects, which can be a stuffed animal or a blanket, make this process easier for the baby. During this phase, a stuffed animal becomes a loved object because the baby remembers the father and mother. It is a support that offers the necessary security to learn that this separation is transitory and that his parents will always be with him even if at certain times he cannot see them.
The teddy bear will be so dear that you, Mom, will have to take care of it too. You will certainly be responsible for naming it, as well as keeping it safe and clean so your baby sleeps happily and peacefully when you can no longer keep up with him.
