Sanity Savers: Buy an Extra Lovey

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Sanity Savers is a new series featuring quick tips & tricks and products that we use to make our lives easier.  Easy-to-implement, simple, and fast, these ideas and products help our household run smoothly.

When I was pregnant with my oldest, a family friend bought him a lovey.  Being a first time parent, I was confused about why I would want a little blanket with an animal head attached, but I digress.  Fast forward a few months, and I was desperate to teach my son how to “self soothe”.  Everything told me that “self soothing” was the key to getting longer stretches of sleep.  I dug out the lovey and his attachment was almost immediate.  He LOVED that thing!  He would chew on it, rub it on his face, and play with the tag (another seasoned parent tip: never cut off the satin-y tags, babies love those things!).

There was only one problem.  In the nine months between buying the lovey and when my son became attached to it, “Bunny” had been discontinued.  I looked everywhere for a duplicate, but there was none to be found.  This made Bunny a very precious item in our house.  She was irreplaceable, and if we lost her we didn’t know if we’d ever sleep again.  We restricted Bunny to nap and bed time, and only let her out of the house if our son was going to be sleeping elsewhere.  When we travelled we would double and triple check that we had her before we left.  We spent more mental energy keeping track of Bunny than anybody should!

With our second son, and again with our daughter, we were smarter.  When a friend gave us a lovey for my son, my husband went out that same day and bought a duplicate.  With my daughter, we bought a package of two right off the bat (more on why we love these in another post).  We rotated them from the beginning so they would wear at the same rate, and both my younger son and my daughter will happily use either of their loveys.

So, my advice – save yourself the headache and buy duplicate loveys from the start!  Worst case scenario, they don’t become attached to it, and you’re out a little bit of extra money.  Better that than spending the next few years worrying about losing your child’s favourite companion!

Looking for more quick tips?  Check out previous Sanity Savers:

• One Simple Tip to Reduce Food Waste
• Two Simple Rules You Need to Know to Increase Productivity
• Breathable Loveys