5 Year Old Son Chews on Blanket

i'm with Roxanna.(whom always seems to have great input!) maybe if you're set on the cold turkey approach, you could have him put it in a box (cleverly named, of course.) so he can keep it safe.i think that was an issue w/ my niece when it came time for her to get rid of "Mr. Knots" she needed to know it wasn't going away, just saving it for later. good luck!

J. -

I would say that if you are concerned about how this could be affecting his dental health then you might feel better talking to a dentist about it. I was overly concerned, with my now 9 year old, when he sucked his thumb worrying he would have some major overbite. I took him to the dentist and mentioned it and the dentist told me that I was worrying unnecessarily about it. Well, when I stopped worrying over it he really began to quit on his own. I don't *think* he sucks his thumb now so I think that maybe just not making a big deal about it but instead maybe making comments such as, "wow, (insert name here), I haven't seen you chewing on your blankie lately, you must be getting to be such a BIG boy now!" Little comments like that here and there will boost him up and maybe get rid of the urge to do that.
If you are bent on getting it gone then I have two words for you - cold turkey! That's the easiest way. But, I personally think kids do better kicking it themselves whenever possible. Remember...5/6 years old is still pretty little! I wouldn't worry too much yet!
Have a super day! :)

I'm another Harrisonville Mom, and I can commiserate with how hard it is to break a soothing habit. The "binky fairy" visted our house this week and took all the binky's (pacifiers) away. My daughter will be three in July, and she is very verbal. I will say, though, that it only took about three days to get through the "drama." Our shift came when the dentist explained what damage it can do to her mouth. Perhaps a visit to the dentist would help your son? Especially since he is five and can really listen and talk to the dentist. I recommend "A World of Smiles" in Harrisonville. Very kid friendly! I know what heartbreak it can bring to "push" them toward growing up. Keep your chin up--you are doing a good job!
S. Jarman
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Perhaps run it by a few dentists, but its probably similar to thumb-sucking where the majority dentist opinion ended up being "don't worry about it - the teeth will straighten on their own later".

I agree that he might not be ready to get rid of the blanket. Forcing this before he's ready might turn out totally fine, but there's a chance this experience of loss could be very traumatic & harmful longterm. I always like to let kids do things on their own timetable - when it's CLEARLY well past time to let go of a "younger" habit, your kid will have a sense of this too & it'll be an easy conversation. "You know, Son, I don't think any other 10 year olds still sleep with their chewed up old baby blanket. Maybe you better let me put that in a safe place for you." "Yeah, Mom, you're right. Here you go." LOL. OK, 10's a little extreme but you get my idea. Kids will do these transitions on their own almost always, and when there's no question that it's way past time, really it shouldn't be that bad when you point it out. First sleepover with friends might be the trigger to lose the blanket for example.

Some people never give up their night-time security items. As a doula I've learned that it is not uncommon for mom to have a special baby pillow or stuffed animal or cloth of some kind that's been her comfort item her whole life. She uses it heavily the first 1/2 of labor for comfort (I am sure to remove it from harm's way when labor gets really intense but she uses it through the first half or more). True these have been first-time moms more often than not, but not necessarily young (mid-late 20's). I also had a friend once who still sucked her thumb at night in her mid-20s & she was a mother of 2. And her teeth were fine - go figure.

My 7 year old was a "blanket" baby.
She had her "little blue blanket" which was actually a dress scarf of mine that I'd let her play with. She COULD NOT go to sleep without it for the longest time. She would play with it all day in various ways, then at night she'd put it across her face or wrap it around her hand & arm & sometimes suck her thumb through it. Glad she didn't chew on it because it wouldn't have held up. She weened herself from her little blue blanket on her own in a very deliberate way. She would say "I think I'm getting too old for this, I don't want to sleep with my little blue blanket tonight". Then sometimes she'd panic & change her mind & run & grab it. But other times she slept without it. It was soon long forgotten. But as soon as the little blue blanket was gone, she started chewing on her sleeves (actually I think those habits overlapped some). This was a bigger problem because she was ruining clothes that she loved. She eventually stopped that crazy habit mostly on her own (we did press the issue on this one but there was nothing we could take away from her cold turkey - it's not like we could just not give her access to anything with sleeves!) Oh & she chewed on her hair for a while too but her big sister laid into her about that one more than we did & she was able to stop that one without too much trouble.

So now (at just 7) all she has left is occasionally sucking/chewing on her inner-upper arm (yikes). I actually don't even know how she can reach that spot. But she gives herself little hickies. It'd been a while since I'd seen one, but I saw one just yesterday evening. Again her big sister was the really horrified one & made her go show me (I'd actually already noticed it.) We talked about how she was actually injuring her body a little bit when she does that even though it isn't painful, and it's really not a good thing. She seemed to get it this time. We'll see.

I think your son is fine. Don't worry about it just yet.

:)
S.
Mother of 6

I'm working on this too! My son (now 4) got a fringed fleece blanket as a baby gift, and I have refringed it several times because he sucks and chews on it until they are almost ready to fall off. The last time, I didn't refringe it, and he looked at me and said, all sad, "It's broken!" Now he just sticks the whole corner into his mouth. He also has an overbite from it. We've got him down to mainly just at bedtime, but other than just going cold turkey, there's not much farther we can go. I'd like to say bye-bye to it, not jsut because of what it's doing to his teeth, but the smell! Its name changes from Blankie to Stinky after about two nights, and I'm constantly washing and bleaching the dang thing. So, I guess I don't really have any advice for you, but you're certainly not alone with this!

I don't have any suggestions, but my son who is 6 yrs. old has chewed/sucked the fuzzies out of his stuffed animals since he was a baby. I've never thought about trying to stop him. It's just how he comforts himself. I figure he will stop when he doesn't need a 'lovey' anymore.
Good Luck & God Bless!

It would have been easier at 2 or 3 but the blanket needs to dissapear. I wouldn't throw it away but put it were it won't be found.