Stuffed Animal Hoarding - Long Valley,NJ

My daughter turned 3 yesterday and is doing the same thing lately. Although with us, it's more like 10 stuffed animals, all the Toy Story characters, and a bunch of rubber farm animals and dinosaurs we bought at Toys R Us that she keeps in a basket. We take them all upstairs in the evening, then a lot of them end up in her bed (on a pillow next to her, or at the bottom of the bed), then in the AM we take a bunch downstairs to play with during the day. If one is misplaced or me or my husband put it somewhere else from where she put it, she'll know right the way. So no worries, it's perfectly normal what your son is doing. Probably just another phase, like everything else at this age. Good luck.

My son was doing that up until about a year ago (he is six now). It would drive me nuts because he would bring a huge pile of them down every morning and they would just sit on the end of the couch all day. But of course he would throw a fit if I tried to put them in his room during the day. And don't even get me started on how I felt when we were getting ready to read before bed only to realize they were still downstairs on the couch.

I'm not exactly sure when he stopped, though I know I would talk to him a lot, especially when he was going to school every morning, and point out how he wasn't even playing with them. Eventually he just stopped, though he still has a couple that must be part of the ones in his bed each night. So there is hope!

6 of them is not hoarding, not at that age!! When my daughter was that age, you could barely see her in her bed, there were so many animals on it! And they all had names, and had a specific place on her bed, and if one of them fell out at night, we'd get woken up to put it back in bed. Don't worry, it's just a phase. My daughter is now 4 and only has two animals in her bed, and she can pick them up herself if one of them falls, but I don't think she bothers.

You should take pictures of him with his animals in bed. They'll make for sweet memories in a year or two!

Kids like to sleep with toys and books they find comfort in. My son often will take random toys and what not to bed. He will latch onto something for a while then switch it up. Sleeping with the stuffed animals appears to be comforting to your son. I recall sleeping with all my stuffed animals in my bed with me when i was young. Sometimes I wonder how I even fit into the bed :) I still keep one of my favorite bears on my nightstand...and won't let anyone touch it :)

My daughter is almost 2 and does the same thing. She will carry a huge arm full and then if one falls, start screaming - Bear! Big Bird! Ernie! Froggie!
I think its normal & sweet. When she wakes up in the morning, she starts talking to them!

6 is not a lot. Let him enjoy them, and you should enjoy his delight in them. They are only little once. Childhood joys are too precious to be concerned about. When he gets older, the 2 of you will be laughing about it. My son did that too...Taking them all to bed, so we would just leave them on the bed. It's easier that way....As long as you don't have to kiss each one "good night." (Ha, ha, ha.) I think for boys, it's a way to get in touch with their soft side since I noticed the softer the stuffed animal, the better.

Sounds pretty normal.