Before I hear any “Awww’s,” please take a closer look. Can you spot what this sweet, innocent face has distracted your attention from that is out of place? If you guessed blanket, you are correct.
Why-does-my-child-refuse-to-use-a-blanket (properly)?!
That balled up rag beneath her porcelain face has been her “blankie” since the day she was born. What was once a soft, fuzzy, luxurious pink baby blanket is now a perpetually gray, odoriffic, floor mop/ lovey/ pillow. After two years, this blanket has seen over a dozen cities, aircrafts, hotel rooms, department stores, stroller rides, living room picnics, you name it, it’s been there. I should have known that after all this I’d have a Linus on my hands. I even purchased an exact replica (same brand, color, everything) early on in her life as a back up. I ran it through the washer a few dozen times to give it that faded, disheveled look too.
Nope, denied.
Ella is now 27 months old, and she still refuses to wear covers when she sleeps. Even her beloved blankie cannot lie upon her contorted body while she’s asleep. Granted, she was born during the summer in Southern California, but come on. We live in Massachusetts now! It is eternally colder in our heated apartment than it ever was in San Diego in the dead of winter. I’m wearing a parka while I make my bowl of Chex in the mornings, so I know she must be cold.
Due to her constant protest for any hint of blanket material to touch her hypersensitive, discerning skin, we’ve been forced to dress her in nearly ski attire for her bedtime. This was cute for about a year, but now I’m really beginning to worry.
Is this normal behavior? Are the Academy of Pediatrics recommendations to remove all quilts, blankets, and comforters from cribs just a cover-up for a large nation-wide plan to put baby blanket manufacturers out of business? Or parents out of their minds?