Have a Cow, Bro
One of our first purchases for Abbie was a lamb blanket, which we imaginatively call “Lambie Blanket.” It’s about 24-inches long, and shaped like a lamb-version of a bearskin rug. It has four rounded “legs,” a head at the top, and a tail at the back. We acquired this for Abbie because it seemed like a good nighttime comfort object; it’s soft, durable, and, most importantly, machine washable.
The blanket served its purpose with Abbie. She never grew to depend on it to fall asleep; that honor went to burp clothes, which is a good thing since we have two-dozen burp clothes to lose* but only one Lambie Blanket. She does enjoy sleeping with her Lambie Blanket when it’s not shoved under the couch, and she recognizes it as a lamb or sheep, as evidenced by her insistence on retrieving it whenever either animal appears in a book, which is surprisingly often.
When the boys were on their way, we knew we needed to buy similar blankets for them. We couldn’t buy them more Lambie Blankets because we wanted theirs to be different from their sister’s blanket. Plus a lamb is vaguely feminine, and we wanted them to have something vaguely masculine. So, we bought them Cow Blankets. Yes, I know all cows are female. They could be Bull Blankets instead, but that doesn’t roll off the tongue as well.
We let the boys sleep with their Cow Blankets as soon as they came home from the hospital. We were careful to follow all SIDS laws, stowing the blankets at their feet when they were newborns and unable to bring them up to their mouths where they could become asphyxiation hazards. Once they could move better, we draped the blankets over the crib railings to keep them out of reach.
Around six months they were mobile enough to pull the blankets into their cribs. We promptly removed the blankets from their cribs while sleeping to ensure good health. The boys promptly screamed and refused to sleep. We then promptly violated SIDS laws and let them sleep with their Cow Blankets in the interest of avoiding household-wide sleep deprivation.
The boys have slept with their Cow Blankets ever since. We know that when we travel, we have to pack the Cow Blankets along with burp clothes and Lambie Blanket just in case to ensure good sleeping. They’ll fall asleep without their Cow Blankets, but it’s easier on everyone to let them snuggle into slumber.
A strange thing has started happening, though. The boys are throwing their blankets into the other’s crib. At first, both blankets appeared in Ian's crib. Ellie blamed him for stealing his brother’s, but I pointed out that the boys can’t pull the blankets from each other’s cribs yet. That’ll have to wait until they can climb into each other’s cribs in a couple months. Tory must be throwing his blanket into Ian’s crib.
I tested my theory at naptime by spying on them through a slit in the door before shutting it. Before I could set my feet, Tory was standing at the railing dumping his blanket into Ian’s crib. Now I see Ian is returning the favor and dumping his blanket into Tory’s crib.
I’m glad the boys no longer need to cuddle with the blankets to fall asleep, but I wish I knew why they were rejecting their blankets. Maybe they’re being nice and sharing their blankets, but that contradicts every Tasteeo-hoarding, sippy cup-grabbing, block swiping behavior I’ve witnessed in them. Maybe they want extra space in their cribs. Maybe they want to see what happens when the blanket goes over the railing. Maybe I just need to throw those blankets in the washing machine.
* And we have lost most of them.
The blanket served its purpose with Abbie. She never grew to depend on it to fall asleep; that honor went to burp clothes, which is a good thing since we have two-dozen burp clothes to lose* but only one Lambie Blanket. She does enjoy sleeping with her Lambie Blanket when it’s not shoved under the couch, and she recognizes it as a lamb or sheep, as evidenced by her insistence on retrieving it whenever either animal appears in a book, which is surprisingly often.
When the boys were on their way, we knew we needed to buy similar blankets for them. We couldn’t buy them more Lambie Blankets because we wanted theirs to be different from their sister’s blanket. Plus a lamb is vaguely feminine, and we wanted them to have something vaguely masculine. So, we bought them Cow Blankets. Yes, I know all cows are female. They could be Bull Blankets instead, but that doesn’t roll off the tongue as well.
We let the boys sleep with their Cow Blankets as soon as they came home from the hospital. We were careful to follow all SIDS laws, stowing the blankets at their feet when they were newborns and unable to bring them up to their mouths where they could become asphyxiation hazards. Once they could move better, we draped the blankets over the crib railings to keep them out of reach.
Around six months they were mobile enough to pull the blankets into their cribs. We promptly removed the blankets from their cribs while sleeping to ensure good health. The boys promptly screamed and refused to sleep. We then promptly violated SIDS laws and let them sleep with their Cow Blankets in the interest of avoiding household-wide sleep deprivation.
The boys have slept with their Cow Blankets ever since. We know that when we travel, we have to pack the Cow Blankets along with burp clothes and Lambie Blanket just in case to ensure good sleeping. They’ll fall asleep without their Cow Blankets, but it’s easier on everyone to let them snuggle into slumber.
A strange thing has started happening, though. The boys are throwing their blankets into the other’s crib. At first, both blankets appeared in Ian's crib. Ellie blamed him for stealing his brother’s, but I pointed out that the boys can’t pull the blankets from each other’s cribs yet. That’ll have to wait until they can climb into each other’s cribs in a couple months. Tory must be throwing his blanket into Ian’s crib.
I tested my theory at naptime by spying on them through a slit in the door before shutting it. Before I could set my feet, Tory was standing at the railing dumping his blanket into Ian’s crib. Now I see Ian is returning the favor and dumping his blanket into Tory’s crib.
I’m glad the boys no longer need to cuddle with the blankets to fall asleep, but I wish I knew why they were rejecting their blankets. Maybe they’re being nice and sharing their blankets, but that contradicts every Tasteeo-hoarding, sippy cup-grabbing, block swiping behavior I’ve witnessed in them. Maybe they want extra space in their cribs. Maybe they want to see what happens when the blanket goes over the railing. Maybe I just need to throw those blankets in the washing machine.
* And we have lost most of them.
posted by Matt at
11:15 PM
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