How to help your child to part with his blanket

To separate from one's blanket is an important rite of passage in the construction of the autonomy of the child. No question of forcing him. It is a personal journey that reveals that we are growing up.

What is a blanket?
A blanket is much more than a stuffed object, cloth, blanket, rabbit or giraffe. It is above all what the great child psychoanalyst, Winnicott, has named a transitional object. Indeed, in the very first stages of life, 
by the fusion with one's mother, the baby does not have a notion of his own individuality. Then, the little child learns slowly (and slowly!) The surrounding world, the distinction of his mother, a certain self-awareness. Like any modification, it's both intriguing, exciting and disturbing. The blanket is a way to apprehend this world while maintaining a comforting refuge. The whole question is to respect this relationship to the blanket to the extent that it fulfills its role. By that I mean that he does not install a certain fetishism and an inability to separate, as you can see in the illustration of this article, where this young woman took to heart her blanket on public transport.
We do not order anything but we accompany
The blanket is first elected among other objects. Nobody says to a child: "Here, it will be your blanket". It is above all an election (based on the emotional) and a role decided by the child who often names it. We all have to deal with this "thing" that lugs everywhere and sometimes feels very bad. Blend of the child's saliva and his perception of the maternal, parental smell. Washing it in the name of hygiene is not a good idea. Obviously, no question of throwing the blanket leaving the child in front of this emptiness sidereal and completely incomprehensible. Too violent !!!

Summer, ideal season to "let go" his blanket!
If there is no precise age to leave her blanket, the separation phase is greatly favored by the activities outside, the joy of going out and playing in the park, in the fields, on the beach .. This world full of light, of things to discover, this propulsion of the body in the open and playful space is obviously more frequent during the beautiful days. This is an opportunity to install sequences where the blanket stays at home and is taken only to fall asleep, for example ...

To leave oneself gently
So this is the summer and the holidays that bring us all a promise: break habits, change pace, allow yourself stuff ... Side cuddly, so it is interesting to change its place, which will gradually change his status.
For example, when going out, you can start with, of course, taking him away but leaving him in the car during an excursion. If it's difficult and he came to the beach with the child, suggest the child to leave it in the shade while we make the sand castle ... Then, we leave it to the House...

Above all, as a parent we go hard on the compliments of the accomplished games, new performances, discoveries: "Bravo! You did it !!!" .. Thus, the child engages in action in his conquests. He becomes aware that he is growing up and that it is not necessarily a great risk to go on the discovery, to dare, to undertake, to embark on. On this point, I propose this other article to put in convenient.

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