We have spoken on other occasions about the transitional objects and the dependency that they create in many children, which sometimes extends to adulthood.
I personally know some cases (friends or acquaintances), who still keep their childhood stuffed animal or blanket and use it in the privacy of the home.
However, I have always considered that it was a minority (perhaps in Spain it is) and a recent study by the British hotel chain Travelodge concludes that more than 35% of adults still sleep with their teddy bear.
Other data
This study, carried out with a sample of 6,000 adults, also reveals that 51% of respondents still retain the transitional object of childhood and that the average age of said object, as a general rule, teddy bears, is about 27 years.
What amazes me the most, besides knowing that more than a third of adults still use it, is that many of them take their teddy to business trips.
Given these data, one wonders: "And do they use it that way, without any shame?" Well, it seems that yes, because only one in ten single men hides the bear when he sleeps with his girlfriend and only 14% of married men keep it in a closet or under the bed when family or friends come.
Some of the respondents explained that they had transferred their favorite teddy bear to their children (14%) and 80% of those who were parents commented that the first toy they gave their son was a teddy bear.
The best friend
More than 15% of men and 10% of women declared that they treated teddy bears as their best friend, sharing his intimate secrets with him. Dawn James, editor of the magazine Teddy bear times has stated in this regard that “Teddy Bears represent happiness and security in childhood. They are the best friend who always listens and never criticizes. That's why so many adults cling to their childhood bears, because they see them as a friend for life. ”
The same should also be thought by adults, since 62% of parents said that having and loving a teddy bear is important for the growth of children, because it helps them develop a sweeter character.
My opinion
Well, the truth is that you know my opinion because I have already made it public on occasion: I have not just liked transitional objects because I consider that children do not have to make a transition as we know it (child very attached to mom or dad becomes a child very attached to a bear and then leave the bear and be autonomous), but a child can go from being totally dependent to being autonomous without having to have an inanimate figure and no feelings involved. Mom will always be there and little by little, as the children grow up they begin to interact much more with dad even to sleep, with grandparents and with other children, often without the presence of mom. In this way the transition happens in a natural way, relating to loved ones "alive."
In cases where a child is nervous or scared, we should be the parents, for that we are, the shoulder to get close to and to trust. If we establish a relationship of communication and trust from an early age, it is easier than in the future, when they are older and even teenagers that relationship is maintained. If instead, from a young age, we derive the work of listening and calming our son to third parties (in this case to an inanimate object, which is even more questionable), we cannot complain that our son “tells us nothing”, because we will have taught ourselves not to do it.
Sorry but I do not see the need to offer children a stuffed animal to serve as a companion or an element of affection while we are and even less if this makes it possible to create a dependency relationship such that it reaches adulthood with the need to take it on a trip, as we have seen in the study.
Now, as I always say, each neighbor who takes care of her door (that is, each one does what seems best with her life and with her nights, which are theirs for that ...).
