Amazing Benefits of Stuffed Animals
Stuffed animals brighten any child’s room and provide a number of other potential benefits:
1. Stuffed animals can help our children get the sleep necessary for their health and well-being. Recent research shows that children of all ages are not getting enough sleep. Curling up with a favorite teddy bear or other cuddly “friend” can often help children fall asleep sooner and can help them to go back to sleep should they awake during the night. This is particularly true of toddlers. Stuffed toys should not be placed in the cribs of infants because of the potential for suffocation. However, once a baby is six months old, a stuffed animal can be a wonderful bedtime companion.
2. Cheerful toys, such as teddy bears and pillows can brighten a baby’s day. Children love animals. Research shows that infants seem to be almost hardwired to be attracted to animals. When babies are observed watching the Baby Einstein video series, they almost always get excited when they see stuffed animals.
3. There seem to be medical benefits when a child has a stuffed pet to love, which include reduced stress, less anxiety, lowered heart rates and a happier healthier child. As a child gets older, child development specialists claim that stuffed animals help our children as Transitional Love Objects. These TLO’s help our children ascend from primitive narcissism to loving something Other and learning to have relationships with others.
4. Stuffed toys often become a security blanket or friend in time of need. We have all witnessed children clinging to a stuffed animal as a friend and companion when they face periods of separation from parents, transitions to unfamiliar locations or other challenges to their comfort zone.