Life
From stuffed bears and bunnies to baby-sized blankets that toddlers drag around relentlessly, if your child is attached to it in some way, it qualifies as a lovey. While kids can definitely develop attachments to loveys, there are some incredible things that happen when getting baby attached to a lovey with mom's scent on it. Loveys may come in all shapes and sizes, but a mom's scent is unique to her, giving a lovey that mom has slept with or wrapped her shirt around a special connection for a child.
When a baby is born, they can't yet make sense of what they see and hear, so they rely heavily on taste and scent. "Newborn babies have a strong oral impulse — that is, the impulse to feed — which is driven by their instinct to suck. This instinct is related to a sense of smell and taste. In utero, they are surrounded by amniotic fluid, and there is some evidence that babies taste and smell their mother’s amniotic fluid. As such, by the time they were born, there is reason to believe that they may even recognize, to some degree, their mother’s scent," Dr. Michael Mintz, a psychologist with Children's National Hospital tells Romper.
A baby's ability to recognize their mom's scent is what helps these five incredible things happen when a lovey has mom's scent. As a mom, I am well-versed in the practical reasoning behind my kids' desire to snuggle with a lovey — they definitely helped to keep my kids calm as babies and toddlers. While I had definitely heard the advice to apply my scent to their lovey for extra comfort, I never knew just how my own scent on their lovey impacted them until now.
4
Separation Anxiety May Be Reduced
If you've ever attempted to leave your child somewhere new where you won't be nearby, you may have experienced the crying and anxious feelings that can sometimes surface in kids who are experiencing something new without mom or dad around. This type of separation anxiety can be quelled with some comfort in the form of a lovey with mom's scent on it.
"As times passes, a young infant may start to associate the scent of a caregiver with the feeling of being safe and secure. Some parents even make an effort to put their scent onto a lovey, blanket, or stuffed animal so that their baby can smell them even when they are not around," Mintz says.
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Your Child Is Developing Emotional Independence
Loveys are also referred to as transitional objects due to the fact that they allow a child to more easily transition from one event to another, which is especially true when the object has a scent connection. When a child uses a lovey with mom's scent to help soothe themselves, they are actually doing the hard work of developing emotional independence.
"In toddlerhood, a transitional object can help a toddler tolerate unfamiliar or new people or new situations without relying on as much physical support (such as being held, carried, or hugged) as infants often need," Mintz says. "Most importantly, a transitional object reflects a step in the direction of more emotional independence; although the child does not feel alone (because she or he has the transitional object), she or he is ultimately the one doing the work of settling, soothing, calming down, etc."
Experts:
Dr. Michael Mintz, Clinical Psychologist at Children’s National Hospital