I must know:
When, oh when do you wash your children’s favorite blankets?
You know the one that they just can’t tear themselves away from all day. The one that is never out of site or reach.
The one that I can’t figure out how to get in the washer…
My oldest boy has never been overly attached to a blanket. My girls? Now they are a different story.
My 3 year old Clara is the type of blanket lover that knows the exact whereabouts of her blanket at all times. It is so loved, it is now a color other than pink and has a few holes in it.
And my 17-month old Sadie has developed a deep love for her “bah” also. And it’s so cute to hear her say “Bah? Bah?” until you help her find it. She’s about a hundred different levels of sweet that you just can’t get enough of…
Since they always have possession of them, when do you sneak them in the washer?
It’s either close to nap time or close to bedtime and we all know those are the wrong times to wash any most loved item.
I just can’t seem to find time during the morning hours to get them in the washing machine.
So when do YOU wash your little one’s most prized possessions? Share any tricks that you have!
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I know exactly the situation you speak of! Both my girls have attached to those part stuffed animal part blanket things. My almost 7yo isn’t quite as attached to “Bear” as she used to be (still has to sleep with her every night) but for 6 years I had to sneak her in the washing machine for a bath. Around age 4-5 though I remember being able to reason with her that Bear needed a bath every once in a while and since she wasn’t napping much then it sure was easier to get gray bear less gray although never back to her original off-white color. My 21 mo old has “Bunny” that she likes to somehow take one of the ears and suck on it underneath her paci so it gets a really lovely shade of black and smells to high heaven. Recently she even attached to a pink “bwankie.” My strategy over the years in getting these washed has been to do it when they are awake and playing or during lunch. Of course as you know near nap or bed time is just asking for disaster! Gotta be right on top of it though when the washer finishes! Sometimes I’ll even just put the lovies in the dryer all by themselves since they’ll only take 10-15 minutes to dry, instead of trying to dry the whole load. I’ve considered getting a back-up of both of these lovies so I could wash one during a nap. I never did for my 6yo but still could probably get away with it for the younger one. There was more than one occasion where that could have saved serious heartache and tears for my older girl when Bear had gotten misplaced. Interested in hearing other’s strategies!
Brandi – Love the idea to wash it during lunch! Thanks! I’ll add that to my strategy list…
-Lauren
When I wash my son’s favorite blanket, it helps him a lot if he gets to help me. He helps me load it into the washer, then take it out all wet and put it in the dryer. His favorite part is taking it warm out of the dryer to snuggle with!
Hmmm… My 3 year old could probably “help” me wash it since she is in total ‘help Mama mode’ lately. Great idea! Thanks –
-Lauren
I’ve been known to put my baby to bed for the night and sneak in after they fall asleep and steal their blankie. If all goes according to plan it’s clean and dry when they wake up in the morning. 🙂
Oh Joanna, you brave, brave girl 😉
I tried that once with the baby and she woke up looking for her blanket. Unfortunately it was still wet in the washer! But she’s not exactly a heavy sleeper, either…
We actually make sure our kids know we are washing their blankets, so there’s no big deal about them smelling or feeling different. We just pick a time that isn’t close to nap or bed time and say, “Blanket needs a bath!” They aren’t always *happy* about it, but they seem to understand that clean is good. Now that they are older (nearly 7 and 4.5), it’s not nearly as big of a deal!
OH my! My kids both have TWO blankets that they are in “love” with! (and they are the exact same thing! Thats another story) But I always do it right in the morning! That way if they take a morning nap it can be done and then it is done for afternoon nap! I have to “steal” it and try to keep there mind off of them! 🙂
you can cut the blanket in half if they will even let you or figure it out! Then you will always have a spare.