Bringing a favorite toy....

[PatricenPete]

My son is obsessed with Elmo. He has at least 6 Elmo dolls, but only 1 favorite. That is the one that is left in his crib for naps and bed time. He will accept no substitions.

I am concerned about bringing it with us to Disney since if it gets lost it is irreplaceable. (my husband won it on the boardwalk) My husband is sure it will be okay, since DS only uses it to sleep and is content with all his other toys throughout the day, so it's not like Elmo would ever leave our resort.

If I DON'T bring it, I am concerned that he will have a hard time sleeping and since I am sure being in a new place, in a new bed is going to be hard enough.

What would you do?

 

[missymagic]

Definitely would bring it. Have a special place to put him in the morning when he wakes up so Elmo doesnt get lost. I wouldn't allow him to go to the parks that is way to risky but traveling in the backpack or suitcase to the resort then having a special bed for during the day. Less battles to fight when it is time to go to sleepy. Makes everyone so much happier.

 

[WDWLinda]

Let Elmo have a vacation too...but definitely keep him in the room!

Have fun!

~Linda

 

[vicceja]

Hi!

Definitely bring Elmo! My son needs to sleep with his Blankie and his Nono, which is his pillow cover . The Blankie and Nono have been to Disney as much as we have. He only needs it at night so it's not like we have to carry around with it - but we do need his Blankie for the Airplane ride....

 

[Huntava]

We have a similar situation with our DD and her fave stuffed toy. We always bring it, but only let her have it for plane ride (I keep a close eye on it, she once threw it at an elevator door and it closed up on it, I'm sure it was funny me tugging on it til I got it out), and once we arrive at our hotel, it doesn't leave the room. I would just leave it in her crib at our hotel til we returned home.

 

[3littleHalls]

We usually take a stuffed toy for our kids to sleep with, but they are not attatched to one animal more than another. Our best friends were at the Pop(50s building) end of Sept for a week. They had brought their DD's(3 yr old) FAV blankie it was with her in the NICU and has been sleeping with her since. It got mixed up and taken with the sheets to central laundry. She was devastated! The manager sent a Minnie Mouse doll for her to sleep with in hopes of finding her blankie. Told it could take weeks. The manager has even called them twice this week. Once to say they hadn't found it yet, and another to say they found a blankie, but it wasn't it. My friend thinks it is gone forever now. But it is nice that they keep looking for it.

 

[tjmw2727]

Definately, I say yes!

We have always brought our kids "lovies" on vacation and all has been well. I don't leave them in with the bedding or crib though, for fear of them getting scooped up with the sheets to be washed. When we go out in the AM I just put the lovies in the drawer with the clothing and then take them back out at bedtime.

I know neither of my kids would sleep without their respecitve lovies. One thing I did learn from my first however, was to have more than one for my second, just in case. So when my second became attached to her blankie I quickly got a couple duplicates and then switched them out so they were interchangeable just in case.

Not sure how old your dear one is, but if it isn't already to late try putting another elmo in the crib just in case you do need a 'backup lovie'.

I know you weren't looking for "lovie advice" so sorry I got off track.

TJ

 

[staci]

Bring it! DS brought his donald duck with him. He was always so excited to see what the mousekeepers did with him in the window while we were gone for the day. We took him to the parks once or twice, but mostly left him behind.

 

[BlondeAlligator]

Go ahead and bring Elmo. Keep a close eye on him en route (ie. in the airport). My DD often drops her toys when something else catches her eye. If you let Elmo "sleep" in the room while you are at the parks, you might come back to find that he has been up to mischeif. On one trip we bought a stuffed Piglet for our Goddaughter & everytime we came back to the room at night he was doing something new...sitting on the bed with the remote in his lap & the tv on...at the table with a glass of water & some chocolate wrappers...it was really fun!

Also, a frind of mine accidentally left her son's lovey pillow at WDW once...she called the hotel as soon as they got home & explained the situation. The hotel put out an APB for the pillow & it was found in the laundry dept. They had washed it with the sheets and it had been set aside in a lost and found. WDW sent the pillow back via FedEx overnight! Great cusotmer service! So even if Elmo were left behind, chances are good that you might get him back.

Vacation is not a god time to mess with sleep habits...you want your son well-rested & it may be hard enough to sleep in a strange room.

Good luck & have a great trip!!!

 

[dismom9761]

This thread made me relive my nightmare.We went to WDW in September and my DD lost her "blankie" at AK.We know exactly where it had to have been dropped but noone turned it in.It must have been thrown away.Take it and be VERY careful.

 

[lynetteSC]

Hi! I would take the elmo and leave it in the room ... we also took our pack and play sheets from home ... that made ds sleep a little better having same sheets? (Our maybe he was just drop dead tired ... lol!) ENJOY! Our ds turned one while we were at WDW in May. It was our best trip EVER! Be sure to tell everyone it is his bday and get the bday pins in the park ... I just attached them to our combi stroller out of his reach.

dismom9761- our ds also has a lovie blanket. he was always dragging it around and tripping over it. my g'ma cut it up into fourths ... one stays in the car, one stays in the crib and one stays at mother's morning out cubby. the last one is hidden incase of emergency (i.e. one is in washer). this might work for you guys if you have found a replacement?

 

[Minnie824]

Both DDs have a blankie...older one has teddy too, younger one has her pacifiers, luckily any she can find, no favorite. But with the blankies, we're planning on bringing them, and not taking them anywhere at all (hopefully they won't argue about that). I also want to put them in our suitcase every day when we leave the room, because if blankie accidentally got lost DDs (especially the 4 year old) would have a huge fit.

 

[Priorityonecb]

I say take him. Our youngest daughter has "blankie"...we could never go overnight without it. Each morning though, I take blankie specifically...put it in the suitcase and zip it up. I do not want it in any danger of being confused with hotel sheets or accidentally taken. Blankie has been with her since she was born and has even gone into surgery with her several times...it would break all our hearts to loose it!

 

[scouthawkk]

Another vote for bringing Elmo. DS3 had his stuffed horse "Burt" with him our entire trip in August. He won't go anywhere without him. I have some of the best pictures of Burt and DS looking out the plane window, and DS holding Burt as he pointed at the Castle from his stroller. It was really sweet how he showed Burt everything along the way. I wouldn't have done it any different!

 

[justhat]

We brought Madison's blanket with us to WDW when she was 9, 13, and 19 months. By accident, we brought 2 of them (we have 3, but 2 always stay in a drawer). I packed one but my daughter wouldn't let go of the one she was sleeping with the morning that we left so rather than unpack the carryon we just took 2. Well thank gosh we did cause halfway through the trip we lost 1. Luckily we had the other one in the hotel room, but if we didn't we would have had a very rough night. Madison always napped in the stroller so we brought it with us to the parks for that purpose. She developed the bad habit of tossing things out of the storller when she was done with them while we were on the trip (this was when she was 13 months) and so I guess she woke up, figured she was done with the blanket and tossed it out, but we didn't notice. We called central lost and found the next day and they had it so we went to pick it up, but boy were we glad to have that spare with us. (BTW, I also lost my license on that trip and central lost and found had that too! That place is incredible!!)

 

[sleepyone]

My dd who was 2, brought a bunny. She held it on the long drive from Texas to Florida. She slept with it at AKL. She carried it all over the WORLD. On the way home from Florida, we stayed the night in a hotel in Tallahassee and bunny was left behind. We were in Mississippi when dd asked for it and we realized it was gone. We called the hotel but, they said housekeeping hadn't found anything. My dd2 was crying of course. Her older sister was crying and I was trying to hold back the tears.

 

[Lesley]

Just be careful not to leave Elmo in bed when you leave at the end of your vacation. We left my favorite baby blanket in the bed last summer.....luckily my baby was too young to have become attached to it, but I still miss that blanket! I could have replaced it, but rationalized that we have so many other baby blankets we really didn't need to.....

If anyone wants a super soft baby blanket...it was a Carter's microfleece one...soooooooo soft! Man, I still miss that blanket...lol.

 

[MPLsDad]

Don't bring it. Two years ago my DW debated over whether or not to bring my 3yo DS's favorite stuffed animal Blue Bear. Blue Bear joined us and got lost in the sheets and disappeared. He was never found. We filled out all the appropriate forms and talked to housekeeping but nothing turned up. My son was devastated. To this day my now 5yo DS asks about Blue Bear and talks about how mommy lost him. It still upsets my DW. Consider yourself warned...

 

[sleepyone]

Don't bring it. Two years ago my DW debated over whether or not to bring my 3yo DS's favorite stuffed animal Blue Bear. Blue Bear joined us and got lost in the sheets and disappeared. He was never found. We filled out all the appropriate forms and talked to housekeeping but nothing turned up. My son was devastated. To this day my now 5yo DS asks about Blue Bear and talks about how mommy lost him. It still upsets my DW. Consider yourself warned...

Yep, that's what happened to dd's "Pink Bunny".

 

[Cinderella94]

Don't bring it. If Elmo get's lost during the beginning of your trip, it might make him upset for the rest of your stay, and that is never good. It's best to just leave Elmo at home, and I'm sure he will be fine.