what is the best age for giving up favourite toy?

[Jenarry]

My son has had a cuddly toy,a donkey, which has been his favourite from the age of 6 months and was very very attached to it in his earlier years.
He is now 6yrs old and a little bit more relaxed about donkey but still likes to have him around at bedtime especially.
I mentioned about maybe putting donkey away now he's getting a bigger boy but he didn't like that idea...and i think i worried him as he'd hid donkey away himself for a day or two.
what is the best time for these things or should i just leave it to him?
I remember my mum battling with my brother when he was about 7 or 8 over a similar thing which i don't fancy repeating.

[Mamyalynne]

Absolutely leave him to it Jenarry, is doing no harm whatsoever.

[ummmm]

If it's just for bed time I'd leave him to it. Why upset him over something that has no effect on any other part of his life?

[DaisyNonna]

Let him decide.

[ummmm]

You don't see grown men taking their cuddly toys to the pub :-)

[Philtaz]

My son took his comfort toy to Cub camp when aged 10, the Cub Masters actively encouraged it.
As the others have said, it is for your child to decide and the issue should not be forced.

[Maydup]

I wouldn't worry - it'll happen one day and I don't think its worth upsetting him or yourself over.

[DaisyNonna]

Oh yes you do.They are called bimbos.

[nungate]

Leave him his donkey, I'm over 50 and I still have my teddy!

[karenmac60]

My daughter still has her giraffe that she got the day after she was born and she is almost 16. She grew out of taking her everywhere when she was good and ready and she is now more of an ornament. I still have the wee toy cat that i got as a baby and i remember my mum deciding i was too old and hiding it from me. I was so upset for days - it felt like someone had died! She finally relented and 'found' it again and i grew out of needing to take it to bed. Leave your son to enjoy his 'friend'. As mamy says, its doing him no harm at all.

[ummmm]

Lol Daisy...

[craft1948]

My 42 year old still has her cuddly Snoopy on her bed..............

[Jenarry]

Ah that's reassuring to hear. none of mattie's friends have fave cuddly toys which surprised me but i also didn't have other mums to ask about it.
So i'll leave them be. Donkey will be breathing a huge sigh of relief. :O) :O)

[Maydup]

Just noticed your avatar Jenarry - fantastic.

[DaisyNonna]

Wish I still had my lamb which was made for me by a German POW. My mother got rid of it when I went to University. It wore yellow trousers.

[Jenarry]

ah daisy. that happened to me when i moved out. had only gone a few months but not cleared my room then my dad did it for me. my old schoolbooks,old diaries,old toys all gone without even asking me. :O(

[Jenarry]

Thankyou very much Maidup. :O) :O)

[MASS1961]

I was given a Teddy the day after I was born (almost 51 years ago). Never saw him again after I moved out of my parents house at 25 years old. We recently cleared my Mothers house after she moved into a retirement apartment and in the attic flattened, dirty, dusty with a definite smell of age was MY TEDDY. He has now had a few washes and sits in my kitchen. I'll never lose touch with him again.

[Mamyalynne]

Oh Mass - how lovely.

[joko]

absolutely do nothing. let him make his own choices

things like that can cause hangups in later life - especially if its a favourite toy... it can show in odd ways like becoming a hoarder, stealing, being extremely private, being posessive etc

may sound over the top - but can give a child a sense of loss of belongings, of losing control over possesions, of feeling violated etc etc ...

they dont understand the emotions, but the feelings can linger and manifest in later life...

my parents used to take our stuff and sell it in one of their shops... id walk in the shop and see my stuff on the shelves and it infuriated me - the cheek of it! ...
most of the time we didnt even notice, and they took things we didnt use anymore so they thought we wouldnt care... and mostly we didnt...but now and again theyd get it wrong and take something special and thered be a row...
never forgot that feeling - especially since there would be no apology just shouting and the assertion that they paid for it in the first place so they were entitled to take it! ...

[DaisyNonna]

Jen, I had actually put the stuff I wanted to keep in a trunk. All gone. (including my exam certificates). Oh, and when I went to live up north my wedding dress disappeared after my honeymoon.