The Importance of Teddy Bears

I have a teddy bear at the end of my bed. It’s over 40 years old and I wouldn’t part with it for all the money in the world. Every night the hubby kicks it off the bed, and every morning I put it back on the bed again. It’s going nowhere. It’s been with me through bad and good and I guess it can still act like a reassuring comfort blanket at times. Who hasn’t cried into a teddy bear at one time or another?

Teddy Bears are an absolute stable of every child’s life, and my boy Joe is no exception. He’s almost 7 and tries to be cool in every way, but still has a favourite bear (or 20) on the end of his bed, these sometimes creep up into the bed, even now. His current favourite is Bob’s Bear from Despicable Me. This is special because we won it during a weekend in Blackpool. We had poured lots of money into machines trying to win Bob’s Bear and then it suddenly happened. Joe’s face was just beautiful, the biggest beaming smile you could get from a child with hardly any teeth, and Bob has been a favourite ever since.

Teddy Bear’s offer comfort to children, a support that helps them to do things they are frightened of, and can also be very important during times of illness. The microwave bears from Say It With Bears are particularly good for children feeling unwell as they are warm and this can be soothing. Joe was ill with tonsillitis last week, and one of the first things he reached for was Bob Bear, this was a further signal to that Joe needed sleep and comfort too.

Cuddly Toys can aid sleep for children, especially when you are strange surroundings like hotels when you are on holiday. They can also help with the traveling itself, if a child is scared of flying, having a cuddly friend on the aeroplane too can be the thing that turns the journey from hellish to pleasurable. And there are many more occasions when the cuddly top can help a child accept something. When Joe has needed a plaster, sometimes teddy has had one too. An injection – take teddy along. For Joe’s first day at nursery, every child had their own small bear that had been presented at induction – the message was that mom and dad couldn’t stop, but Teddy can.

And my bear, the one that sits at the end of my bed? Well, here it is. Much loved and still much needed.

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