My 1-year-old is super-bonded to her lovey — cute! She sleeps great! But her favorite thing to do with it is suck on its feet. This is . . . gross. I have two so I can wash and switch between them, but even washing once a week, the smell-scape is intense. What’s going to be worse for her, the polyester fur she’s probably swallowing, or the bacterial load of these biohazard loveys?
—Grossed out but grateful for sleep
You have two! You’re incredibly lucky. I got seven of the same lovey for my second kid, and then one of them got a hole in it that he liked, and that was it. It was “hole lovey” or nothing.
Here is the bad news: your kid’s lovey does grow bacteria, as well as types of mold and other stuff. One study of stuffed animals brought into emergency rooms found that they were, generally, loaded with bacteria. Stuffed animals harbor dust and dust mites, which can exacerbate allergies. And yes, your kid is eating synthetic fur.
Here’s the good news: this is all totally fine for most kids. The hospital checks stuffed animals for bacteria because kids are injured or immunocompromised. Consuming mold is … generally fine. Dust exposure is an issue if kids have allergies, but most do not.
Basically: this is gross, but that’s it. Just gross. Consider yourself lucky that you can sometimes wash them.
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What are you using to wash them? My son also loves to suck on his toy and sometimes it feels like the chemicals needed to get them remotely clean must be worse than the mold?
White vinegar in the washing machine works great!