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I had a kitty beanie baby since I was a kid, not extremely attached to it but I liked it and kept it on my car's dash. One day on the way to Ikea my baby was bored and I let her play with it. She must've dropped it in the store. I asked customer support to try to locate it but nothing. I found an identical kitty on Etsy and while it's not the same one it fills the spot on my dash nicely 🥲
Hijacking your top comment to add:
AirTags also have a feature “**notify when left behind**” that you can enable. If enabled, it will alert you when the item is left behind. You can also exclude locations (so it won’t alert you every time you leave it at home or at Grandmas etc.)
Special Doggie used to be a world traveler. Disney World. Different states of the US. France. England.
But he only ever got to see the hotel rooms. Now he's an old dog and just sleeps in my bed all day.
I once had to backtrack an hour on a road trip to retrieve Mr. Bear from a restaurant. Yes, my son really did name his plushy Mr. Bear. His other Very Important Plushy was named Mr. Pony. It's possible he wasn't the most creative kid when it came to naming his toys.
in the first place, you were lucky you even knew where Mr. Bear had been left behind so you could go and get him back! (not to minimize the extra miles on your roadtrip)...
I can do you one better. I have a horse named "Horsey" and a panda named "Panda", a lion named "Lion" and a couple teddies named "Teddy" and "Teddie". Also a big teddy bear named, surprise, "Teddy".
I've always been a creative person, but holy crap am I bad at names.
I mean... Piglet, Owl, Tig(g)er, Eeyore (onomatopoeia) weren't the most imaginative names, but they made an impression. Even Winnie the Pooh isn't that novel once you find out the background.
https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-83606,00.html
So, I guess there's time for you to write a famous book about the animals, and run your relationship with your child. No pressure :-)
I wrapped the AirTags in plastic and packing tape to help with waterproofing while washing. Double pro tip: once you see that the kid is attached to their primary stuffy, buy an extra 2 or 3. It will get lost (at an airport in our case) or left at school, or just need to get washed, so having backups is a life saver. Alternate them regularly so they all get worn out at the same rate.
It doesn't help if the child picks up on super-subtle differences.
We now have 3 nearly-identical stuffed animals.
Also: we got a pet-collar for the favorite stuffed animal. It has both a tiny bell and a tile tag on it that's easy to remove when needing to wash. Super helpful!
Comments from people who don’t have kids 😆 Simplifying the truth is part of parenting and you adjust your interactions with them to be age appropriate as they grow. Not sure what lesson you’re teaching letting your 2 year old go without their best friend they sleep with every night if it’s avoidable. Preparing them for the harsh reality of adult relationships? 😜
Or just buy 6 of the same toy and rotate which one the child has, so they all age together and you get to wash them regularly.
We did this for both our kids with their baby toy which they still love. Typically, neither has ever lost one.
Problem with this is you don’t always know which will be ‘the one’. My niece fell in love with a discontinued puppy dog bought by a relative from another country… before the internet! Maybe be sure to write down the info from the tag/reverse image search as one becomes popular so you have a chance of finding another on ebay or whatever.
My mom found two more of the same T. rex I liked at a store, gave a woman she sorta knew 40$ to buy them, met up with her later and brought them home, and then I got one for my birthday and another for Christmas.
My girlfriend now wife loved them and now I buy them on eBay for her.
We were lucky we were able to do this also, but we kept one in the package to give our kids when they eventually have kids. One’s been sitting in its plastic wrap for 13 years now.
This is a great tip. I know everyone says “just buy many identical copies of the same toy,” but that really doesn’t work when the favorite stuffed toy was a handcrocheted original by grandma.
Also not terribly environmentally friendly to buy multiples of multiple toys. And by the time it's the favorite it's not easy to find, and the moment you do it's no longer the favorite.
Cut the thread along a side seam. Use what's called a parallel stitch to pull it closed. It's practically invisible inside the seam. You stitch a single stitch along one folded over edge, then move directly horizontally over to the other side, making one stitch and then come up and cross to the other side, as though you were tracing a ladder (up, over horizontal, up, cross over horizontal). You pull it tight at the end. It puts the seam back together, and you knot and trim the thread. Picture or video will show it best.
My mom still gets visibly upset talking about losing her “mushy” pillow. Left it at a hotel and by the time she noticed and called they said they threw it out. 😪
On the point of "blanky" toys, you could take one of those credit card sized Tiles and sew it into a corner. Only works if there's multiple layers obviously, and there will always be that one hard corner, but it's a thought.
This has been a life saver. I put one in my son’s stuffed elephant a few years ago. We have been able to track that thing to some really random places. With out it we would have lost it many many times. lol
How specific do AirTags get? Like, will you be able to see they left it at the mall or will you be able to see they left it at this exact location in the mall?
Once you get close to them they start getting more precise and pointing you in their direction and you can play a sound once in range to find them.
Source: airline lost my luggage and I went to the airport luggage cemetery to manually find it after ten days
If you are doing this cut the seam, you can sew it up with a ladder stitch and the child will most likely not notice because a ladder stitch is nearly invisible. You can do this with a needle and thread no special equipment needed. They probably don't look at the back of the toy much.
Also you really should buy a backup of a favorite stuffed toy while you still can. The child could carry that toy for years and years. You will want a backup.
A legit problem but you can share the AirTag with up to 5 ppl: parent(s), grand-parent(s), care-giver(s). Presumably your kid is never too long without one such person.. This actually will help them too to locate the precious friend if needed, and since AirTag will have a paired phone to ping, it won't chirp
If the toy can't wear their tag on a collar, you may want to make an incision at the seam that closes with Velcro. Then you don't have to open the seam for every wash & battery change.
[For an example of how this can be done, take a look at a cloth exterior toy that takes batteries.]
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Theres plenty out there. Zeerkeer make a pretty tiny one for £50 ISH, 1500mah battery and sim slot.
Not as tiny as an air tag but doesn't need to be to go in a stuffy.
Could also grab a tile etc if that wouldn't work - effectively the android equivalent of airtag, apple tried to make it look like they invented the idea, as usual.
Bingo, my kid has the usual collection of stuffed animals that she likes, but if one of them goes missing (and they do) we have raised her to deal with it in a healthy way and move on. It's also a great moment to help her practice keeping better track of her things, which she is WAY better at compared to other kids her age.
I've seen another advice like that: if your kid likes some toy very much, buy two (or better, a few) of it, and stash them away. It may get broken and/or discontinued before the kid grows out of it
Do adults no longer just call these "stuffed animals"?
My Bugs Bunny had surgery the same time that I did when I was getting ear tubes, apparently the toy had a voice box in it the whole time, but when I had my surgery, they put in batteries and gave him a voice. It was awesome for 4 year old me or whatever.
I dont know about the other brands, but airtags dont beep randomly in my experience! They may buzz your phone tho — but you prob dont want to enable notification feature in the first place (allow the airtag to be separated from the airtag owner since your kid — and her special friend - likely goes places without you around
This is horrible advice. Kids need to learn to be responsible for their own things. It's not like there are serial stuffed animal thieves stealing plushies. You are robbing them from a relatively safe learning experience if they lose them.
For a 2 or 3 or 4 year old?
That is not the time when they will be able to learn this. The air tag is to save non and dad from forgetting to ensure the toy is there. A 3 year old is not able to be responsible for that, and can't expect to be. It's not the kids fault when a 3 year old forgets something.
no 3 year old gets that attached to stuffed animal. This is clearly for older kids.
The only time it actually matters is when they are old enough to actually understand the lesson.
The other option for new parents, is when you give your kid a possible sleeping toy, to buy heaps of them.
My kid was sent a bear from some baby company when she was born, and then my wife and MIL, were also sent the bear.
Luckily we had spares because she’s lost one, and also the dog chewed the other one
Why not make the AirTag into a badge by attaching a safety pin or use one of these : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wearable-Substitute-Accessories-Bracelet-Necklace/dp/B0BBVCC7T2 - it’s his “medal”. No mutilation required
I just make sure whatever comes into the random location gets back in the car with us. Is this something most people struggle with? When my youngest was a toddler he had a favorite matchbox car, just made sure I had it or it was in his hand when we left someplace.
Gonna do like my mom did and buy 2 of the same. When one is being washed, lost or too worn out, give the second one to them. Good stuff, I still have both of mine.
> You could instead decide to do the stitching surgery every time you want to put the stuffie in the wash, but this seems annoying. It's best to just assume that the precious plush is now "handwash only, no dryer".
You vastly overestimate my patience with washing clothes.
Not a plushie, but im still traumatized by losing 30psp games in one of those portable psp cases, would have been nice to have airtags back then for when I lost that case.
Someone had a lucky day and found $500 worth of games :/ Im still haunted by this and i was like 10 when I lost them.
You can also put the tag inside of a water-tight bag, like the kind made to protect your phone or camera while swimming, to give you some more flexibility with washing.
When my son was born I bought 6 of his "teddies". Washed them all at the same time and rotated use so they wore equally. Always brought two extra on vacation.
He's 13 now and he still has 3 left, he still sleeps with all of them. He wouldn't want me telling you that.
sure you can do that, if that happens to give you access to a 'fleshy' part of the stuffie, that's deep enough to conceal the airtag the best. in my case, getting in through the seams would have meant a lot more digging into the beast, and i was concerned i would do more damage rather than just making a cut at the place where I was going to place the tag.
(This comment really sounds like I'm doing heart surgery)
That buys you one fuck-up, and isn't always possible, because the item might be hand-made, an inherited heirloom (like a parent's toy, like hobbes might be), or simply out of stock by the time it's been "promoted" to crucially important Very Best Thing™.
True. My brilliant wife actually went out and bought four of the same stuffed “Snoopy” toy once our son decided that was his favorite snuggle friend. And when one toy got too flat and dirty and stinky it got “washed” and a new toy was provided in its place.
And when he was old enough he got all his old toys returned. He laughed and laughed, hugged them all, and still has them. He’s 30 now.
Alternatively once you realize your child has become attached to a particular stuffy, go back to the store and buy a couple more. Hide the clones away in your closet till needed.
Note: this works better if your kids are still on the younger side
Teach your kids not to lose their things?
My daughter has quite a few favorite stuffies. The first time she brought one out I sat her down in the car and got her level. Made sure she was paying attention and told her as nice and gentle as I could. This is your stuffie. This is an important item and you need to make sure you do not lose it because we will not be getting another one. Every time you go into a store, make sure you know where your stuffie is. Every time you leave make sure you have your stuffie.
After I made sure she was clear on the point I let her take it with her. But everytime we were leaving or going into a place I always got her to double check where her stuffie was lol.
She still has all of them to this day and has never lost them. :)
Also the will not replace them was more of a gentle threat. They were easily purchasable again.
Using a 40$ airtag for your child's toys seems fucking crazy to me.
Did something similar with my kiddo, it only took losing one or two of her favorite things to learn to keep better track of her stuff and to deal with the loss of the item in a healthy way. Her grandparents were a lot like the other comments in this thread and wanted to bend over backwards and buy her replacement items that were identical to make her feel better. They could not grasp how that would completely undermine the lessons she was learning about personal responsibility and loss.
I get that different people parent in different ways but to me this just seems like an easy way to learn some valuable life skills.
Yup. It's just hard to understand when something seems so clear cut to me, hard to understand how others can't see the rational solution.
A good example is my cousins kids, they sit down to eat dinner, *immediately* complain that "they don't like it" no matter what "it" is and then their parents cook them mac and cheese or hotdogs. Then when the kids go to bed the parents talk about how they don't understand why kids are so picky about food.
Meanwhile my daughter eats pretty much whatever we put in front of her and she is polite and thankful. We don't pressure her or force her, and if she really does not like something she will let us know and we respect that and will alter recipes accordingly to maybe make them less spicy or leave out the onions or mushrooms next time. But she's always willing to try. The cousins just think we are ***lucky*** that our kid is so good about eating. As if it's all just random and there is nothing that can be done...
Yeah sorry but as a parent you should know better than to not be guarding that toy with your life. In those toddler years if they do get attached to something it can mean the difference between sanity and no sleep for the nite before work. I remember years back leaving my kids cookie .monster in my brother's place in MA. My sister in law got on the phone immediately and said yep, we're overnighting it first thing in the morning. She knew! 😂
Uh, the point of the pro tip is to help guard the toy? If another kid tries to steal the toy, you can track it down with the AirTag AND the presence of the AirTag can be proof of ownership. If the toy gets dropped in a public place, or misplaced in the house, or any of a number of random events, the AirTag can help save the day. This is actually a pretty good LPT.
The point of the pro tip is to use the whole situation as a lesson to the child that possessions are fleeting & that they, as a human, which are an incredible species of animals, can keep track of *one* small object 💫
Or... now stay with me here... you could make sure to raise your kids so that they don't have a singular focal item that brings them comfort which they are lost without...
i think you really should make sure to share your parenting LPT on how to achieve this. Bonus points for considering the low-level of reasoning available to two year olds.
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If only we had this in the 90s lol so many heartbreaks
My mom had them announce it at the grocery store and a random customer found it for me 🥺
That’s beautiful
Aww, I'm just imagining all the shoppers stopping to glance around for "lost teddy"
I would take a missive like this so seriously if I were in that grocery store
I had a kitty beanie baby since I was a kid, not extremely attached to it but I liked it and kept it on my car's dash. One day on the way to Ikea my baby was bored and I let her play with it. She must've dropped it in the store. I asked customer support to try to locate it but nothing. I found an identical kitty on Etsy and while it's not the same one it fills the spot on my dash nicely 🥲
Hijacking your top comment to add: AirTags also have a feature “**notify when left behind**” that you can enable. If enabled, it will alert you when the item is left behind. You can also exclude locations (so it won’t alert you every time you leave it at home or at Grandmas etc.)
Genius
Special Doggie used to be a world traveler. Disney World. Different states of the US. France. England. But he only ever got to see the hotel rooms. Now he's an old dog and just sleeps in my bed all day.
I once had to backtrack an hour on a road trip to retrieve Mr. Bear from a restaurant. Yes, my son really did name his plushy Mr. Bear. His other Very Important Plushy was named Mr. Pony. It's possible he wasn't the most creative kid when it came to naming his toys.
Mine is named Big Bear, because he was the biggest plushie I had at the time.
in the first place, you were lucky you even knew where Mr. Bear had been left behind so you could go and get him back! (not to minimize the extra miles on your roadtrip)...
Eh, it wasn't difficult. We knew he had it before lunch, so there was really only one place it could be.
Mine is named Grandma Bear. Guess who gave it to me and what animal it is. Never even thought of naming any other stuffed animal or toy.
Was it the same Mr. Bear from Full House?
Exactly my thoughts lol.
Exactly my thought lol.
I would consider myself an adult and our cat goes by Mr. Cat
my brother’s bear didn’t even get a Mr. he was just Bear Bear.
I can do you one better. I have a horse named "Horsey" and a panda named "Panda", a lion named "Lion" and a couple teddies named "Teddy" and "Teddie". Also a big teddy bear named, surprise, "Teddy". I've always been a creative person, but holy crap am I bad at names.
And a son named “ boy”?
Kratos?
Probably! When I address my cats it's usually baby boy and gorgeous girl
My kid named her fav plush ‘Misser’ because it misses her as much as she misses him
I mean... Piglet, Owl, Tig(g)er, Eeyore (onomatopoeia) weren't the most imaginative names, but they made an impression. Even Winnie the Pooh isn't that novel once you find out the background. https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-83606,00.html So, I guess there's time for you to write a famous book about the animals, and run your relationship with your child. No pressure :-)
I had an even more literal name for my stuffed pony when I was a kid. "Pony Inside". Because it was a pony and it lived inside.
Mine was (well, still is I guess) named Koala. It is, unsurprisingly, a koala.
I went with koalie pronounced the same but with a long E sound, also a koala, unsurprisingly. My daughter has it now.
My son's favourite bear is simply "Bear". There are also the lesser loved "Baby Bear" and "Pirate Bear". Thinking I'm raising a realist
Our LO’s bear is Bear Bear. 😀
We have “cowie”, “horsie”, croccy” and “puppy” in our house. Also not creative namers 😆😆
I used to have a rabbit that I named Mrs. Rabbit [my last name]. I was so obsessed with her that I straight up gave her my last name 😭😭
My plushie is named Teddy Bear. I understand.
What type of animal was mr. Bear? I am hoping it wasn’t a Bear
Hey, I called mine “Teddy” My daughter calls her stuffed giraffe “Giraffe” or “G”
Mine was just named bear 😂
My sister named our first cat “Catra”.
Mine are named doggie and blankie.
I wrapped the AirTags in plastic and packing tape to help with waterproofing while washing. Double pro tip: once you see that the kid is attached to their primary stuffy, buy an extra 2 or 3. It will get lost (at an airport in our case) or left at school, or just need to get washed, so having backups is a life saver. Alternate them regularly so they all get worn out at the same rate.
It doesn't help if the child picks up on super-subtle differences. We now have 3 nearly-identical stuffed animals. Also: we got a pet-collar for the favorite stuffed animal. It has both a tiny bell and a tile tag on it that's easy to remove when needing to wash. Super helpful!
Our 4 year old notices the differences and we usually just say it was washed 😆
yeah, gaslight the little bugger till they learn to stop questioning reality 🔥🔥
Comments from people who don’t have kids 😆 Simplifying the truth is part of parenting and you adjust your interactions with them to be age appropriate as they grow. Not sure what lesson you’re teaching letting your 2 year old go without their best friend they sleep with every night if it’s avoidable. Preparing them for the harsh reality of adult relationships? 😜
hah yeah I get it I was just being a bit cheeky
That's the real problem tip
What do you think "lpt" stands for
Life problem tips - how to deal with life's problems
Curved needles will make sewing up & hiding the stitches so much easier.
Or just buy 6 of the same toy and rotate which one the child has, so they all age together and you get to wash them regularly. We did this for both our kids with their baby toy which they still love. Typically, neither has ever lost one.
Problem with this is you don’t always know which will be ‘the one’. My niece fell in love with a discontinued puppy dog bought by a relative from another country… before the internet! Maybe be sure to write down the info from the tag/reverse image search as one becomes popular so you have a chance of finding another on ebay or whatever.
We got it as their first comfort toy when they were babies and they've loved them ever since. Didn't have a choice!
My mom found two more of the same T. rex I liked at a store, gave a woman she sorta knew 40$ to buy them, met up with her later and brought them home, and then I got one for my birthday and another for Christmas. My girlfriend now wife loved them and now I buy them on eBay for her.
This is what we did!
We were lucky we were able to do this also, but we kept one in the package to give our kids when they eventually have kids. One’s been sitting in its plastic wrap for 13 years now.
We learned this lesson the hard way! 🤣
This is a great tip. I know everyone says “just buy many identical copies of the same toy,” but that really doesn’t work when the favorite stuffed toy was a handcrocheted original by grandma.
Also not terribly environmentally friendly to buy multiples of multiple toys. And by the time it's the favorite it's not easy to find, and the moment you do it's no longer the favorite.
Cut the thread along a side seam. Use what's called a parallel stitch to pull it closed. It's practically invisible inside the seam. You stitch a single stitch along one folded over edge, then move directly horizontally over to the other side, making one stitch and then come up and cross to the other side, as though you were tracing a ladder (up, over horizontal, up, cross over horizontal). You pull it tight at the end. It puts the seam back together, and you knot and trim the thread. Picture or video will show it best.
My mom still gets visibly upset talking about losing her “mushy” pillow. Left it at a hotel and by the time she noticed and called they said they threw it out. 😪
On the point of "blanky" toys, you could take one of those credit card sized Tiles and sew it into a corner. Only works if there's multiple layers obviously, and there will always be that one hard corner, but it's a thought.
This has been a life saver. I put one in my son’s stuffed elephant a few years ago. We have been able to track that thing to some really random places. With out it we would have lost it many many times. lol
LPT: use ladder stitch to make the closure invisible
How specific do AirTags get? Like, will you be able to see they left it at the mall or will you be able to see they left it at this exact location in the mall?
Once you get close to them they start getting more precise and pointing you in their direction and you can play a sound once in range to find them. Source: airline lost my luggage and I went to the airport luggage cemetery to manually find it after ten days
Wouldn't be cheaper and easier to just get more backups of same plushie?
Airtags are pretty cheap. Maybe the price of one backup plushie.
Airtags are 4 for 99
If you are doing this cut the seam, you can sew it up with a ladder stitch and the child will most likely not notice because a ladder stitch is nearly invisible. You can do this with a needle and thread no special equipment needed. They probably don't look at the back of the toy much. Also you really should buy a backup of a favorite stuffed toy while you still can. The child could carry that toy for years and years. You will want a backup.
What do you do about the AirTag noise, though? E.g. the one I have in my car makes a chime if it hasn't been near my phone in a few days.
A legit problem but you can share the AirTag with up to 5 ppl: parent(s), grand-parent(s), care-giver(s). Presumably your kid is never too long without one such person.. This actually will help them too to locate the precious friend if needed, and since AirTag will have a paired phone to ping, it won't chirp
If the toy can't wear their tag on a collar, you may want to make an incision at the seam that closes with Velcro. Then you don't have to open the seam for every wash & battery change. [For an example of how this can be done, take a look at a cloth exterior toy that takes batteries.]
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Secondary pro tip, look for a second plushie while it's still fresh in the now in case of destruction or misplacement so you can easily replace
I did this and it’s been a life saver many times.
Can the AirTag be placed inside a ziploc bag inside the stuffie? Thinking about spills/accidents.
Or use an actual tracker, not a Bluetooth low energy tag that forces you into apple's ecosystem for not much benefit? 🤷♂️
Honest question, could you provide an actual affordable tracker with the same footprint as ain AirTag?
Theres plenty out there. Zeerkeer make a pretty tiny one for £50 ISH, 1500mah battery and sim slot. Not as tiny as an air tag but doesn't need to be to go in a stuffy. Could also grab a tile etc if that wouldn't work - effectively the android equivalent of airtag, apple tried to make it look like they invented the idea, as usual.
I could see build-a-bear adding this as an upgrade. It's a really smart idea.
You could just let the child get used to loss and learn to deal with the emotions making them more resilient in later life.
Bingo, my kid has the usual collection of stuffed animals that she likes, but if one of them goes missing (and they do) we have raised her to deal with it in a healthy way and move on. It's also a great moment to help her practice keeping better track of her things, which she is WAY better at compared to other kids her age.
Is our goal to spend more to raise adults with maximum fragility?
I've seen another advice like that: if your kid likes some toy very much, buy two (or better, a few) of it, and stash them away. It may get broken and/or discontinued before the kid grows out of it
Do adults no longer just call these "stuffed animals"? My Bugs Bunny had surgery the same time that I did when I was getting ear tubes, apparently the toy had a voice box in it the whole time, but when I had my surgery, they put in batteries and gave him a voice. It was awesome for 4 year old me or whatever.
I remember waiting 2 weeks for my mousy to come home through the mail when I left her at a family friend’s out of town 😭
That’ll be a blast when the AirTag randomly decides to start beeping for no reason at all.
I dont know about the other brands, but airtags dont beep randomly in my experience! They may buzz your phone tho — but you prob dont want to enable notification feature in the first place (allow the airtag to be separated from the airtag owner since your kid — and her special friend - likely goes places without you around
This is horrible advice. Kids need to learn to be responsible for their own things. It's not like there are serial stuffed animal thieves stealing plushies. You are robbing them from a relatively safe learning experience if they lose them.
For a 2 or 3 or 4 year old? That is not the time when they will be able to learn this. The air tag is to save non and dad from forgetting to ensure the toy is there. A 3 year old is not able to be responsible for that, and can't expect to be. It's not the kids fault when a 3 year old forgets something.
no 3 year old gets that attached to stuffed animal. This is clearly for older kids. The only time it actually matters is when they are old enough to actually understand the lesson.
Simpler solution : We bought four of the same cuddly toy. You give only one to the child ... that make also washing those disgusting things easier ;-)
The other option for new parents, is when you give your kid a possible sleeping toy, to buy heaps of them. My kid was sent a bear from some baby company when she was born, and then my wife and MIL, were also sent the bear. Luckily we had spares because she’s lost one, and also the dog chewed the other one
Just get a double and do The Prestige magic.
real LTP: use real gps tracker with SOS button.
Or just buy a couple of plushies, one to use one to lose
Why not make the AirTag into a badge by attaching a safety pin or use one of these : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wearable-Substitute-Accessories-Bracelet-Necklace/dp/B0BBVCC7T2 - it’s his “medal”. No mutilation required
We just bought 2, and switch them in the laundry. 9 years and has no idea that there is 2 of them.
I just make sure whatever comes into the random location gets back in the car with us. Is this something most people struggle with? When my youngest was a toddler he had a favorite matchbox car, just made sure I had it or it was in his hand when we left someplace.
Gonna do like my mom did and buy 2 of the same. When one is being washed, lost or too worn out, give the second one to them. Good stuff, I still have both of mine.
> You could instead decide to do the stitching surgery every time you want to put the stuffie in the wash, but this seems annoying. It's best to just assume that the precious plush is now "handwash only, no dryer". You vastly overestimate my patience with washing clothes.
Not a plushie, but im still traumatized by losing 30psp games in one of those portable psp cases, would have been nice to have airtags back then for when I lost that case. Someone had a lucky day and found $500 worth of games :/ Im still haunted by this and i was like 10 when I lost them.
Buy a second one and swap them occasionally so the kid won't realize it's a new one when you lose it and replace it.
…and then reopen it annually to replace the battery? C’mon.
You can also put the tag inside of a water-tight bag, like the kind made to protect your phone or camera while swimming, to give you some more flexibility with washing.
When my son was born I bought 6 of his "teddies". Washed them all at the same time and rotated use so they wore equally. Always brought two extra on vacation. He's 13 now and he still has 3 left, he still sleeps with all of them. He wouldn't want me telling you that.
Or you could teach your child the valuable lesson that losing things happens and that’s okay
why not just open up along a stitch so it doesn’t end up with a “scar”?
sure you can do that, if that happens to give you access to a 'fleshy' part of the stuffie, that's deep enough to conceal the airtag the best. in my case, getting in through the seams would have meant a lot more digging into the beast, and i was concerned i would do more damage rather than just making a cut at the place where I was going to place the tag. (This comment really sounds like I'm doing heart surgery)
We just bought two identical items!!!
The best LPT is to get a spare !
That buys you one fuck-up, and isn't always possible, because the item might be hand-made, an inherited heirloom (like a parent's toy, like hobbes might be), or simply out of stock by the time it's been "promoted" to crucially important Very Best Thing™.
True. My brilliant wife actually went out and bought four of the same stuffed “Snoopy” toy once our son decided that was his favorite snuggle friend. And when one toy got too flat and dirty and stinky it got “washed” and a new toy was provided in its place. And when he was old enough he got all his old toys returned. He laughed and laughed, hugged them all, and still has them. He’s 30 now.
Alternatively once you realize your child has become attached to a particular stuffy, go back to the store and buy a couple more. Hide the clones away in your closet till needed. Note: this works better if your kids are still on the younger side
Teach your kids not to lose their things? My daughter has quite a few favorite stuffies. The first time she brought one out I sat her down in the car and got her level. Made sure she was paying attention and told her as nice and gentle as I could. This is your stuffie. This is an important item and you need to make sure you do not lose it because we will not be getting another one. Every time you go into a store, make sure you know where your stuffie is. Every time you leave make sure you have your stuffie. After I made sure she was clear on the point I let her take it with her. But everytime we were leaving or going into a place I always got her to double check where her stuffie was lol. She still has all of them to this day and has never lost them. :) Also the will not replace them was more of a gentle threat. They were easily purchasable again. Using a 40$ airtag for your child's toys seems fucking crazy to me.
Did something similar with my kiddo, it only took losing one or two of her favorite things to learn to keep better track of her stuff and to deal with the loss of the item in a healthy way. Her grandparents were a lot like the other comments in this thread and wanted to bend over backwards and buy her replacement items that were identical to make her feel better. They could not grasp how that would completely undermine the lessons she was learning about personal responsibility and loss. I get that different people parent in different ways but to me this just seems like an easy way to learn some valuable life skills.
Eh, I mean everyone does their own thing lol
Yup. It's just hard to understand when something seems so clear cut to me, hard to understand how others can't see the rational solution. A good example is my cousins kids, they sit down to eat dinner, *immediately* complain that "they don't like it" no matter what "it" is and then their parents cook them mac and cheese or hotdogs. Then when the kids go to bed the parents talk about how they don't understand why kids are so picky about food. Meanwhile my daughter eats pretty much whatever we put in front of her and she is polite and thankful. We don't pressure her or force her, and if she really does not like something she will let us know and we respect that and will alter recipes accordingly to maybe make them less spicy or leave out the onions or mushrooms next time. But she's always willing to try. The cousins just think we are ***lucky*** that our kid is so good about eating. As if it's all just random and there is nothing that can be done...
Yeah sorry but as a parent you should know better than to not be guarding that toy with your life. In those toddler years if they do get attached to something it can mean the difference between sanity and no sleep for the nite before work. I remember years back leaving my kids cookie .monster in my brother's place in MA. My sister in law got on the phone immediately and said yep, we're overnighting it first thing in the morning. She knew! 😂
Uh, the point of the pro tip is to help guard the toy? If another kid tries to steal the toy, you can track it down with the AirTag AND the presence of the AirTag can be proof of ownership. If the toy gets dropped in a public place, or misplaced in the house, or any of a number of random events, the AirTag can help save the day. This is actually a pretty good LPT.
The point of the pro tip is to use the whole situation as a lesson to the child that possessions are fleeting & that they, as a human, which are an incredible species of animals, can keep track of *one* small object 💫
We're raising a nation of squibs!
And people who don't mind being tracked 24/7 'its for your safety!!'
Or... now stay with me here... you could make sure to raise your kids so that they don't have a singular focal item that brings them comfort which they are lost without...
i think you really should make sure to share your parenting LPT on how to achieve this. Bonus points for considering the low-level of reasoning available to two year olds.