Blankies and Stuffed toys in Cot?

When did you start letting your baby sleep with blankies or stuffed toys in their cot?  DD is 6.5 months, can lift her head, roll over and move around her cot.  SHe has a favourite blankie, one of those small square ones sometimes called a softie.  She likes to suck on the edges.  What worries me is that she sleeps on her tummy and pulls the softie into her mouth and makes these muffled noises when getting herself to sleep.

So far I have only let her have it for nap time for a few days.  It seems to help with the settling to sleep.  I would like to try it at night, as we have recently stopped night feeds and it would be nice for her to have an aid for self soothing. I am still a bit worried it may be a suffocation hazard.  What age is it generally accepted to start allowing things in their cot?

Thanks!

I guess I was on the paranoid side. DD is now 18 months and still doesn't have any toys/blankies in her cot. Of course we rock her to sleep at night so when she is put in her bed she's asleep and then we put a blanket on her. I know we're going to eventually have to change this when she gets older but for now it's how we do it.

I do know that they advise no pillows, duvets or cot bumpers until 12 months because of the potential suffocation hazard.

What is the blankie  made of? if it's a "breathable" fabric it should be ok. Having said that, I was another cautious one - Ethan has never had stuffed toys or cuddly things in his bed and was 2 before I let him have a pillow. I've never let him have synthetic sheets or blankets either (not even polycotton), only 100% cotton, although now he has a polyester duvet inner.

I too have been super cautious. My son didn't get his favorite bear in bed until he was 1 yr old.  No blankets until 15 months and no pillow until 2.

We use/d sleep sacks so no loose blanket until almost 3. Sammy's comfort item is a muslin cloth so breathable. We always had a couple soft toys in the cot with no problems. Everyone has their own comfort level and my kids never snuggled up with the soft toys so we left them once they started moving around more.

Hrmm. I was also in the paranoid camp (she's four now and every once in a while I still check to make sure she's breathing!). I think we didn't do pillows or stuffies in bed until she was in a toddler bed around age 2. But that doesn't mean you can't introduce them earlier. This is really a judgment call, I think - if you feel that your daughter in particular is safe with a little softie, then she probably is. The blankie ban is pretty recent - we all had blankets and pillows and stuffies in our cribs when we were wee.

Thanks everyone.  I think I will be a little more cautious and safe the softie for use when travelling in the pram or car for now.  It's not a breathable material and she does instantly put it in her mouth, so I think I would be worried during the night.

MY son has slept with an old t-shirt of mine since birth, I am not too paranoid about these kinds of things. He still sleeps with it everynight and he is 4 in January!!

None of mine had anything in the cot but dummies until they were one.

They all slept in grobags and Struan is still in his.

He has two cuddlies in with him now, as he is a real cuddlebug and clingy and often wants to hold something at night (also means we don't have to bring him into bed with us every single night).

My daughter always had stuffed animals in her cot from the day she was born.  I think we added blankets when she was around 6 months old.  As the others said, I think it's up to you and it will be different for every mother and every child.  My daughter never even touched the animals in her bed and she hated anything being on her face so I never worried too much about suffocation with her.  If you think she is instantly going to stick it in her mouth (and possibly try to sleep with it there), you will probably feel more comfortable waiting awhile.