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How does teddy bear become baby’s best friend?
“Nounours and our daughter Théa have been inseparable for four years. When we go on vacation, he sits on the bench next to her. At night, it serves as a pillow, during the day, he patiently awaits his return from school. He is losing his hair, he has a crooked eye and smells bordering on bad, but he is our daughter’s darling and I can’t even imagine Théa’s sadness if Nounours got lost in nature! I kept my teddy bear until I was 18 and I cried when it was misplaced during a move. So I understand her! ”
Ludivine and her daughter Théa are part of the “oursomaniaques” fan-club, like millions of young and old. If it is the child’s favorite animal, it is because it reminds him of his own morphology, underlines the pediatrician Jacky Israël: “A big head with two eyes and a mouth, a round belly, small legs and small arms, the bear has a humanoid shape, he walks upright and, unlike the evil wolf who frightens, he is nice. “
The first meeting usually takes place very early. The teddy bear offered during the first year fills the sensoriality of the toddler. Cute, soft, silky, tender, supple, it is an invitation to caress, like mom. It can be carried around everywhere and it occupies a role equivalent to that of the blanket (intermediary between the child and the mother), moreover some become it for good. Thanks to him, we feel less alone, we hug him to fall asleep and he is reassuring when mom is not there. As with the blanket, it is very important not to wash the favorite teddy bear, as it permeates the scent of the child and its familiar scent is an integral part of its function as an object of attachment and of comfort.
The bear goes from the status of a blanket to that of an alter ego
Over the months, the child grows up and the bear changes from a stuffed animal to an alter ego to have fun with. Toddlers easily identify with teddy bears, heroes of cartoons and evening stories such as Winnie, Little Brown Bear, Plume the Little Polar Bear, Paddington, Colargol, Michka, Bouba, Kung-Fu Panda, Yogi the Bear … Like them, they are clumsy, clumsy, very greedy, love hugs, are afraid black, do stupid things, discover the world and oppose their parents. Hence their great success. The teddy bear they cuddled becomes, meanwhile, a privileged playmate. Smaller than him, the child dominates him, it is his thing, his friend. He plays in turn the role of accomplice, guardian angel, confidant to whom the toddler can relate his fears, his joys, his sorrows, but also his dreams and his secrets.
The teddy bear is at the same time accomplice, guardian angel, confidant …
As Jacky Israël explains: “During the first five years of their life, children do not put a barrier between the imaginary and the real. For them, the animal world and the human world, the world of objects and the world of the living, it is the same thing. Animals, whether real, drawn or plush, experience feelings, speak, play, live like humans. The bear is a person who meets their needs, thanks to him, they can create imaginary situations and train to experience scenes from everyday life. They appropriate it so that they can part with it around 5-6 years old, that’s part of the development. “
The “mirror” bear allows the angry child to evacuate his feelings of frustration, especially vis-à-vis his parents when they scold him or do not understand him as he would like. The fact that he does not change, that he is always there, faithful, loyal, reliable, unperturbed, reassures the little one who changes, grows and transforms. No matter the upheavals, his “teddy bear” remains his friend and he knows he can count on him! Jacky Israël warmly recommends that parents especially not to demystify these imaginary games: “Up to 5-6 years, the child is not ready to hear” But what are you talking about? a real bear is a plush! ” For him, it’s real. He will not make the difference between reality and imagination until the time of the first grade, the age when he will stop believing in Santa Claus and the little mouse. “
A love story that will last over time
Even if tablets, consoles and connected toys are popular, the bear still has its place among the favorite toys of children because their imagination makes him a person: they are the creators, they stage him, invent him adventures, dress it, give it a voice, a name, a role, an identity. Nothing is imposed, it is their world to them, while video games, applications, activities on consoles and connected toys impose standardized programs, obligatory paths that leave no part to the imagination and to personal creation. Apart from its soft cub, another characteristic of the bear that has become an adult is its popularity: its protective side. The grizzly mother defending her cubs against all dangers, Baloo the irresistible blundering babysitter of Mowgli in the Jungle Book, Ernest who protects little Celestine, the attentive mother of Little Brown Bear, Teddy bear paternity Pimprenelle and Nicolas in Bonne night the little ones, all emit a reassuring quiet force like the benevolent parents whom they symbolize in the eyes of the children. This image of a courageous and powerful animal has nourished our collective imagination for centuries. The bear has always aroused admiration and fascination to the point that men worshiped it. He was considered the king of animals in Europe, and parts of his body were used as talismans. Carrying one of his canines or his claws on you provided a little of his strength.
Since its invention at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, giving a teddy bear as a birth gift or during childhood has been giving a kind of lucky charm that inscribes the baby in a story that links the generations together. The adult donor transmits cultural values to the newborn, but also the memories of his own childhood. And the love story that is born between the bear and the child will last over time: we all know adults who keep this fetish toy straight from the land of childhood dreams all their lives.