Do/did you have one?

46 comments

  1. I do not and haven’t slept with a stuffed animal since I was like… a young boy. My son has a stuffed bunny he is inseparable from though, goes to sleep hugging it. He’s also 3.

  2. Someone would have to rip my stuffed dog out of my cold dead hands before I abandon her to a box in my closet

  3. No/no/also no.

    I have seen American women do this but it looked like a theme decoration. Thirty pillows and 12 Stuffed “snoopy” or “Garfield”toys. One of those long cat pillows. Some Disney or foreign animation studio stuffed toy. I dunno. Let adult women be cute. It’s ok.

  4. It’s common enough for people to have a stuffed animal that’s attached to good memories from childhood.

  7. Not my thing–didn’t and don’t have one–and I don’t think it’s terribly common, but I can think of many stranger and weirder things! Seems harmless…. and kind of cute.

  8. I did and I do. You’re not taking Dusty, my flat gray, faded well-loved lifelong stuffed cat buddy from me. He goes in a box when I go in a box.

  9. My wife and I both have body pillows of cats in the same colors as our cats. If you’re going to have a body pillow it might as well be a cat one. 🐈

    We’re also only children, maybe that has something to do with it. Also I have a stuffed turtle my great grandmother made me when I was a child. That thing got me through a lot. I would save it in a house fire.

  10. I have Trike (from Harry and His Bucketful of Dinosaurs) and a Blåhaj I sleep with.

  11. It’s not common, but it’s also not super rare either. Most of the folks my age don’t necessarily have our comfort toys out, but I sure as shit know where in my house it is.

  12. I use to have a Barney the Dinosaur stuffed animal. We named him “Barney”. I also went to Build a Bear for one of my birthdays and got a tiger named “Jack”, named after Jackie Chan as recommended by my brother.

    I don’t know where either of them are. I’ve heard of some women still sleeping with stuffed animals, but I haven’t heard of any guys doing it. I’m sure more adults than we know sleep with a stuffed animal.

  14. No, but the way my wife accumulates blankets and pillows on our couch, I’m wondering if that is some sort of emotional support system that I’ve been overlooking.

  15. I heard a joke once

    “Scoring with girls is actually pretty easy. Step one: make friends with her cat. If she doesn’t have a cat, make friends with her teddy bear. If she doesn’t have a teddy bear, run because that’s a red flag”

    So at least for women, it’s pretty accepted I think lmao. I have a stuffed octorok, myself

  16. I don’t think it’s super common, but I’ve known a few adults who still sleep with one regularly. Personally I collect stuffed animals, a couple of which are sentimental ones from childhood, but they are all displayed on a shelf and I don’t sleep with them.

  17. As a kid I slept with a “pound puppy”, but that ended around 12 years old or so. I wouldn’t say it’s normal but it’s not uncommon.

  18. I think it really depends on which groups of people you are asking. There isn’t an ‘American Consensus’ as far as I can tell.

    Sorting by Age, Gender, and Social/Political/etc Groups are going to give different sorts of results.

    Anecdotally, this is what I experienced.
    * It was normal in elementary school.
    * It was kind of taboo in middle and high school, but many of us still did and just didn’t talk about it.
    * Right out of college there was a lot of pressure to ‘grow up’ so people pretended they didn’t have any.
    * In 2020 I turned 21 and the pandemic hit. Since then I feel like people are just tired, and are realizing that we can still be adults while enjoying things we did as kids.

    Maybe I am just around more accepting people, but I think generally the taboo is a lot less these days. Like if you make fun of someone for having a stuffed animal it just makes that person a bully.

    I have many, but I only keep a few above my pillow, and have one I actually lay my shoulder on because it helps my sleeping posture I’ve maintained since I was a kid lol.
    Admittedly, when I’m home alone and need to sleep I’ll put a few where my gf would usually sleep.

  20. Seems like it’s becoming more common or at least more openly stated to me. As for me, no. I had a stuffed alligator named Dandy I was inseparable from until I was 9-10 I think, but we got a cat around that time that managed to get a hold of it when I was at school. It was torn to shreds within a day and I never replaced it.

  22. Funny you mention this, because I’ve been in the market for a stuffed animal after giving that up in my childhood. I’m a side sleeper and have been having issues with getting comfortable lately and thought something to hold to keep my shoulder from collapsing would really help. Body pillows look too long and expensive, so I’m looking for a stuffed animal with the right dimensions/softness.

  23. It is not common but it is perfectly fine. Common does not equal good or bad.

    I could see a spouse finding it annoying though.

  24. Comfort items are reasonably common, though they’re not often talked about.

    I don’t sleep with one, but my brother’s wife does.

  25. Not a stuffed animal… but my wife has a blanket/binkie/woobie/whatever.

    Fucker is 40+ years old at this point.

  26. Never slept with a doll or stuffed animal as a kid. About 10 yrs ago I was at a work conference with many vendors and feeling overwhelmed by the amount of people, the work expectations, and the whole scene in general. My coworkers were loud, rude, and obnoxious to the many vendors while I would hang back super embarrassed trying to distance myself from them.

    A nice vendor noticed me trying to hide by the pamphlets, came around the counter and spoke to me about his product, the weather, how the conference was going, etc. We paused when my coworkers got extra loud about them not giving up the one stuffed horse they had left on the counter. As they gave their parting rude comments and moved on, I hung my head in shame being with them. The nice vendor walked back to the counter, took the last stuffed horse and gave it to me. He said if anyone deserved this horse it’s me and he hoped I have a better day.

    The horse held significance from that day on. Any time I felt overwhelmed or like I needed a friend, I held the horse. Left my husband of over 20 yrs and slept with the horse every day for a few years until I felt stable and secure being by myself. I still have the horse on my bed but he’s just my friend now, not my savior. I wish that guy knew what a difference he made that day and many years to come. Thanks vendor, you helped.

  27. No, I do not. I had a few stuffed animals when I was very young, but they were history by the time I hit adolescence.

  28. [This Article](https://studyfinds.org/adults-childhood-stuffed-animal/#:~:text=According%20to%20new%20data%2C%20fifty,a%20bed%20with%20their%20partner.) shows that adults sleep with stuffed animals pretty often. Personally, I stopped for about a year in my 20s, then I got in a car accident and bruised my ribs. My teddy bear was a perfect way to keep my ribs supported as a side sleeper, and I have slept with him ever since (I am 37.) Although I don’t travel with a stuffed animal, nor do I sleep with one when sharing a bed.

  32. I am 30 and have a small army of squishmallows protecting me from the Boogeyman.

  33. I don’t think I’d like an adult who judged someone for what makes them comfortable to sleep. Sleep is fucking precious.

  34. I have a stuffed bear I’ve had since I was a year old and a stuffed Timon that I’ve had since 1994. I’m 42 now and they’re still on my bed.

  35. I never really had a stuffed animal once I got past a certain age.

    But I do use a pillow to give my arms something to do since I tend to sleep on my side. It also acts as extra insulation since my family insists on ***keeping the house below freezing***.

  36. I sleep with a real animal. Who in the middle of the night leaves me in the middle of the night for a futon.

    I’m assuming it’s a heat thing, because come winter you can’t get [him](https://i.imgur.com/d3pD2iI.jpg) out of bed come morning.

    That being said I do know some adults that sleep with a stuffed animal.

  38. As a child, no stuffed animals because mother felt “animals are dirty”. Yeah, yeah, I know – that’s a little cracked. As a young adult, no stuffed animals because it just never occurred to me to buy them. In my 40s, a broken collarbone led me to using a stuffed animal that was perfect to prop my arm just so. Right height, right width, right density, finally I could get some sleep! – and 18 years later, I now own several stuffy toy badgers.

  39. Yes. I spend quite a bit of time in the hospital. Everytime I am in the hospital or have a really difficult medical test I take my special stuffie. He is a 6 inch red shark and is my portable “home”.

  41. I’m not in the habit of quizzing other adults what they sleep with so I have no idea.

    Neither my spouse nor myself sleep with a stuffed animal. I have a pillow I hug while sleeping that is just a rectangle with no decoration. We have some stuffed animals on a shelf but we don’t sleep with them.

  42. I do, his name is Mr. Bumbles and he is a bumble bee pillow pet from like 15 years ago. I am in my mid 30’s.

  45. It’s odd, but anyone who actually judges me rather than just “oh, I didn’t expect that, but cool” is not worth my or anyone’s time.

  46. I’ve had a stuffed animal for 32 years and she stays on my bed. Then I have one my friend had made after my dog passed away. It’s a picture of her printed on fabric and stuffed. It’s only been 7 months (as of yesterday) so that one I actually cuddle with most nights.

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