PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote:When Emma was about one year old, we had a bad ice storm in Connecticut. Because we had no heat or electricity, we went to a hotel. The closest hotel (because nobody had heat or electricity) was a 45 minute drive away.
We stayed for a few days (I smuggled Sebastian in) and was relieved when it was time to go home.
I thought that I had packed everything, but somehow, Emma's Ted (a blue puffalump bear) got lost. We didn't discover that he was gone until bedtime and Emma could not sleep at all.
I called the hotel and they couldn't find Ted.
I went to the toy store and they didn't carry Ted. Mattel didn't make Ted any more.
Grandmas and Aunties went out and found Ted in California and he was overnighted to us in Connecticut.
After that, I went on Ebay and found several other Teds. (Emma has five of them.)
A week later, somebody at the hotel found Ted.
My advice to anyone with a kid with a transition object. Make sure that you have a duplicate and rotate play with the object so it gets equally worn.
Unfortunately, each of my kids' "comfort objects" was not found in any store but rather handmade by a family friend, so it isn't like we could say, "Could you churn out a few duplicates in case we misplace the first one?"
Every time that we have travelled, The Boy's White Bear (silky blanket with bear head and body) and PP's pink silky blanket would get put inside of their pillows. Of course, now, the baby's silky blanket always in in the car seat with her.
He has outgrown White Bear, and she will be done with her blankie in a year or two, but they will have them to give to their children, despite being so "well-loved" in places.
However, we did have a similar story with Monkey Brown, who was his first stuffed animal. After having a passport made for him and weeks of preparation, he got left at home when we took off for our cruise a couple years ago. Fearing the worst, he took it all in stride and decided that he would just show the pictures. (Plus, he got a towel monkey on the ship.

)