Stuffed Animals

[Infected Mushroom]

This is a thread to discuss stuffed animal toys.

It is common to give children stuffed animal toys to play with. Many children go to sleep hugging stuffed animal toys like giraffes, teddies, and hello kitties. However, are stuffed animal toys for kids only? Or can older people and adults keep them?

Specifically, the discussion point is: at what age, if any age, (based on your own personal subjective standard) does it become "problematic" to sleep with stuffed animal toys? (by sleep with, I mean just sleep with, for instance, hugging the toy and falling asleep, nothing more). What would be your reasoning for setting that age as a standard metric?

Alternatively, you might personally find that it is acceptable for people of all ages to play with and sleep with stuffed toy animals.

Please explain whatever you position you adopt.

A poll is up.

Stuffed animals are adorable. So it shouldn't be a problem if people of all ages might be interested in keeping and playing with them. Everyone needs toys.

If someone comes up to you and says "Are you not TOO OLD to be playing with stuffed animals?" then in my view that is a bit close minded.

[Internationalist Bastard]

It literally doesn’t matter
Do whatever makes you happy

[USS Monitor]

I don't think there's anything wrong with having stuffed animals at any age, but it's not healthy if you are still super attached to your stuffed animals as an adult. You should be able to sleep without them if you're traveling, sleeping over at a boyfriend or girlfriend's place, etc.

I actually have some stuffed animals still, and I am in my 30s.

[Internationalist Bastard]

I don't think there's anything wrong with having stuffed animals at any age, but it's not healthy if you are still super attached to your stuffed animals as an adult. You should be able to sleep without them if you're traveling, sleeping over at a boyfriend or girlfriend's place, etc.

Eh I genuinely can’t sleep well without a body pillow, which is a similar concept

[Infected Mushroom]

It literally doesn’t matter
Do whatever makes you happy

[Geneviev]

I have a stuffed bear that is wearing the German football uniform. There's nothing wrong with that since it's sports. Other than that, it still doesn't matter if someone has stuffed animals.

[Infected Mushroom]

I have a stuffed bear that is wearing the German football uniform. There's nothing wrong with that since it's sports. Other than that, it still doesn't matter if someone has stuffed animals.

Is it adorable?

[Western Vale Confederacy]

I refuse to part ways with my three Smurf plushies who made their home on my tall bookcase.

[Jetan]

I don't see why it'd ever become a problem. At some point in becomes a bit weird, but that's about it. I still have my bunny from when I was a child.

[The Free Joy State]

I don't think there's anything wrong with having stuffed animals at any age, but it's not healthy if you are still super attached to your stuffed animals as an adult. You should be able to sleep without them if you're traveling, sleeping over at a boyfriend or girlfriend's place, etc.

^ This. There's no harm in anyone having stuffed animals, but you should be able to manage without them.

I still keep a few stuffed animals (from some of the important people from my life) on my shelves.

[Jetan]

I don't think there's anything wrong with having stuffed animals at any age, but it's not healthy if you are still super attached to your stuffed animals as an adult. You should be able to sleep without them if you're traveling, sleeping over at a boyfriend or girlfriend's place, etc.

^ This. There's no harm in anyone having stuffed animals, but you should be able to manage without them.

I still keep a few stuffed animals (from some of the important people from my life) on my shelves.

I hadn't even considered an adult might still need them in to actually sleep. I agree, that would be alarming.

[UniversalCommons]

Why not. Completely discounting them would be a little strange. After all if you have kids, playing with stuffed animals with them is pretty normal.

[Foxfound]

I still have far more plush foxes than is probably considered reasonable, so it shouldn't be hard to guess that I chose the last option in the poll.

[USS Monitor]

I still have far more plush foxes than is probably considered reasonable, so it shouldn't be hard to guess that I chose the last option in the poll.

Foxes are cool.

[Dazchan]

^ This. There's no harm in anyone having stuffed animals, but you should be able to manage without them.

I still keep a few stuffed animals (from some of the important people from my life) on my shelves.

I hadn't even considered an adult might still need them in to actually sleep. I agree, that would be alarming.

How is it alarming?

[Dogmeat]

[Heloin]

Ain't no one going to take by Bison or Manatee away from me.

[Lanoraie II]

I don't really care particularly strongly either way. I might have some concern for someone playing with stuffed animals after they hit, I don't know, 21? But sleeping with stuffed animals I wouldn't really bat an eye at until someone's 40. But really, I don't think I'd have the energy to judge anyone for either of those beyond very mild, fleeting concern. After all, I keep a plushie of a character from my favorite series of all time with me.

As they say...bedroom business is best kept in the bedroom.

[Infected Mushroom]

What about talking to stuffed animals?

[Sapientia Et Bellum]

I have this monkey stuffed animal thats sat in the corner of my bed for about 14 years (Mind you im living in a dorm right now and this is my "home" bed im referring to).... I swear nobody is crossing that motherfucker

[Valentine Z]

For me, I.. I don't remember much about my stuffed animals, to be honest. I might have a little too many when I was young, and moving to Singapore, I have to leave them all in Yangon. Still, I manage just fine without them as an adult, though I do have this little bear-thingy wearing a graduation gown, gifted to me and my classmates by my Math teacher during middle school as a gift before O Levels. I have it on my bedside.

As a kid, I got way too many stuffed Elmos. I was told that when I was young, I love the little red guy so much. :P

What about talking to stuffed animals?

Depends. I say depends because most of the time, it's kind of weird and sort of awkward to me if I'm to start talking to them.

Other times, it feels like something you can do to heighten up the weirdness/crazy factor by 10, like in the movies.

Very specific example that didn't happen to me but hypothetical. Say someone broke into your car, and you caught the perpetrator.

"Uh-oh, Mr. Elmo here was in the car when you did that! What's that? He tried to kidnap you? Oh, that's not the way to go, Mr. Thief. You're going to jail for breaking into my car!"

It'll be cringe worthy, yes, but dammit it'll be fun to mess around like that.

Still, I won't exactly talk to stuffed animals 90% of the time, on the grounds that people will think I'm a bit loose in the head.

As you go into adulthood, for me, at least, it went from a cartoon character to a stuffed version of an actual animal.

I'm thinking of getting a stuffed cat, or a kitten, because I don't have the time to adopt an actual cat yet. Would pet it now and then to relief the stress, even if not as good as an actual purring cat.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

My dad burned my only stuffed toy when I was about four. He thought it would make me gay. He was an asshole in many, many ways.

[The Grims]

I am addicted to the cranemachines you find at carnivals. Which means I have a lot of them.
Childish? Maybe. But trophies.

[The Grims]

On a related note this thread reminded me of a brilliant online game where you are a psychiatrist where you have to cure abused and neglected cuddlytoys. An autistic hippo, a sheep that thought it was a wolf...

Does anyone know if it still exists ?

[Infected Mushroom]

On a related note this thread reminded me of a brilliant online game where you are a psychiatrist where you have to cure abused and neglected cuddlytoys. An autistic hippo, a sheep that thought it was a wolf...

Does anyone know if it still exists ?

What a fascinating game

I didn’t know it existed