You will have ever observed that your child uses a teddy bear, a piece of cloth, a pillow or other object that accompanies him when he is sleepy, when he sleeps or is distraught; It may also happen that in those moments he expresses a preference for certain words, he likes to listen to some particular music or he may choose from among your hugs that only you can give him. These objects and phenomena are his first possession, the entrance doors to the recreational activity.
The concept of "possession" refers us to Winnicott, an English pediatrician and psychoanalyst, who states that "there is an intermediate state between the baby's inability to recognize and accept reality and his growing ability to do so." This intermediate state is called transitional space. In it they can occur transitional phenomena or appear transitional objects: a word, a melody, a maternal attitude, the sheet of his crib or any other object to which the child clings. Sometimes he transitional object It is the mother herself. With these resources, build safety feelings gradually.
The position in front of the objects is not of game but of possession. He holds it, sucks it, caresses it, kisses it, throws it on the floor: it will resist both love and hate and all kinds of destructive attacks. It will be the child who chooses it, it cannot be imposed: he will have the possibility to create it. The texture, the smell have a special significance, so we advise not to wash it. It will take you everywhere, it will always be within reach; If you lose it, it causes sadness. These attitudes usually appear between four and eight months to disappear near the year, although it is usual for some children to keep that doll or cushion for several years, more as a memory, as a reminiscence, than as an object of attachment.
The transitional objects They are normal and signs of a good psychic integration. When the discrimination processes allow the child to differentiate more between himself and the elements of the external world, he will then establish relations of play and not possession with objects.
Remember: the game is important, it is the activity par excellence of the child and implies health.
