Carrie Hood, 22, works in sales and customer service for a Chicagoland business. After a hard day at work, Carrie goes home to be comforted by one thing: her blanky.

"I keep my blanky around for security, love, comfort and (out of) stubbornness," Hood said of her once-white blanket, which doubles as an adjustable pillow. "I honestly don't know what I would do without it."

What is a Lovie?
Professor Alice Honig in the Department of Child and Family Studies at Syracuse University calls Hood's blanky and other objects of dependency "lovies" because children get comfort and love from them. Honig said parents can snuggle these usually soft lovies next to their children to provide comfort when the parent is not around. For example, a lovie can comfort a child when she gets a new babysitter.

Cyndi Mortiz, 45, said her 10-year-old son got his lovie at birth. The blanket, called Blanky, was yellow and had a satin trim. Mortiz never found the lovie embarrassing.

"It didn't embarrass us because he was young, and most of the little kids we knew had lovies of one sort or another," she said. "We did impose a rule about not taking the blanket out of the house, but my son never really protested. If I had it to do over again, though, I would probably let him take it wherever he wanted."

Before the age of 4, Hood took her lovie everywhere. As she got older, the blanket left the house less and less, but at night, Blanky stayed with Hood a great deal as she wandered her house.

Relationships With Lovies
Lovies not only make great traveling companions, but children also can create entire personalities for their lovies. Mortiz, a mother of three, said all of her children had lovies. Her youngest son talked to his lovie and spoke for the lovie. Mortiz also said there was a period when her son would ask her husband and her to kiss the lovie good night, just like they kissed him.

According to Honig, a parent should be proud when their child creates and forms a relationship with a lovie, because of the amount of mental power involved. "It's an intellectual development," Honig said. "It's a symbol of love that's not a mother or other type of caregiver."

The power in the lovie-child relationship belongs to the child, Honig said. The child can drag the lovie around, and the lovie is there for the child's every command. Unfortunately for some, a lovie can also be a source of embarrassment. Mortiz's son also had a doll he carried around called Baby. When he entered day care, he would take Baby with him for comfort. Mortiz once heard another kid say, "What's that, your baby?" in a sarcastic voice. Her son denied it and then kicked the doll to show he really didn't care about it.

Hood can relate to this: She said her lovies are a source of ridicule from both family and friends. "My parents teased me about throwing it away some day, but they never seriously attempted to take either my blanky or my teddy bear, Snoozie, away," she said. "I think they thought when I went to college I would be humiliated enough to get rid of them or at least to leave them at home, but they were wrong."

Leaving Lovie Behind
A child will naturally part with a lovie if she finds comfort in something else. For example, adults often have a sweater or special necklace they wear that provides comfort. The comfort provided by a lovie is important, however, and as a result, Honig would never recommend taking the lovie away from a child. "Taking the lovie away will not toughen your kid up," she said. "It will only make him or her more fearful, more worried and insecure."

Alison Pohn's mother felt differently. When Pohn, now 42, was 8 years old, she agreed to her mother's bribe of a party with a chocolate cake to get rid of her lovie -- a blanket. "She made me throw it down the incinerator," Pohn said. "I was devastated and stood there sobbing." After she lost the lovie, she had a hard time going to sleep, but the lovie was never replaced.

Pohn never figured out why her mother made her get rid of the lovie. However, if a parent feels a child's attachment to a lovie is too strong, Honig suggested finding special loving substitutes -- like a longer bed time routine -- to provide comfort and love to child.

"Read another story, sing a song while rubbing the child's back, get an extra drink of water," she said. "The need for a lovie might be telling you that you are working too much for your child and you need to spend more time with him or her."

Sometimes separation from a lovie happens when the lovie falls apart. Mortiz's son's blanky gradually fell apart with washing. "He was probably about 5 when it fell apart completely. It was so gradual that he seemed to accept the loss pretty naturally."

For blankets that are wearing away, Honig suggested cutting the blanket into a small square for your child to carry.

If a child unexpectedly loses the lovie, the loss can be hard. The parent must explain to the child that the lovie is gone and they are sorry. A parent may want to get another lovie for the child, but be warned: The new lovie may not replace the lost one.

"It's not a lovie until the child endows it, but a parent may want to get something that smells like them or that is soft," Honig said.

Pohn's daughter, now 13, lost her lovie, Bunny, at Disney World. She told her daughter that Bunny wanted to stay in Disney World. She said her daughter took the loss kind of hard. Pohn bought another bunny exactly like the first, but her daughter never accepted it like the first.

"It wasn't worn in the same places as the first one," Pohn explained. "She would go to the worn spots on the first one, and this one did not have them."

Whether the lovie gradually fades away or is abruptly taken away the loss felt is real. Recently, Moritz's son said he misses his blanky, and he has mentioned that he would like another one.

"We haven't gotten him another one yet, but he mentioned that he would like me to give him one privately, not in front of his friends, for his upcoming birthday," she said.

Hood is grateful to still have her blanky and teddy bear, and said she would definitely give her kids a lovie.

"Whether or not they become as attached as I am to mine is up to them," she said. "Mine is a source of memories and comfort, and I want my children to have the same."