A few years ago, my friend’s 13-month-old baby, Corrine, was in hospital with pneumonia. One of the nursing staff asked if Corrine had something special that she liked to play with or comfort herself with. My friend explained, “Well, at the moment she loves playing with the buttons on the washing machine!"
A funny anecdote.
Most early years educators are familiar with children who come to nursery clutching a grubby looking rabbit or a soft blanket (not a washing machine). They don’t want to be parted from them.
How do educators perceive this scenario, and manage it?
The transitional object
In his foundational paper of 1953, ‘Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena: A Study of the First Not-Me Possession’, paediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott introduced the concept of the transitional object.
A transitional object is a physical item, often a soft toy or blanket, that helps a young child feel safe. It helps bridge the gap between the child and their mother or primary carer. It supports them to make the transition between the subjective reality they share with their mother and a new external reality.
Winnicott did not develop the concept of the transitional object for children settling into nursery. His ideas can, however, help educators understand how certain objects help young children to settle in. When starting nursery, the transitional object can help bridge the emotional gap between home and school, easing their anxiety around separation.
Mabel arrived at nursery tightly holding Axel, her treasured soft dog: they were inseparable. She held Axel under her arm during all activities - she was skilled at doing this! Mabel managed to do some mark-making and eat her lunch with Axel held close to her. Mable and Axel were as one.
For Mable, Axel is a transitional object.
For Corrine the washing machine is something she’s interested in and likes to amuse herself with.
What precisely is a transitional object?
Sometimes the term ‘transitional object’ is misused to refer to a favourite toy or range of objects. This is why Corrine’s washing machine is not a transitional object.
Winnicott was explicit about the transitional object’s specific qualities
- The object is affectionately cuddled as well as excitedly loved and mutilated.”
The object is something that the child can love, cuddle, attack, and mutilate. This is an important characteristic as the object must withstand the child's ambivalent feelings.
- “It must never change, unless changed by the infant.”
The object has a continuity for the child. Adults should not interfere and change it in ways that disrupt this. For instance, washing or repairing it is often a problem.
- “Yet it must seem to the infant to give warmth, or to move, or to have texture, or to do something that seems to show it has vitality or reality of its own.”
The object isn't experienced as inert. It has qualities such as warmth and vitality that make it feel alive or real to the infant. Some children will, for instance, have a particular voice for it.
- “It comes from without from our point of view, but not so from the point of view of the baby. Neither does it come from within; it is not a hallucination.”
This is probably the most theoretically important criterion. From an adult/external point of view, the object is an external thing. For the child’s it’s neither internal (like a hallucination) or external (like a toy train). The object occupies the space that is between the infant's subjective world with their mother and their external reality. This is, indeed, why it is a transitional object.
- “Its fate is to be gradually allowed to be decathected, so that in the course of years it becomes not so much forgotten as relegated to limbo.”
Over time, the object becomes less important to the child as they develop other ways of finding comfort and security. They don’t simply forget about the object, but its emotional value reduces and they can relinquish it. This is because the function that their object once had becomes diffused across play, creativity and relationships.
Transitional objects we see in nursery
Common items that young children use as transitional objects are:
- soft toys: cuddly companions that are easy to hold
- blankets: they carry the comforting scent of home
- pieces of clothing: a scarf or jumper belonging to a caregiver connect the child with them
- another object that the child has invested with a special comforting meaning.
Such objects help the child feel more secure and enable them to explore their new space.
It’s worth noting that photos and other familiar objects may also provide comfort for the child though they are not transitional objects.
Tips for educators
The main thing is to have a sensitive and consistent approach to managing the transitional object in your setting.
- Self-selection: a transitional object needs to be meaningful to the child. Talk to parents about this before they start nursery. The child needs to choose what they bring. Bear in mind that not all children will need or want one.
- A stand-in: encourage parents to have a spare object that is significant to their child, in case they lose one.
- Treat it as significant: though the object may look like an old blanket or a grubby toy, it will have considerable emotional value for the child. Handle it respectfully and be mindful that the child may experience any change (like washing) as a loss.
- Create a safe space or home for the object: this is a consistent place where the child can put the object when they are ready to be parted from it. It could be a basket or drawer, for example. Make sure it is somewhere that other children can’t access.
- Don’t rush separation from the object – it will be different for each child. Some children may need some support to separate. For example, educators may gently encourage them to leave it briefly in the safe space, just for a minute or so at first.
- Work with parents – try to agree with parents how they will manage the at home and nursery. Consistency between home and nursery can help the child feel secure.
The educator's role is not to get rid of the transitional object. It is to provide a secure environment in which the child can use it when they need to. The educator also supports them to gradually develop other ways of feeling safe, playing, exploring and separating.
The importance of creating a ‘secure and supportive climate’ for young children is highlighted in the Education Endowment Foundation’s resource Supporting Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Early years.
For some children, a transitional object in nursery can make all the difference between feeling overwhelmed by the loss of separation and feeling secure enough to start exploring their new environment.
References:
Winnicott, D.W. (1971) Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena: A Study of the First Not-Me Possession. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis 34 (1953) and later reprinted in Playing and Reality (1971).