Adults can sleep with stuffed animals, too!

[Ali Gator]

Max Genecov is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, a dad, and a stuffed animal owner.

“I’ve always had them growing up, I had a big fantasy life with them (as a child),” he said. “I just think that they’re nice things you have.”

He has a plush racoon from his childhood, crochets them when friends or family have babies, and still sometimes hugs a stuffed animal or uses one as a pillow when he sleeps, he said.

It might sound unusual, but when you think about it –– is it really?

Plush sales grew over the Covid-19 pandemic, and in 2024, 21% of plush toys were sold to adults over 18, according to Juli Lennett, US toys industry adviser at Circana, a market research and technology company in Chicago.

Stuffed animals “struck a chord with young adults and adults as a means to entertain, collect, and provide comfort during the pandemic,” she said in an email.

Build-A-Bear even has an entire section of its website dedicated to products for grown-ups. A survey the company commissioned found that more than half of people held on to a childhood stuffed animal, and about 40% said they sleep with a plush toy.

“I wonder if people are seeking more comfort in the face of uncertainty,” said Dr. Jade Wu, a sleep psychologist and founder of Thrive Sleep Clinic in Durham, North Carolina. And for people living on their own, it could be nice to have something to cuddle with at night, she added.

There is nothing wrong with having a stuffed animal as an adult or using one to sleep better, experts said. In fact, there are a lot of positives to it.

Adults can sleep with stuffed animals, too. It might even be a good thing, experts say | CNN

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Many people had a favorite stuffed animal as a child, and many more than you think might still have one. Experts explain why they could be beneficial for...

 

[+ ApexNomad]

6 hours ago, Ali Gator said:

Max Genecov is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, a dad, and a stuffed animal owner.

“I’ve always had them growing up, I had a big fantasy life with them (as a child),” he said. “I just think that they’re nice things you have.”

He has a plush racoon from his childhood, crochets them when friends or family have babies, and still sometimes hugs a stuffed animal or uses one as a pillow when he sleeps, he said.

It might sound unusual, but when you think about it –– is it really?

Plush sales grew over the Covid-19 pandemic, and in 2024, 21% of plush toys were sold to adults over 18, according to Juli Lennett, US toys industry adviser at Circana, a market research and technology company in Chicago.

Stuffed animals “struck a chord with young adults and adults as a means to entertain, collect, and provide comfort during the pandemic,” she said in an email.

Build-A-Bear even has an entire section of its website dedicated to products for grown-ups. A survey the company commissioned found that more than half of people held on to a childhood stuffed animal, and about 40% said they sleep with a plush toy.

“I wonder if people are seeking more comfort in the face of uncertainty,” said Dr. Jade Wu, a sleep psychologist and founder of Thrive Sleep Clinic in Durham, North Carolina. And for people living on their own, it could be nice to have something to cuddle with at night, she added.

There is nothing wrong with having a stuffed animal as an adult or using one to sleep better, experts said. In fact, there are a lot of positives to it.

Adults can sleep with stuffed animals, too. It might even be a good thing, experts say | CNN

WWW.CNN.COM

---

Many people had a favorite stuffed animal as a child, and many more than you think might still have one. Experts explain why they could be beneficial for...

 

If my partner needs a stuffed animal to sleep, I volunteer as tribute. But if I have to fight a teddy bear for bed space, we need to reevaluate this relationship.

[+ Just Chuck]

Sleeping with a stuffed animal certainly doesn't hurt anybody.  I've struggled with sleep at times and if I thought that a teddy bear or other stuffed animal would help, I certainly would have tried it.

[maninsoma]

In my early 20s, I liked to collect stuffed animals.  Judgment from some friends caused me to get rid of most of them.

I still have my teddy bear from when I was a baby.  He's in bad shape but he's not going anywhere until I'm gone.  It isn't like I pull him out to look at him or touch him -- in fact, I kind of had forgotten I still had him until I recently rediscovered him in my closet.  The only other stuffed animals I still have is a set of Teletubbies, and I bought those in my early forties after the whole "Tinky Winky is a gay role model corrupting our youth" nonsense made headlines.

[Rod Hagen]

At night I sleep with my partner, a knee pillow, and The Blankie I've had since I Was 1 years old.  I love it so much that I had someone make another identical one for me in case anything happens to it.  Dad is 86 years old and he still has his Toddler Teddy Bear, though he doesn't sleep with it. Mom's bed in her assisted-care facility is a panoply of Teddy Bears sent with my Mother's Day FTDs.

 

Edited April 1 by Rod Hagen

[+ Lucky]

If I bought a stuffed toy, it would look like an ali-gator!

[Nightowl]

I sleep with an extra pillow that helps keep my arm elevated to ease pain in my shoulder. It could just as well be a large teddy bear.  

[+ Gar1eth]

I had a stuffed monkey that looked something like this. I don't really remember sleeping with him, but I'm sure I did at some point. 
 

 

I still vaguely remember this, and I'm in my 60's now--We moved away from my hometown when I was 4 years old. We were back in town one time when I was probably about 5 visiting the family. We were packing up to go home. We go out to the driveway. We get the shock of our lives. There's an arm sticking out of the closed trunk.  My Dad opens the trunk. It turns out  my monkey's arm had gotten caught outside the trunk-when the trunk hood came down-well gotten accidentally caught or my  12 year old brother decided to play a joke. To be fair he's always denied it.

 

I wish I still had the monkey. My parents were having a garage sale when I was 8. I decided to sell him. I hope he brought some other youngster happiness. 
 

As for my baby blanket, we had it until I was 6. That year my parents got  us a puppy on Rosh Hashanah. We named him Happy for obvious reasons.  We put the blanket in Happy's bed to keep him warm-and that was the end of the blanket. 

[+ ApexNomad]

1 hour ago, Gar1eth said:

I had a stuffed monkey that looked something like this. I don't really remember sleeping with him, but I'm sure I did at some point. 
 

 

I still vaguely remember this, and I'm in my 60's now--We moved away from my hometown when I was 4 years old. We were back in town one time when I was probably about 5 visiting the family. We were packing up to go home. We go out to the driveway. We get the shock of our lives. There's an arm sticking out of the closed trunk.  My Dad opens the trunk. It turns out  my monkey's arm had gotten caught outside the trunk-when the trunk hood came down-well gotten accidentally caught or my  12 year old brother decided to play a joke. To be fair he's always denied it.

 

I wish I still had the monkey. My parents were having a garage sale when I was 8. I decided to sell him. I hope he brought some other youngster happiness. 
 

As for my baby blanket, we had it until I was 6. That year my parents got  us a puppy on Rosh Hashanah. We named him Happy for obvious reasons.  We put the blanket in Happy's bed to keep him warm-and that was the end of the blanket. 

That stuffed monkey would give me nightmares.

[Whippoorwill]

When I was in my 20s, and relaying to my shrink my tales of woe with bad tricks,  she said, “I know what your problem is, you just don’t like to sleep alone. Get a teddy bear.” So I did. And to this day, if there’s not a man in my bed, teddy is. 

[+ Gar1eth]

38 minutes ago, ApexNomad said:

That stuffed monkey would give me nightmares.

The yellow torso on mine  was brighter. And I don't remember if mine had an open or closed mouth. I got this picture off of eBay. 

[Ali Gator]

I will admit that I always wanted a 'Wolfie Doll' - the stuffed werewolf that Eddie Munster carried around on 'The Munsters' back in the 60s. They came out back then (I was around 3 years old) and if anyone has from back then, you're sitting with a small fortune you can cash in for your retirement.

As for my OP, I don't know if I necessarily agree with this for many  Millennials and Zoomers in my life, whom I deal with on a daily basis. They are the two generations (b. 1981-1996 / 1996-2009) who have been struggling with 'delayed adolescence' as they grow older. These are the ones who routinely say 'I don't like being a grown-up' and 'Adulting is not for me', and can't handle the responsibilities someone at their age should be handling (like a 'job') as other generations have done when we were their age. I don't think a stuffed animal in their beds are helping them grow up - I'd rather see them with a dog or a cat in their bed which they take care of every day...(sigh) but then that silly 'adulting' gets in the way.

Just my opinion. (For the record, I sleep with my best friend every night - my 9 year old 'Shorkie').