Replacing your child's favourite teddy

Children often get very attached to their favourite teddies, and it can be quite a disappointment if they lose teddy. Unfortunately, teddies that go on outings do sometimes get lost, and at times parents may need to make judicious decisions to wash teddies who are a bit stinky. It can be a useful to know how to get a replacement teddy to avoid too much distress. 

Note all the teddy's identifying details 

When you first get a teddy it can be useful to snap a picture of their tags. This means that you'll have the teddy's brand, but you also might have other identifying information like a part number or a model name. This can be really useful if you head online to look up stockists of the teddy, as you can easily search for the teddy you want. 

Buy some backup teddies

As soon as you notice that your little one has a strong attachment to one style of teddy, it can be useful to get some back-ups of that teddy. These teddies will generally still be in shops if the teddy has been bought recently, and you can have a backup hiding at the back of the wardrobe to come out as needed. 

Oh no, s/he's out of stock!

If you have a missing teddy and you either don't have a backup or have lost the backup as well, you might need to get creative. Head to the brand website and look for the local soft toy distributor. You can call them directly, as they may have some discontinued stock or may be able to give you some ideas about which bricks-and-mortar stores are likely to have a spare teddy in the store room. 

You can also head online to auction sites, as many soft toy collectors have large ranges of popular teddies and may periodically do sales to get rid of their excess stock. Again, having the part number can be useful, as many toy ranges make similar but slightly different teddies and your child may be upset if their new replacement teddy doesn't 'feel right' because they are a slightly different size or have slightly different features to their beloved teddy.

Good luck in replacing your child's favourite teddy. If they are extremely attached to their teddy it can often be useful to have some backups in place to avoid sleepless nights waiting for the new teddy to arrive in the mail.