to be overprotective towards somebody
to try to protect somebody too cautiously
to guard someone entirely from the threats, risks, and problems of life
to protect someone a lot without allowing them to be independent enough
The mother wrapped the child up in cotton wool as if it would protect him from all the dangers of the world.
You cannot wrap up your children in cotton wool for the whole life.
If you wrap him up in cotton wool now and shield him from meeting new dogs on walks, it’s unlikely his anxiety will get better.
How will your children learn to be independent when you keep wrapping them in cotton wool?
Wise parents let their children live freely and not always wrap them in cotton wool.
There is no origin for this idiom
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definition
Common phrase that has a specific meaning.