Ok so I have a 19month old son, whom I find every night with one of his stuffed animales or blankets wedged under his head during the night. He loves to lay in our bed on the pillow and he says "ahhhh"....it's really cute.
My question is how old should a child be before safely given a pillow and what kind of pillow should the child be given?
Hi M.
I say he is old enough we gave our kids pillows at a year. as long as he can turn his head on his own you should not have to worry about suffication any longer. I would just give him a regular pillow. :)T.
My son has a little stuffed horsey that plays music. He's had it since he was born. He started laying his head on him everynight a few months before he turned two. So like right before he turned two we started giving him a pillow. (he's now 2 1/2 years old) So I acctually agree with the peditrician on this one for once. 18 - 24 months old seems like a good age to start giving your child a pillow. My son started out with a feather pillow. There was hardly anything to it. Now he has an old pillow of mine that's been throughly flatened out. So in other words you don't want to give him a big, thick, fluffy pillow. You want to give him a pretty thin pillow.
I gave my daughter a pillow at about 20 months when she had a cold and was stuffed up...I wanted to prop her up a bit. And since then she's had it in her crib as she really took to it.
My son didn't start using a pillow until he was 25 months old and switched to a twin bed...and then he hardly used it as he was sleeping sideways most of the time. :)
I'd say your son is old enough and if he enjoys it let him use one.
My oldest had a pillow around 11 months, I think, and my youngest got his around 14 months. They have to be able to move themselves and the bedding around easily so they won't get trapped.
I wouldn't feel comfortable giving a pillow to a baby who couldn't stand up, with or without help.
I give my boys flat pillows. You can get crib pillows at places like IKEA.
I asked the same question a few months ago and you wouldn't believe how many people said 4-6 months! Yikes! I asked my chiropractor and pediatrician and they both said 18 months to 2 years. My daughter is 18 months and I am just now looking for a pillow for her. I have heard that www.onestepahead.com has great pillows for kids. I would assume they are not as thick as a standard pillow.
I would think you are in the right age range for a pillow.
I asked this same question about 2 years ago and got quite the variety of answers. It basically came down to, "what are your child's sleeping habits?".
My son (who's 7) has always been independent and decided when he wanted to sleep with a pillow (about 20 months or so). My second one, Kaia, was about 2 or so when she wanted a pillow; and my youngest (who is now 18 months) is still in her crib without a pillow, but ALWAYS with her bear. Bella (my 18 month old) can't sleep without a "cuddle" as we put it (her bear, her blankie, us, etc). In my opinion, it's a matter of "is it safe". Can your son raise his head on his own, pull objects away from his face, sit up unaided, etc?
At his age, I'd assume all these are true, so I'd let him fall asleep with a favorite toy or blanket. And if he seems to sleep better with a firm pillow, let him. Obviously monitor him during naps to see how he does, but if that all checks out fine, let him sleep that way. There are a lot of differing ideas about when this is "safe" but you know your little one better than anyone else. If you're still torn about the idea, talk to your pediatrician or ask him/her about a place to find literature on the subject. Good luck! :)
My oldest was 19 months when we started giving him a pillow without any problems.
