Hi there! My 13 month old recently started snuggling up to the pillows on our couch or when she wakes really early the last few days I have been grabbing her and bringing her into bed. She just loves plopping her little head onto the pillow and sleeps quite nicely. I know that if you give a child a pillow it needs to be small and firm, so that there is no danger of suffocation. She's not a great sleeper, so if there's something that helps her sleep I am all for it. When did you give your child a pillow? Did it help them sleep longer and/or comfort them. Please let me know! Thanks!
Hi,
I got my son a pillow--one I ordered from the chiropractor--a kid-sized ergonomic one--about $35--when he started sleeping in a big-boy bed at 20 months.
:-) D.
Um, my son was about 12-15 months old.... he slept better with it.
BUT, you have to make sure that the gross motor/fine motor skills of your child is coordinated enough to wear she CAN pull things off of her, should it get "stuck" on her face.
As an alternative, what you can do is giver her a "lovey" to have, anytime and for sleeping. My son loves his stuffed "cow" to bits... he got attached to it, by himself from about 6 months old and dragged it everywhere and he LOVES sleeping with it and cuddling it. Or, they have those mini lovey/security blankets... amazon.com has them too.
But, if she is co-sleeping with you, and you have your own "adult" pillow there, she will probably just use that, as she has been doing. Yes? In your bed, still, you just want to be sure that if she happens to be sleeping on her stomach, even at her age... that she can breathe. So check on her. Sometimes they sleep soooo deeply, that they don't/can't check themselves. I co-sleep and that is what I have done... just getting up during the night to check if they were on their stomach or their heads buried in the pillow.
To get her to sleep better...well, each child is different. Also, at this age, you can certainly put "safe" toys in her crib, and stuffed animals... it gives them "company" and will entertain them and/or helping them to go to sleep and/or on their own. For my son, this works.
the reasons "why" a baby/child does not sleep all all night, is quite the million dollar question. Each child is different, and they go through SO many developmental changes and growth spurts, that this in itself can be why they wake up, many times. It is a many pronged thing... not just ONE single reason. Babies have many things going on at the same time, just due to development, and "phases."
My eldest child, did not sleep through the night until about 2.5+ years old. My son who is almost 28 months old, still wakes up 1 time a night more or less...BUT he can get himself back to sleep, usually, if I let him and don't interfere. My daughter on the other hand, was not so easy. So each child is different and they all have different needs and levels of comfort or not.
Remember, sleep "patterns" in children are NOT STATIC. They change all the time, per their age, per their development, per their phases, per their growth spurts etc. It's all normal. Even teenagers go through flux in their sleep ability and patterns. Even adults too.
You can try and get a kid sized pillow... nothing too "heavy" though, and see if she will sleep in her crib better that way.
Good luck... there are so many ways and reasons for the sleeping or not sleeping phases of our kids! LOL
All the best,
Susan
I think my son was about 1 1/2 - I bought a small travel pillow so it didn't cover his face if he sunk into it.
I gave my baby a pillow at around the age of 12 months. My daughter sleeps just like her father.....on her back. All night long. So, I felt comfortable giving it to her.
I believe the reason i gave her the pillow to begin with is that she had a cold and I thought it would help her to sleep better. She seemed to like it and I left it in there.
She also naps in my big bed, so she is on pillow there too.
(surrounded by pillows)
At the age of 13 months, she should not have much of a threat of suffication.
Good luck to you!
Oh PS....... When I actually shopped for a pillow for my daughter, I found the flatest pillow they had in the store.
My 13 month old won't fall asleep without his head being on a pillow, so I got one that flat, but firm, so he's elevated a bit (which helps with congestion and keeps burps from bringing up anything additional). BUT he won't stay on it, he ends up twisted up in the night, so I got rid of it. Getting to sleep was tough, but I got him a smaller pillow he could caress and cuddle which seemed to have worked.
Good luck!
Target has travel pillows that are the perfect size for a baby's neck, crib... Not the U shaped ones that go around your neck, but more like the ones you see on an airplane. We gave my son one at 18m just so it would elevate his head when he was conjested. It took him a few nights to figure out he was supposed to stay on it... but he loves it now.
I would say she's old enough if she enjoys pillows at all. I waited until DD was about 18 months old, but only because I never got to the store and thought of pillows... I would've gotten one much earlier.
I gave both of my babies a pillow around 12 mos. I think by that age they are plenty strong enough to keep a pillow from suffocating them. They were both already good sleepers by that age, so I can't say if the pillow helps them sleep better, but they both LOVE their pillows! They both already had other "comfort items" too (the swaddling blankets from when they were smaller, and my oldest likes little "beanie baby"-type plush animals. Maybe the pillow will help your daughter sleep better. My oldest has also recently become quite attached to a little kitty beanie baby. It used to be the pacifier, but when we had to give that up, he seems to have replaced it with the kitty, and it is like a best friend now. This is just to give you another idea, you never know what they will latch on to! :) Good luck!
my oldest got a pillow of her own about a year old, but had been using my pillow for naps around 8 months (she was cruising at the time). My second one was often elevated because of reflux so didn't really sleep on a pillow until he was 18months. BUt my youngest was using the bobby pillows at about 6 months to sleep on because of congestion and croup whenever it got could. He was crawling at the time though too. All three of mine slept in my room, either on a bed next to mine or coslept, so I could monitor them in middle of the night.
Hi J.,
My daughter just turned one last week and she's had a big fluffy pillow for a month. She also is not a good sleeper and seems to like to snuggle into it. I think as long as your baby is able to roll and sit up your baby will be ok, but that's up to you to decide.
Best,
S.
My kids all got one around 1. I either gave hem one of ours that was flattened a bit or a small travel pillow. Their little heads don't make such and impression in those. I just hated the pillow coming around their faces. It did help them sleep better.
