Pillow for 16 Month Old

At a year my son was sleeping in a toddler bed with a pillow. I think it's safe once they are able to get around on their own.

I heard you shouldn't put a pillow in the crib until 2 but my daughter is 13 mo. old and I have a very flat one in her crib now with no pillow case. She loves it. She seems to be doing very well with it.

hi,
I have been using a pillow with my 15th month old for a month. It is very shallow. He loves it. He did the same thing with the blanket before. Here's the link.
http://babydown.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&am...

D.

Personally I'd say not until 2 yrs old. My son just got his 1st pillow now that he moved to a twin bed. However if you do, I suggest putting him/her in warmer jammies or having a sleep sack over the jammies. That way you don't have a pillow and a blanket in at the same time -they could get tangled together in a way the baby can't figure out how to get out of until he/she's older.

Dear S R,
It is totally safe now. As long as he can turn his head and move away from something so he doesn't smoother he is good. I love www.mypetpillows.com They have the cutest, softest pillows. My little guy is 12 months and he has two and loves them. He can't keep his head on them, but he snuggles with them.
By God's Grace,
Stac

Try putting a full-sized pillow under the fitted sheet in the crib... no danger of suffocation and if he doesn't like it you'll find him curled up on top of his blanket on the other end :)

He's fine with a pillow - just don't get feathers or down - they leak and make a mess and are a nightmare to clean if he throws up on it. Use an old soft pillow that has gone a little flat, give it a good hot wash & dry & put a zippered washable cover on it under the pillowcase for emergency clean-up. I keep back-up pillow, pillowcase, sheets & mattress pads on hand for those 3am flu explosions. They always get sick when the pediatrician's office is closed.

Doctors say to wait until the age 6 years and up. But We have four girls and all of them never waited that long. In my opinion if your toddler is showing signs of comforting himself with the blanket as a pillow, then just go out and buy him one. Also my nine month old and I fight all night for my tempurpedic pillow. She has been sleeping with my tempurpedic pillow for several months now. I recommend you get a small or child's tempurpedic pillow, it helps with posture, which is real important when sleeping. Also it helps my nine month old sleep through the night. Remember it's all about comfort and stick with your intuition as a mother.

My oldest has always been in the 97th percentile of growth charts. We had the same issue of him being more ready for things than was "socially or medically" sound. My safe way around the issue of pillows is to put a pillow wide enought to touch both sides of the crib then put the crib fitted sheet on over the pillow and even put another one on from the bottom as to hold them both together so the sheet doesn't slip off. Basically you are just adding a pillow under the sheet for him so there is no safety issue unless it is firm enough and big enough to step on it to climb out. Don't forget that! haha. Also beware of the kind of pillows used. My son had severe asthma so he was prone to allergies. Make sure you get a children's hypoallergenic pillow with pillow cover just incase. The sleep is the most vulnerable state and even though you want to make them as comfortable as possible you also want them to be safe. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I had stuff animals and blankets in the crib with my son. He was fine and found comfort in them. He still sleeps with stuff animals and he sleeps with the boppy pillow. I think it's totally fine. babies are smarter than we give them credit. If your son is using a blanket like a pillow than I think he is ready for a pillow.

In my opinion I'd say it would be ok to give your child a pillow, they say nothing in the bed before your child is 12 months. My kids started using a pillow around 20 months old.

If he always sleeps on one side of the crib, you could also elevate that side of the crib by putting a blanket or pillow under the crib mattress. My sister in law did that and my niece really liked it. I'm planning on trying it with my son.

I think it fine for you to put a pillow in your toddlers crib if he is exhibiting the need for one. Just make sure it is not too big and fluffy so he doesn't get a kink in his neck or too squishy so his face doesn't sink down into it. A car travel pillow is about the perfect size for a toddler, but requires special size cases. However, a firm, flat standard size pillow works well too.

Dear S R,
I know that some people say it is never safe to let your child have a pillow until about the age of two, but I personally think that it's okay once they start using their own blankets or stuffed animals as pillows. My kids both had pillows very early on.
You actually should be able to find a pillow that is okay to start out with either at kids-R-us, or one of those type of stores. If you can't....you can try just a throw pillow. They aren't big enough or heavy enough to cover a child's face and cause harm and they aren't very elevated. Also, they tend to be a little more on the firm side, so if your child rolls over, their little face can't smash down into it. And, throw pillows can easily be thrown in the washer and dryer to clean drool or spit up.
I think that a standard size pillow is too much to put into the crib for now. The other nice thing about smaller throws is that they are also portable. You can take them along in the car, depending on the type of car seat you have, and let your baby lean their little head on it for longer trips.

My twins have been using a pillow since they were a year old. We started out with a smaller pillow that someone had made for them, but have graduated to the regular sized pillows, now that they are over 2 years old. I did buy the firm pillows, though...just to feel more comfortable about the situation.

Best of luck on whatever you decide to do!

~ L.

I havem 2.5yo and 3 month old sons and since my first child at the age of 5 months I got him a sofa throw nautica down pillow wth a cover I can remove if they spit up and i need to wash it. Its not a full size pillow. He like having his elevated. I firt tried it out in his play yard during the day to see how he did with it before letting him sleep at night with it. I use the same one for my 3 month old. They both love the pillow. My older son moved into a full size bed at 2 and has slept with a full size pillow that has memory foam in it.
I have never had a problem with the boys and sleeping with pillows at early ages. It helps them breathe better too when they are sick. Good luck.

SAHM, 39 with a super, bright 2.5yo son and a 3 month old son that is all smiles. I love cooking, being in the yard and a good glass of wine from time to time.

If he is scrunching up a "pillow" of his own and it hasn't caused him a problem, I'de say it's safe. Start small of course.

At 16 months of age, he should be able to move around on his own well enough for it to be safe. The tummy only, no pillow, no blanket type of rules are meant mainly for children who are too young to hold up their heads, roll over and so forth, so that if they did get smothered they would not be able to get themselves out of it. I would put a small, fairly firm pillow in with him... not a large fluffy one. That will eliminate some of the possible dangers too. I actually have a couple of pillows like the ones you get when you travel on an airplane and have put snug fitting pillow cases on them. They are perfect for that age child. They would be something rather easy to make if you do any kind of sewing at all.

Hi S R, you should be fine putting a pillow in his crib. Make sure the pillow isn't too fluffy and that he can not step on it and get out of the crib. My son is 19 months and has had a pillow since he was a little over a year old. He loves it!

I got my son his first pillow from One Step Ahead. They are a smaller verson of ours and you can get his pillow case personalized.

The whole pillow thing (and sleep on the back thing) is just for little babies who can't lift and turn their heads to find air if their faces should get buried in the pillow or mattress. Hopefully, your child is well beyond that developmental stage.

Ikea sells little pillows for little kids and they sell cute bedding to go with them. We let my son have one of these when he was about 2 and he loves it. Sometimes he will ask for a larger one but always goes back to the little one.

They make little kid sized pillows - we have one that's 5 inches by 10 or so. Look an eBay for something.

If he's making his own pillow anyway, that's a clear sign to me he's ready for a real pillow. I would get a thinner one than adults use due to his size. I'm personally in favor of memory foam pillows contoured to support proper spinal alignment and you can order one by Tempurpedic just for little ones.

If you're really concerned, ask your pediatrician, but since he's no longer an infant, he's not likely to suffocate or die from SIDS, which is the reason everyone says for infants not to have pillows, stuffed toys, or batting in their cribs.