Sleeping with a Pillow

I would use a flat firm pillow, like a worn out one, and put a pillow cover on it, then a pillow case.

I would not put a full size pillow in her crib, but a smaller one. Have you tried putting a small baby blanket in there for her to ball up like a pillow?

Maybe you could use one of those wedges...they are really firm so you don't have to worry about them squishing around baby's face...I use one when my baby is sick...or try to put a small thin firm foam pad in a pillow case or a travel pillow...like on an airplane...I've seen them at walmart or somewhere like that.

Have you tried placing a small pillow under the fitted sheet? It will give her the surface she is looking for but it won't move and can't get on her.

My granddaughter is one year old and she has been sleeping with a pillow since she was 7 months. It is a small light pillow that my daughter in law bought at a baby store,and she sleeps all night long.

Though it goes against all of the SIDS advice - my friend started to let her baby sleep with a pillow around the same age - and then I started to have my youngest sleep with a small pillow when she was sick. I started with a small throw pillow and since my daughter kept rolling off of it, I made a pillow out of a blanket. I fold up a firm quilt and my daughter puts her head on that every night. I always check on her before going to bed myself - but I've never had a problem. I think you need to consider how mobile your daughter is, her health history, and then what you are comfortable with. If you do give her a pillow, make sure it's firm and make sure it's set up so that she couldn't get stuck between that and the side of her crib. Good luck!

let her sleep on the pillow! she's old enough to be able to turn her head if she is not getting enough air.

We gave our son a crib pillow. They're kind of small and flat. And at times, he still bunches up his blanket and lays on that. But the pillow has worked. You can get it most places bedding is sold.

I like the pillow under the fitted sheet idea. Or buy a crib wedge to give her the support she wants. May daughter had one of these until we could put a pillow in her crib with her.

My daughter is 7 months old and since she was first born I used the secure sleeper, it is a memory foam pillow with 2 bolsters to hold the baby is place. I don't use the bolsters anymore but I still lay her on the pillow and have not had any problems. R.

My son started sleeping with a pillow in his crib at age 11 months. He was having ear problems and the elevation really helped him. He was strong enough not to worry about suffocation with him. We bought a king size pillow that fits the length of the crib and does not move. It stays in place. I say go for it!

Hi C.,

When my daughter was a little younger than yours, I folded 2 towels so they were thicker on one side, and thinner on the other so her head could lay on the thicker part and her back on the thinner part so there was a gradual change to meet the crib mattress. The towels took up the entire width of the crib, then I took 2 (maybe 3) soft blankets and laid them over the towels and tucked them securely into the sides of the crib so there was no chance the blankets of towels could become dislodged and it was tight enough that she couldn't bury her face in it, yet soft and comfortable. She slept that way for quite a while. Hope you find something to help!

You can try putting the pillow under the fitted crib sheet so there is something for her to rest her head on but she will not be able to knock it over her head.

I have a 3 1/2 year old and a 1 year old. Both of them sleep with a pillow. I give my one year old a travel pillow. So that if she needed to move it, it wouldn't be a problem. Then at like age 2 I gave my 3 1/2 year old a regular pillow. I was having the same problem around that same age. Hope this helps!!!

The standard is usually one year. Before that there is still a high incidence of SIDS.

She may just need a little blankie to snuggle up with, and maybe she'll put that under her head. Pillows are not the safest for that age. I use a small blanket and fold it to give my son some height. Though my son is now 27 months, and I'm thinking he could have a pillow. He also sleeps with his blankie, which I find bunched up under his head while he sleeps. If you (or someone you know) can knit a loose blankie, that may help.

Hi C. i had the same problem when my daughter was the same age, but i waited till she was about 11 months, because she was so "top heavy" and i was afraid of sids. BUT my best friends son, who is 9 weeks younger had a travel pillow with him in bed at the same age as your daughter. i would think that if she is comfortable with your pillows and sleeps good, try a small flat pillow.

Hi - I bought a little toddler pillow that my kids used in the crib once they could pick their head up and move around on their own. I got it from a catalog. I had never had any issues with using it.

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Clear it with your pediatrician. My doc said it was OK when she was 1 1/2... so your daughter seems too young. Have the doc check for tortacolis <sp> it's a shortening of the muscles on one side of the neck that makes it tight and painful at times. My younger daughter had this and was very uncomfortable in her crib. We installed a therapeutic foam wedge under her sheets and it helped her a lot. She also received physical therapy to help correct the problem.

My suggestion to you C. is try giving her a soft favorite stuffed toy(animal) and see how she does with that.. good luck.
Best Regards,
Fran

Hello busy mom,

I'm not 100% sure but, I beleive doctor's discourage letting a baby still at the age at risk for SIDS sleep with a pillow. I would ask your pediatritian for peice of mind but, I may have a solution. My girls had acid reflux when they were born and I had to keep them elevated so they could be comfortable enough to sleep. I bought a crib wedge from BabiesRus and put it under the crib sheet on top of the mattress. Maybe the elevation of the wedge will serve as the pillow and you won't have to worry. Good luck.
From another busy mom :)

I know eeryone says you shouldn't do it but we started letting our son, Kyle, (now 2-yrs-old) fall asleep on his Boppy pillow during his day naps while we could watch him. As a young infant, Kyle had really bad reflux and we had his mattress tilted and did everything they told us. But one night, out of desperation from him not sleeping at night in his crib for weeks, we put the Boppy pillow in his crib. This was one of the sturdier C-shaped pillows. It kept him in place as the C-shape wraps around him and he's been sleeping with one ever since. I was a little concerned since the label warned against it but he sleeps close to our bed so we felt comfortable. Also, I'm stressing that this Boppy is a firm pillow, not soft. Make sure your child has good head control before doing this. Make sure this child can also roll over on their own. Good luck!

Hi,
I'm a mom of a 2 1/2 yr. old boy and 4 mo. old girl. I just bought the Angel mat that goes under the crib mattress and will sound an alarm if she does not move or breath for 20 seconds. Nothing is fulproof but it does provide a certain level of comfort. You may want to look into it, I got mine at babies r us.

My son has slept with a pillow since he was about 7 months old. It does not hurt to try and give her a pillow and she how she does.

It is not advisable to put a pillow in the crib, however why don't you raise one side of the crib by putting blocks under the wheels. The crib will be tilted but it might be more comfortable for her and cannot cause any harm. We used to do this when our babies had colds because it made it easier for them to breathe if the crib was raised on one end. Lots of luck.

B

My son did much better sleeping on a pillow & on his stomach. He's now 28 mos old and I think I let him fall asleep w/ a smaller, thin pillow at about 6 mos of age. His
pediatrician said that when he was able to roll over at about 3mos old that he was ok to sleep on his stomach-the only real way he has fallen comfortably to sleep. That's because he had the strength/skill to move himself about and I guess the reflexes to prevent what they are attributing SIDS w/ (sleeping on the stomach). I was raised when babies were put to sleep on their stomachs. In a lot of the research (particularly done in the Scandanavian Countries) they have found that SIDS related deaths are not a cause necessarily from sleeping on the stomach but from a lot of the antiflame retardant chemicals they started putting into the mattresses- at around that time there was an increase in SIDS occurances- the babies are face down & breathing in these chemicals- they have found higher instances of them in the toxicology reports etc... You could check out some of the info on a website called Environmental Working Group. Anyway, I also have an organic mattress produced w/ wool with no chemicals used in the processing. Good Luck

I am also having the same problem, I have two children and for the life of me I can not remember what I did for my daughter who is 5 years old now. I have a 9 month old who loves to rest on a pillow but again I keep hearing so many stories about SIDS I watch him all night I don't get any sleep when he is sleeping with a pillow. He likes to sleep on his side but his face goes to much into the pillow, no more pillows for now. I would just raise the matter for now. Pillows in a crib can't be safe for any child. I hope you can find a comfortable place for the both of you. :)

I use a KING SIZED pillow, which doesn't leave any spaces in the crib, from 3 months on, for reflux, I think 9 months is old enough because she can move and lift her own head

M

Hi C., I have three adult children, raised 2 stepchildren and have 1 grandchild. All of them have slept on pillows from 7-9 months and up. I know propping my head up on pillows allows me to breath better while I'm sleeping, so it must work for babies as well.

I would say she's probably old enough but double check w/ your dr. about using a pillow. My friends son loves to sleep w/ the boppy in his crib since he was 10 or so months old. You could also try a fluffy stuffed animal. Hope it works out and you all can get some sleep.

Hi, I'm also a day care provider ; so I think you are aware of SIDS. Infants are not supposed to sleep with and fuffy items in their cribs. Only a blanket up to their chest area only and laid on their backs. The only suggestion i can give is prop her matress up so it's slight higher on one side and some infant like to be swaddled(like when they where in the hospital) they miss the close area in which they had for 9 months. So putting them in a big crib makes them feel insecure.

Hi C.. Pillows are not considered safe for infants to sleep with at all. If she likes to have her head raised up, maybe you could raise her mattress from underneath at the head side a little bit. I'm sorry that she's not sleeping so comfortably.

You can go to walmart and get a small toddler pillow and when your putting the sheet on the crib lay down the pillow and then put the crib sheet down tucking it in like your making a bed. This way she has the pillow but can't move it so no fear of suffocation

Hi C. - I actually just read an article on that a couple of months ago and it said to not give your child a pillow until they are 3 years old! I was shocked. I tried finding the article on the web but couldn't. I'll see if I still have the magazine this weekend. I've heard prior to that article that not until 2 or when a child moves from a crib to a bed. I would be leary about putting a pillow in a crib because knowing my kids they would use it to step over and flip out :o) You may want to talk to your pediatrician.

Good luck,
S.

We used a wedge from Babies R Us, designed to elevate the baby's head. It is very firm, and I put a pillow case on it and it goes across the entire width of the crib. It seemed to work for us well.

can she sit up
if so it may be ok

i know plenty of people are going to probably have a problem with what i have to say, but i had my daughter sleeping with me until she was 6/7 months old and she was basically ON the pillow until she could roll over, then she once she started to really roll i put her in her crib and she wouldn't sleep. basically doing what you were describing, the ONLY time she would sleep is when she would grab her blanket, bunch it up and put it under her head! so i decided to put a pillow in her bed. i started with those baby pillows, but they just stressed me out so much because every time she would move, it would practically be on her head. so i decided to take one that i would use, and put it in her crib....it fit so snugly in her crib from side to side that no matter how much she moved, the pillow stayed in place and she slept (almost) through the night! IF you go with a pillow, i would say go with a big pillow (flatter, but for an adult) and make sure it's snug from side to side in the crib and there shouldn't be a problem, but just watch closely for the 1st couple of nights. good luck, i hope this helps.

well my son is now 2 years old, but hes was the same exact way. So what i did was found a really flat pillow and put it under the crib sheet, so that it was secure and he could not move it, and i did not have to worry about it squishing him. and he slept so well after that.

My daughter was the same way!! I feel your pain :) We don't use a pillow for her but we use one of her stuff animals. She was around 9 months when we started using the stuffed animal. We were given a huge duck stuff animal that fits her crib like a pillow would but it's not that high. It worked for her. I hope the adivce helped.

My daughter was born in 1990 and she had tummy troubles, colic and such. I always had to prop her up and back then there wasn't anything I knew of that was appropriate or SIDS safe and I worked with what I had, which was a regular adult pillow accross the width of her crib and her up on top. It worked just fine. This started when she was about 6 months
and I had no problems. It is a personal choice as is everything with children. You know her sleeping pattern....does she move around alot, does she sleep without moving...etc. Perhaps you can start her off with an infant pillow or check the internet for boppy pillows.

Dear C., my friend would put the pillow under the fitted sheet between the mattress and the sheet. That way the pillow stays in place. Good Luck.

R. Niles

Only you know what is safe for your child so you need to make your own decisions. However, if a friend told me this about their child, I would offer this idea, or suggestion but still leave the final decision up to the friend.

There are SAFE, allergy-free type small stuffed animals (not the normal stuffed ones that have fur or lots of allergens attached to them). The stuffed ones that are either cotton-like or easily washable on a regular basis. Since your child's head is small (the child is a child not an adult), a small stuffed animal will act as a pillow.

If a child is old enough to control their own body and old enough to turn around in their sleep, possibly a small stuffed animal might be a safe pillow for them. (Depending on the child,even an "camping" pillow might be safe). A camping pillow is very tiny yet very comfortable -more so than no pillow at all.

If you feel it is safe, then try the above suggestions.

Only you know what is safe for your own child.