When to Introduce a Baby Pillow
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by: frankwarehouse
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I am a new parent and I tend to be worried about everything new I introduce to my child. When my husband and I first found out we were pregnant, I immediately worried if I had a glass of wine before I knew or if the fumes of the bus that drove by while I was walking would harm my baby. The best thing I ever did during my first trimester was to finally put away that "What to Expect When You are Expecting" book and stop driving myself crazy. After I put the books away, I found that I enjoyed my pregnancy a lot more. My husband still laughs about something I said during my first trimester. It was something along the lines of not worrying ever again once the baby is born. He laughed and asked if he may quote me on that in the future. He was right. And here my latest worry is the topic of the baby pillow.
A little baby pillow is often sold in crib sets. This is quite confusing. Pillows are not recommended for children under the age of 2. When a child is under two, the presence of a pillow can increase the risk of suffocation. It is the same rationale for not using heavy blankets and comforters. Babies should be placed on their backs to sleep, in addition to not having any soft bedding or stuffed toys that may cover their faces while sleeping. We used a sleep sack with our daughter, which kept her warm without us having to worry about bedding in her crib. Some experts say that even giving a child over the age of 2 a pillow may not make them any more comfortable than they would be without one. All experts agree, however, that you should wait to give your child a pillow until he is out of the crib.
A baby pillow, like what you get on an airline flight, is the right size to introduce to a first time pillow user. Choose a pillow that is not feather or down, as such a pillow can often allow the head of a child to sink down too much. We followed these guidelines when introducing a baby pillow to our almost 3 year old daughter recently when we moved her to a big bed. We would put her to sleep with her head on the baby pillow, but whenever we would check on her, the pillow would be somewhere else in the bed. It was not much of pillow, so it would frequently get lodged between the wall and the bed or disappear in the blankets. After a couple weeks, we ditched the baby pillow and got her a normal sized pillow. Unlike when she was sleeping with the baby pillow, she actually uses the new pillow like an adult would. She even props it up to lean on when she reads, which she thoroughly enjoys.
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