Safe Age to Use Baby Pillows
My first child happily slept in her crib until she was almost 3. The only reason we moved her to a normal bed was because her baby brother arrived. While she was in the crib, we did not have to worry about things like baby pillows and blankets. She happily slept snugly in a sleep sack and pajamas. The sleep sack prevented her from crawling out of the crib, because she couldnt swing her legs up. She was so happy in the crib, I dont think she would have even if she was not wearing one. When we moved her to her bed, there was no drama. She took a couple naps there, then we moved her to the bed for nighttime, as well. We made the bed like we would for an adult. She had two pillows and a big comforter. Because she was almost 3, we did not have to mess with those little baby pillows or toddler pillows.
My son was an entirely different story. Early on, he learned to unzip his sleep sack. He could easily swing his leg up on the crib rail. For months and months, that is as far as he would go. One night, he finally flung the other leg over too. We immediately took the crib mattress out of the crib and set it up on the floor.
We had a lot more challenges introducing him to a bed than we did when we did the same with his older sister. It was a rough transition, because he was so young. He wasnt even 2 years old yet. So he would not hurt himself, we had to take a lot of things out of his room. We also put a gate on the door, which was the best advice we received. He was so stubborn that for the first couple days, he would fall asleep sitting in the middle of the wood floor of his room. It took about a week to make the transition.
When we finally got him comfortable in his new bed routine, the advice from well meaning people starting coming in. "He is too young to be out of his crib." "He could get into trouble, since he does not know better. "He is too young for a big blanket and pillow." Say What? He is old enough to crawl out of a crib, but not old enough to use a pillow? Can he use a tiny airline baby pillow? Being an overly cautious mom, I checked in our medical baby books and online. Children under 2 years of age should NOT use a pillow or big blanket. Once a child is 2 or they move to a big bed, you can introduce them then.
I decided to introduce one of those baby pillows to the mix. It was the size of an airline pillow and did not look very useful to me. It did not look like our pillows, so I think my son thought it was something else. My son did not seem to need pillows or bedding; it was just my need to make it look like a normal bed that kept bugging me. We waited about a month, until my son was totally comfortable in his bed. Then we put pillows and a comfy blanket on his bed. He seemed to enjoy having a big bed with all the accessories. He was happy to not have that little tiny baby pillow for his head too.
About the Author
For the real scoop on resource, read this web page I found.
View PDF | Print View
by: frankwarehouse
Total views: 80
Word Count: 599
Rating: Not yet rated