Your precious kid means the world to you, and you can catch yourself having to cover them in warmth as you put them to bed at night. However, based on your child’s age, the same comfort products that parents love, like fuzzy pillows and cozy blankets galore, can be clear risks to your child’s wellbeing and welfare when they sleep.
While it can be upsetting to learn, it is important to consider all of the dangers and what you can do to help your child as happy as possible when keeping them healthy. This involves delaying introducing such objects, such as pillows, into their sleeping area before they reach the appropriate age.
When is it safe to give my child a pillow?
The Consumer Product Safety Commission advises waiting until your child reaches 1.5 years old before introducing pillows into their sleep schedule (18 months). This advice is focused on what specialists know about SIDS and its cousin, sudden mysterious death in childhood (SUDC).
SIDS is used for kids under the age of 12 months, and SUDC is used for toddlers above one year. SIDS is a lot more popular than SUDC as a trusted source. While the likelihood of sudden unexpected mortality decreases significantly once your baby reaches one year old, it remains a problem in terms of what you put in the crib for a while longer.
Items in their crib may suffocate toddlers as young as 18 months old (or perhaps older — not all children mature at the same rate). If you can find a pillow to be healthy and cozy, babies and young toddlers do not. Pillow adoption is advised at the same period when children move from a crib to a toddler bed with a protection rail — or even a mattress on the floor — so ask your pediatrician for your child’s unique preparation.
You’ll need to do some testing and observation and find out the best time to offer your kid a pillow when they sleep. There’s a major contrast in having a cushion as a headrest and squeezing it next to their little face or lying beneath it.
Toddler sleeping safety tips
The same fluffy covers and pillows that adults love while sleeping are potentially unsafe for babies and toddlers. To keep your infant healthy through the night, follow these safe sleeping guidelines.
Selecting the Best Pillow
First and foremost: Find a pillow for the toddler that is both comfortable and healthy for your child. Avoid selecting a pillow that is too large while looking for the correct pillow; this will help reduce the chance of suffocation. A sturdy pillow is even better for necks and spines that are still growing.
If your child has allergies, double-check that the pillow’s content won’t cause them. Hypoallergenic pillows may help to mitigate this risk.
Back Sleeping
In an attempt to eliminate SIDS, the National Institute of Child Health and Development and the American Academy of Pediatrics launched the “Back to Sleep” program in 1994. Both groups advocate putting the kid to sleep on his or her back after each sleep. Continue doing this before the toddler is around 12–18 months old for protection reasons. It’s good whether your child repositions himself or herself on their stomach or side.
When you move to a toddler bed or a mattress on the floor, your toddler will begin climbing into bed independently, allowing them to sleep in any place they choose.
Place of crib or bed
Though you do not share a bed with your newborn, experts advise keeping their crib in your space for the first six months to reduce the chance of SIDS.
In reality, according to the CDC/Trusted Source, room sharing until the age of 12 months can be optimal in terms of protection and comfort. Still, other experts agree that it may render the adjustment to independent sleeping in toddlerhood even more difficult.
Be sure the crib is put well away from any items with connections or wires, such as curtains or electrical cords, when you make the transition from your bed to theirs. Any items that your child might take out of the crib or bed, such as frames, bulky books, or mobiles, should also be placed far away.
Bedding
In addition, keep all bedding accessories out of your child’s sleeping area until they’re 18 months old, including pillows, sleep positioners, stuffed animals, and pillow covers.
Safety Note
When feeding or sleeping, sleep positioners and wedges are not approved for babies. These padded risers are designed to hold the baby’s head and body in one place, but the Food and Drug Administration does not approve them due to the possibility of SIDS.
Conclusion
Pillows and blankets can seem to be innocuous objects that only serve to keep your child safe and cozy as they sleep. However, there are things you don’t want to add too much — every year; infants die from strangulation or suffocation as a result of pillows, sheets, and other bedding content strangling or suffocating them.
Waiting before your infant is 18 months old, or when they are no longer in a crib, to add a pillow to their sleeping arrangement will help make them healthy when they sleep.
