Pillow and duvet - too young?

[BoojaB]

Sorry if this is in the wrong topic!

My daughter, who is 2 years, 3 months old, is about to move into her first 'proper' single bed as she seems to have outgrown the cot bed.

Just wondering if she's too young for a pillow and ordinary duvet (she has a little, thin toddler duvet thing). I'm very worried that she could suffocate, but I think that some of her mates have pillows and duvets now.

An American friend said that it's the norm to be pillow-less until their four years old.

What do you think??

Thank you. :)

I kept mine on flat baby-cot pillows till they were 4, but put duvets on at age 3. Duvets normally end up on floor by the morning though.

My 2 both got a single (not particularly plump) pillow plus regular not too high tog single duvet when they moved into bunk beds. DS was nearly 3, DD nearly 2.

They sleep brilliantly, mostly, and we don't lose the duvet off the bottom bunk too often. They only complain of being uncomfortable due to heat in summer as their room, unfortunately, is a bit of a sun trap. Never had any complaints or difficulties with bedding itself.

In mid winter they have an additional thin cellular blanket for extra warmth as the duvets are not very high tog.

The pillow situation I think is fine once they are 1.5 - 2. I have never known anyone to say their child could not have a pillow from this age, though a great big thick one obviously might cause a problem..

Mine has had a pillow and duvet since she was 2 and sleeps much better now that she has a little pillow to rest on, she usually ends up out of the duvet though

My DD1 had a duvet and pillow in a bed at 17 months - no problems at all.

DD2 had them at 20 months, at 27 months now she still chooses not to put her head on the pillow, but loves her duvet. Wriggles down and up under it, loves so much you can't get her upstairs quick enough at bedtime.

My DS has a pillow and duvet and he is just 2. The duvet is a 4.5 tog from ikea and i just tuck the bottom under the mattress of his bed to stop it falling off. He has a normal full size pillow and has no problems at all, you should be fine.

I was told by a lady in John Lewis when we were buying our ds2's big bed that up until at least the age of 5, children should not have anything more than a 4 tog duvet, winter or summer - something to do with the way they sweat/control their body heat and their body size, making a warmer duvet potentially bad news. No problems with duvets in general, though - much more comfy than sheets and blankets! We are planning to use a 4.5 tog duvet for our ds2(this is standard grown-ups' summer thickness) - he is 5 in a month's time. I should imagine you would generally get away with 4.5 togs in a younger child, in reality, without ill effect, although always be careful when your child has a temperature...

As for pillows, I don't see why you would want to go out of your way to give your child a pillow, as at a young age they don't really need them: they push the neck up into a funny position if lying on their back or front, and their shoulders aren't really big enough yet to need them to support their neck and head if lying on their side. On the other hand, a very light, thin pillow is unlikely to do much harm if your dd really wants one. I have a ds1 (age 6) who still sleeps without a pillow, and a ds2 who won't go without a pillow, which he has enjoyed sleeping on since he was about 3.5 years old. I didn't start using a pillow until I was pregnant and had to learn to sleep on my side rather than my back. I don't think it did me any harm - a pillow is not a compulsory item in the bedroom (except for sitting up in bed and reading with) in my opinion.

both are ok from 1 year. Both my lo's use a 4.5tog duvet for summer and a 10.5tog one for winter. The maximum tog recommended for a cot bed is 4.5tog and the maximum tog for a full sized single bed 10.5tog - something to do with the bigger surface area to be heated in the single bed. They have a normal sized flattish pillow.

Cool, that's good to know, Seona1973, since we've been letting our 6.5 year old ds1 sleep in a thicker duvet every winter for the last 3 or 4 years! Mind you, he leaves dreadful sweat marks in the bed all around where his head goes.