pillows and quilts before 1 year old

[mandmsmummy]

Hi all
Has anyone given their child a pillow and quilt before they were 1? My 8 month old daughter sleeps better in our bed (day or night) and putting her in her cot bed soon and wondered about a pillow and quilt.
XX

There is a mum on here, can't remember who though, that was very vocal about giving babies pillows. If I remember right, she believed the benefit in reducing flat head syndrome outweighed the associated SIDS cot death risk. From the responses on that thread though (ages ago) I don't think there are many who do give pillows or quilts/duvets, most seemed to disagree.

Personally, we only switched DD to a duvet when she moved from her cot into a bed.

Thanks whereisthefire, i'm sure she will be fine without just wondered what general opionion is. Its funny there is a twelve month 'watershed' where suddenly it is ok.
thanks again x

You could be me! I'm thinking of moving my 8mo DD into a cot and wanted to know about quilts too. I'll wait and look for some opinions ...

Both my two had pillows at more like 2 yrs old, as they didn't seem bothered about them before then. Duvets were about the same time (they were happy in sleeping bags until then).

I found sleeping bags useful, when they came in with us in the night they just slept on top of our covers.

newbabynewmum - how weird!!

rhinestonecowgirl - thanks, like the idea of the bags

xx

my dd2 is 6 months and has had a duvet for a month or so when she is in her cot. my reasoning being that when she is in bed with me she is under my duvet.
havent given her a pillow though- shes a front sleeper. i think pillows look uncomfortable when they are small

My 7 month old DD has had a pillow from early on. never had a problem, she's slept in her moses, co-slept with us and goes into her cot now. she loves our bed but she has a pillow (use to put it under the sheet to hold it down), she lays on her quilt( under the sheet to ad comfort) and has her blankets she's had from birth that Great Nan knitted

Each to their own, you'll baby will let you know. if you don't feel comfortable your DC having it, then you can always take it away to put your mind at ease :)

thanks bejeezus and dozeyland.
i agree, my DD shares my bed a lot so she is used to a quilt. trying a grobag tonight but not going too well so far
xx

My baby's five months and he has a pillow. He just sleeps better with it. After the number of times he fell asleep on my pillow and then woke up as soon as I put him in his cot, I gave it a go and it worked. I can't really see what harm it could possibly do.

what IS the reason they are not supposed to have a pillow??? i think quilts are supposed to make it more likely that they will over heat???

I really can't think why! He has a thin blanket because I can see him getting a duvet over his face but his pillow is under the sheet? Maybe it's just the guidelines being a bit belt and braces. I mean, (if you don't use your common sense) at what point does a baby duvet become a pillow?

my kids always settle and sleep better in our bed so i've always wondered this but nothing we've tried has made them as settled in their cot compared to our bed. it's also about being snuggled up next to you. i did try an extra blanket tucked in tight to keep them extra warm, cause it was so much warmer in our bed next to me and that helped a bit.

i think the danger of the cot/quilt at this age is them getting something on top of their face in the night when they move about and not being able to get it off if they're half asleep.

so michelleseashell, do u put the pillow under the fitted sheet? x

Yes, it's tucked under the sheet. I do sometimes have the pillow out if he sleeps in a travel cot though. It's my most expensive breathable duck feather pillow with a silk cover. He hasn't puked on it yet! That was my second biggest concern once I'd held it over my own face to see if I could breathe through it!

I really couldn't take it away from him. He snuggles his head into it and does this contented little sigh!

DS has a pillow, he's 2, however his head is still really big and often he wriggles down and doesn't sleep on it anyway (though he likes to lie on it when he's awake!) I always assumed they just didn't need them as their heads are big anyway and also that any extraneous padding etc could possibly be a suffocation risk.

He also co-slept until after a year actually, so avoided the quilt debate, but although he has one of his own now he doesn't like sleeping under it. Or sleeping bags, or having feet on his pyjamas - his feet have to be open to the air

aah Michelleseashell i can just imagine that contented little sigh!
xx

I think pillows can be an overheating / suffocation hazard which is why they're not recommended. Duvets again are an overheating risk, I think.

I did use a pillow with my co-sleeping DS before 12 months, but made sure I kept it well away from him.

I'm guessing that by about 12 months they're better able to regulate their own temperature and able to move away from / throw things off their heads if they're stuck underneath something.