At what age did you start allowing your child to sleep with a small pillow and light blanket?

Question

With the SIDS risk I have not allowed anything in my child's crib when he is going to sleep.

Answer 1

3 years old is fine.

Answer 2

We used those blankies that are wearable until he could turn over, then we let him have normal blankets.  We just started letting him have a pillow - he's 21 months.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp...

Example of wearable blankets

Answer 3

Both my kids didnt have pillows until they went into beds - which was about 1.5-2yrs old.  they did have blankets from the start though- as it is very cold where we live. Like you i was a bit scared about them pulling the blanket over there heads - i used thermal blankets (the ones with small holes in them) and that eased my mind a bit ...

Just do what you are comfortable with.  My kids had no problem with no pillow ..

Answer 4

My son has had a blanket since a week old.He has had a pillow since around 3 months or so..I watch him closely and he ALWAYS moves the cover if it get close to his face.

Answer 5

The SIDS foundation warns against the use of pillows with children under 2 years.

Many younger children have slept with pillows and haven't died, but the risk of dying is increased.

I want to do everything I can to reduce the risk of SIDS for my daughter and she won't be using a pillow until she is over 2 years.

She does have a blankie though which she has slept with since she was about 10 months old. She has polar fleece blankies as the fabric is breathable and they are washable and interchangeable!!  

Answer 6

I'm just like you ~ Sids scare the sh** out of me!  When my daughter (11 months) sleeps with me she sleeps on a pillow and shares my blanket but i'm still to scared to give it to her while shes in her crib, people say it's fine though ~ generally by six months the risk of sids has dropped dramatically. My poor daughter had to sleep in one of those 'sleep sacks' until she was about 7 months old but my mom used to have a daycare and a baby died of sids while she was watching her (that was back when they told you to put babies to sleep on thier tummy)  so that's why i am exremely paranoid!  As a matter of fact m baby has never liked paci's but when she was ounger I kept trying to give them to her just bc I read somewhere that it also reduces the risk.

Answer 7

My son has been using a night time "blankie" since he was 4 weeks.

Answer 8

I watched my baby.  She's 9 months old now and can pull and escape (or yell for help without getting tangled) from any blanket.  She can lift even my large pillows and play with them over her head (it's rather cute, like a cat with yarn, she plays peek-a-boo with them too.)  She can get clear from everything, make a nest, and pull herself up to stand on the edge of the crib.  So... we gave her a pillow last week.  Very small, circular, and light.  She easily swings it around and moves it where she wants.  

As for blankets... we had to lay her on her side when she was little or she'd spit up and start drowning (we had that happen once and I don't care what anyone said, I never could put her on her back after she was purple and I had to slap her upsidedown and everything... scary.)  So we would roll up blankets and swaddle her and put them to hold her in position (the bed was also tilted.)  She didn't stop being swaddled until about 6 months, and even now occasionally wants to be swaddled.  So really until she was starting to crawl, she couldn't use the blankets in her bed.  

We still don't really use blankets too much in her room except for a few light ones that I'm sure she can handle.  We just put her in warm footsies and I think she prefers that, since if she kicks out from a blanket that can get cold.  

She has had little babies in her bed (as in, small enough for her to move) from the time she was about a month old.  These were kept at her feet until about 6 months when she could sit up and wasn't being swaddled as much.  Now she arranges them herself, and I find her singing to them sometimes and making them bounce around.  So... yeah.  

I don't know if all this is normal.  I just figured to watch her and when she was ready I'd feel comfortable about it.  I was scared to death of SIDS too, and she is still in our room (though not for much longer, hubby needs more sleep...)  But I was able to watch and see if something seemed unsafe and then take it out or remove it.  That helped a lot.  

We never could use those sleep-sacks everyone likes.  She would get tangled in them, and we couldn't do a tight swaddle which she absolutely loved.  We just have used footsies.  They're warm enough and gives more movement.  And then tight swaddles which kept her very toasty all winter.

Answer 9

I get so annoyed at the fact that doctors have everyone all freakin out about SIDS all the time. If your child can roll over regularly and play peekabo with you then a blanket and pillow will be fine. You'll probably find the child at the opposite end of the pillow though...lol. It always took my kids a while to want a pillow since they were used to sleeping without one. So, they would have themselves all curled up at the other end or with their feet on the pillow. They all eventually learned what it's real use was for. Ultimately, do what makes you comfortable, you don't want to be losing sleep worrying about it.