At what age do you feel comfortable giving DC a pillow/blanket in their crib?

[happymom]

DD is 14 months old. She is suddenly showing an interest in blankets and wants one in her crib. What would you do? Also, she loves pillows- she always snuggles on mine when she's hanging out in my bed. Currently, she sleeps with the bottom part of a sleep positioner that we have from when she was an infant. She likes it (wont sleep without it actually) but I know she would rather a real pillow- would that be safe?

Thanks!

[BelleoftheBallFlagstaff]

I did just after a year. The issue is that a newborn/infant cannot move if they are stuck with their head in a blanket, basically a suffocation risk. A 1+ year old should be able to easily roll over and move on their own.

[kijip]

I did it sooner than a year. F is snuggled in one right now.

[crl]

I did a pillow with DS at around 15 months. I was paranoid about it and then realized that he was strong enough to throw the pillow out of the crib so it seemed unlikely that he would get stuck under it and suffocate. He definitely wanted one. He didn't keep a blanket on or seem interested in one until much later--maybe 2 1/2? I just dressed him in fleece PJs.

Catherine

[sunshine873]

DD has always had some kind of blanket. At first we swaddled her with it. The blanket we used had a crocheted edge. Once she learned to un-swaddle herself, she loved to loop her fingers through it. I removed the blanket shortly after that because I was worried about suffocation, and she had a hard time sleeping for a good week before I realized it was because she was missing her blanket! I put in a small (1 foot square) very loosely knit blanket that we got at the NICU and that did the trick. Small enough that I wasn't worried about her getting wrapped up in it, and loose enough knit that even if it was over her face i wouldn't have been concerned. Now she sleeps with a sleepsack for warmth and her taggie for comfort (about 1 foot square of minky fabric with various ribbons around the edge.)

[conniez]

DD2 seems to run hot-blooded like her daddy so she always kicked the blanket off (and left her legs above them) anyway. She was probably over a year old.

[maestramommy]

We were super cautious with Dora and didn't give her anything other than her Angel Dear lovey from 9 months on. But I think some of my friends did give their kids a blanket and pillow at around 14 months. With Arwyn we gave her a blanket at 18 months. Dora got a pillow last summer when she got the big girl bed, but she never sleeps on it. It's a "bed" for all of her stuffed "friends." :p

[mecawa]

Both girls started using blankets just after a year. DD2 is 13 months and sleeps with a blanket. I didn't start using pillows with DD1 until she was around 2-2 1/2, she was in a bed by the time we started using pillows.

[soontobe]

I say once they can move and take things off their heads on their own they are fine:)

[boolady]

I say once they can move and take things off their heads on their own they are fine:)

This is what we did. DD slept with her small Angel Dear lovey from around 5 months on...She could pick it up and heave it at that point, and it really helped her sleep. She probably had a light blanket from about 9/10 months on, if I recall correctly. Pillow around maybe 16 months, the small toddler size.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds1 I waited till 12m. Ds2 got both around 9m b/c it's darned cold in his room and I wanted even an extra layer on top of the wearable stuff and the pillow helped when he had a cold.

Beth

[wellyes]

12-15 months.

[sste]

28 months . . . and I am still nervous about that blanket! My husband keeps on reminding me that our son may get teased when he is a teenager and still using a sleep-sack . . .

[HIU8]

DD was about 8 months old when we started using a blanket (she hated the sleep sack). We used a receiving blanket at first. She started using a pillow at about 14 months. She loves her blanket and pillow.

With DS we waited. He used a blanket and a pillow for the first time right after he turned 2. To this day he doesn't sleep on the pillow or like to use the blanket though.

[arivecchi]

I tend to be a bit conservative about sleep environments, so my DSs only get sleepsacks till they are 18 months. We did just add bumpers to DS2's crib though because he kept bumping his head against the wood slats and waking at night, so technically, I am sure he could handle a pillow. I would still not be comfortable with a blanket though.

[BabyMine]

Both were around 9 months. TT has 3 in his bed now. He kicks them off and then covers himself periodically through the night.

[ourbabygirl]

DD is 16 months and doesn't have a pillow yet, though she'd probably like one. Whenever I get her from her crib, she's bunched up all her stuffed animals and two blankets into a little area where I'm assuming she's been laying on them. :tongue5: She has two lightweight blankets (I use one or the other), but usually kicks them off at some point in the night. We swaddled her until maybe 8 or 9 months (? I don't remember), when she got to be toooooo long and heavy to keep doing it (and she didn't need it anymore). Then I did a sleep sack for a while, but when she really started standing up and walking around in her crib, I didn't think it was worthwhile anymore.

[rlu]

loose enough knit that even if it was over her face i wouldn't have been concerned.

Same here. Once DS could turn over I felt comfortable using crocheted (sp?) blankets we had received as gifts. Even if he pulled it over his face, the holes were big enough he could still breathe.

DS doesn't want a pillow. He has two of the travel size pillows with fun pillow cases (Clifford, bulldozers, etc), but won't use them. Makes my neck hurt just thinking about it.

[AnnieW625]

I did it somewhere around 9 I think. I would leave the blanket or teddy bear in the back of the crib and she'd end up cuddling on it. We got her a little pillow (stuffed cat pillow I had been given) just after a year old IIRC.

[codex57]

Since birth?

[rachl500]

Last winter - receiving blanket - attempted swaddle.
This fall/winter - crocheted blanket +/- receiving blanket.
No pillow.
When she sleeps in my bed some early mornings she doesn't use the pillow either.

ETA: DD is 16 months now.

[Indianamom2]

Both kids had them almost from day one....well, day one if you count the receiving blankets they were swaddled with.

DD#1 kept trying to sleep with the blanket over her face, in fact it was the only way she would fall asleep. Obviously, that wasn't cool, so I asked my grandmother to very loosely crochet a small (12x12) blanket for her to sleep with. SHe used this little blanket from about 2 months on and still sleeps with it every single night. It is her lovey. She needed it to fall asleep.

With Ds #2, I just started him with a holey crocheted blanket and he's been just fine (he's 7 months now.) Of course, he now sleeps on his tummy, so the blanket isn't really a problem.

[Raidra]

Once they were crawling, we gave them pillows. All of our kids have been really into pillows as soon as they could be.. the way they would lay on them and sprawl out and just look like they were totally blissed out, we called them our little hedonists. Blankets may have been a bit later, I can't really remember.. we used a sleepsack until I started to get concerned that the sleep sack would inhibit their movement too much.

[newg]

We started doing a blanket at the beginning of this winter........19 months (?)....haven't tried a pillow yet because DD still moves around the crib all night long...........it's anybodys guess where she'll be when we go in to check on her at night....and we usually put the blanket back on her as well.
I have nothing against a pillow I just don't think DD would use it.