Hard Facts About Baby Pillows:
I have been a hearing and reading a lot on the net on how dangerous baby pillows are and some horrendous tales of babies smothering to death because of using baby pillows. I think most of such stories are overstated. I have a two year old daughter myself and have been using baby pillows for her right from the age of one and a half without any problems. Yes there are some precautions which you have to take. Firstly, never go in for cheap products, they are most likely to compromise on quality to keep their prices down. I scoured WalMart, Woolworth and specialized baby product stores before deciding on which type of baby pillow to buy. Online research is particularly useful as you can reduce the actual ‘legwork’. You can use a narrow but firm pillow or a memory foam pillow for the purpose. I, of course chose to buy a memory foam pillow which is a trifle expensive. The memory foam pillow does really mold to the shape of the baby’s head. I say this out of experience of seeing my baby sleep soundly without once bringing out the late night feed ever since she started sleeping on a memory foam pillow.
There are other advantages to using a baby pillow. According to some doctors, having a pillow, raises the baby’s head slightly above the rest of the body and makes breathing easier especially when the baby is suffering from a cold. They also opine that pillow support prevents cranial deformities which can occur if the baby sleeps with head to one side for a long duration. Make sure you check the pillow cover. Just make sure you buy the softest, linen cotton material for a pillow cover. That will prevent rashes or allergic reaction which is possible if you use synthetic material. Don’t buy soft or feather pillows, they are the ones responsible for the negative publicity. I would recommend that with these common sense tips, using baby pillows is not a liability but an advantage for every parent and the baby of course.