Toddlers and Baby Pillows
11/16/08
My first child happily slept in her crib until she was almost 3. The only reason we moved her to a normal bed was because her baby brother arrived. While she was in the crib, we did not have to worry about things like baby pillows and blankets. She happily slept snugly in a sleep sack and pajamas. The sleep sack prevented her from crawling out of the crib, because she couldn't swing her legs up. She was so happy in the crib, I don't think she would have even if she was not wearing one. It was an easy transition when we moved her to a big bed. She took a couple naps there, then we moved her to the bed for nighttime, as well. It was a full size bed in a beautiful wooden frame. We ordered a cute girly comforter and grabbed a couple adult sized pillows. Because she was almost 3, we did not have to mess with those little baby pillows or toddler pillows.
My son decided not to follow the crib path his sister did. He learned how to unzip his sleep sack shortly after his first birthday. He could easily swing his leg up on the crib rail. He was happy to just do that exercise for months and months. Until one night, when he climbed out of the crib entirely and walked to greet me at the door. We immediately took the crib mattress out of the crib and set it up on the floor.
Moving him to a bed presented all these obstacles that we did not have to deal with when we moved our daughter to a bed. Since he was so young, it was not an easy transition. He was a couple months shy of his second birthday. We had to remove most of the things from his room for a couple weeks, so he could not get into trouble. Another parent recommended putting a gate on the bedroom door, which turned out to be incredibly helpful. He was so stubborn that for the first couple days, he would fall asleep sitting in the middle of the wood floor of his room. After a very LONG week, he was back in his routine.
He was digging his new bed when people started doling out the advice. "He is too young to be out of his crib." "It is dangerous." "Do not use pillows and bedding." Say What? He can not use a pillow? How is he going to be comfortable? Can he use a tiny airline baby pillow? Being an overly cautious mom, I checked in our medical baby books and online. Children under 2 years of age should NOT use a pillow or big blanket. Most of what I read says you can introduce those things around age 2 or when the child moves to a big bed.
Since my son was not yet 2, I decided to follow the advice and start with one of those baby pillows. It was so small, like an airline pillow, and I hardly saw the point. It did not look like our pillows, so I think my son thought it was something else. My son did not seem to need pillows or bedding; it was just my need to make it look like a normal bed that kept bugging me. We waited about a month, until my son was totally comfortable in his bed. Then we put pillows and a comfy blanket on his bed. He seemed to enjoy having a big bed with all the accessories. He was happy to not have that little tiny baby pillow for his head too.