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November 20, 2008
Many baby pillows with various types of design and decoration are available at stores and craft shows. Parents, or their family or friends, may be tempted to buy a baby pillow as a personalized gift for a new baby. Before doing so, the safety of a baby pillow should be considered. If you receive a baby pillow as a gift or purchase one for your child, there are some chilling facts you must know before you place the pillow in the crib with your baby.
SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) is the leading cause of death in the United States for infants one month to one year of age. In 1992 the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended that babies be placed in a non prone position to sleep, as a result of findings in other countries. In 1994, the Back To Sleep campaign was initiated as a joint effort by several national agencies and consumer groups. Several studies were performed to evaluate the effect of the Back To Sleep program on the incidence of SIDS. While the incidence of SIDS related deaths had decreased by half, other findings were also identified by the studies. In 2005, an AAP task force released a new statement, which included several recommendations. Foremost, babies must be laid to sleep on the back only, not on the side. Included in the recommendations was a clearly defined list of items to place in the crib: a firm mattress, a fitted sheet, and the baby. If a bumper pad is used it must not be a loose, fluffy type. No baby pillow or toys or other objects should be included. In response to increased incidence of flat head syndrome, alternate methods of prevention were advised. Positioning other than on the back or use of a baby pillow were not deemed worth the risk of SIDS by the AAP.
There is a baby pillow on the market, called Baby Sleep Positioner, which includes the recommendations for SIDS prevention in its advertising. Made of foam, the purpose of this baby pillow is to support the head while keeping the baby positioned on the back. The statement released by the AAP is clear that it does not endorse any specific commercial products. If parents are considering the use of the foam baby pillow sleep positioner, checking with their Pediatrician first is probably the safest approach.
Horaayy..there are 4 comment(s) for me so far ;)
You should write more.
Along with the baby pillow, these sleep positioners help ensure that the baby is able to get a good night’s rest.
Some doctors and sleep experts feel that a baby pillow is not really essential for babies. Some children seem to do quite well without them, while others simply cannot get to sleep without a baby pillow. In any case, you may want to hold off on using a baby pillow until the time when your child moves from the crib into a real bed. There can be a risk of the child suffocating with the use of a baby pillow, particularly when he or she is less than two years of age.
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’. A nice narrow, firm baby pillow is just as good as the latest memory foam pillows.
I could have used this information a while a go. I keep coming back to this blog.