Many parents are worried that the baby is uncomfortable sleeping, so they use the pillow for the baby early. In fact, such an approach is wrong.
Why? Does your baby need a pillow? When is it best to use a pillow?
From a developmental point of view
No pillow is required for up to 1 year of age
Image source: Stand Cool Helo
"We don't sleep on the pillow ourselves and have neck pain, baby don't use it, won't it be uncomfortable?" 」
Let's take a look at why adults feel comfortable with pillows.
The curvature of the cervical spine in adults is convex forward, and there is a gap between lying down and the bed surface:
Adult cervical spine naturalness
The pillow is like a block, filled in this gap, so that when sleeping, the neck and back muscles are relaxed, and sleeping will naturally be comfortable.
But babies are not the same as adults.
The baby is always curled up in the mother's belly, and the entire spine is a backward curved C-shape.
Image source: Zhang Juehua, Zhu Shiliang, editor-in-chief. Ultrasound spectroscopy in gynecology and obstetrics. 2008.
After the baby is born, the spine is still C-shaped, and when lying flat, the spine and cervical spine are a flat surface, and then a pillow must be forced into it, which is not only uncomfortable, but also blocks the baby's smooth breathing.
After the baby looks up in March and April, the neck curl will form, but this does not mean that a pillow is needed.
You see, the neck bend is "alive" and gradually changing, while the pillow is "dead", the thickness is unchanged, and it is uncomfortable to force a pillow for the baby.
The child's neck curl can only be fixed by the ligament until the age of 6 to 7 years old, and before it is fully fixed, if the child does not like it, there is no need to force it, there is no need to use a pillow.
From a security point of view
Pillows are not recommended for up to 1 year of age
It is not recommended for babies under 1 year old to use a pillow, but for safety reasons - to prevent sudden death.
what? Sudden death with a pillow?
It really is.
Here we have to mention "sudden infant death syndrome ( referred to as SIDS)", SIDS refers to the sudden death of infants within 1 year of age of unknown causes, which mostly occurs at night and has a lot to do with sleep.
In the United States in 2015, nearly 1,600 babies died from SIDS, with an incidence of 39.4 per 100,000.
Studies have found that using pillows, blankets, etc. increases the risk of SIDS by a factor of 5.
If your child falls asleep on a soft surface such as a pillow or blanket, this risk increases to 21 times.
Soft objects on the bed can cover your child's mouth and nose, or wrap around your child's neck and cause suffocation, or even lead to the death of your baby.
This condition is most common in babies between the ages of 2 and 4 months, when the child has just learned to turn over. If your baby's face is turned over into items such as pillows and cannot be removed, the mouth and nose are covered, and there is a risk.
The baby is too small to call for help, and many times it is too late for the parents to find out.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) made it clear in its 2016 Infant Sleep and Safety Recommendations that in order to reduce sudden infant death syndrome, avoid pillows for 1 year of age.
Worry about your child sleeping on the other side
Don't worry about doing these four things
Many parents will worry that without pillows, the baby will sleep into an ugly flat head. This will affect the value of the face!
Most of the head deviation caused by sleep posture is slight, and as the child grows, it can slowly "grow round", while after the child grows hair, the slight asymmetry is completely invisible.
If the baby's head is very severe, resulting in different eye sizes and positions, and the ear position is forwarded, it is not recommended to adjust it yourself, and after the doctor's assessment is clear, corrective treatment is carried out.
For slight deviations, these four tricks can effectively help adjust:
1. Sleep on your back at night
Let your baby sleep on his back, with his face facing to the left or right, and change his position regularly so that the back of his head is not pressed and will slowly bulge as he develops.
2. Lie on your stomach during the day
During the day, let the child lie on his stomach and lie less, so as to reduce the pressure on the back of the head, and slowly improve the flat head. In addition to letting the child lie in bed less, it is also necessary to reduce the time the child spends lying in the cradle seat, car seat.
3. Adjust the sleeping position of the face
Some children tilt their heads because they like to feel at ease when they sleep with their faces facing the position of their parents and feel at ease. In this case, the mother can change the sleeping position, sleep on the other side of the baby, and also let the baby change in the direction of the parents to "neutralize" the next.
4. Switch between baby hugging and feeding postures
When feeding and holding the child, do not always hold it with one arm, but change the arm frequently, so that the time to balance the arm pressing on the child's head can achieve the purpose of correcting the head.
Parents need to be reminded not to use a stereotyped pillow or similar "sleeping posture fixator" for their children.
If there is a risk of sudden death in sleeping pillows, the risk of suffocation caused by stereotyped pillows is equivalent to "100 times" of ordinary pillows.
Between 1997 and 2011, such products were confirmed to have killed 13 U.S. infants. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has blacklisted these shaped pillows to remind parents not to use them.
It is really not easy to bring up a baby safely and healthily.
As long as the baby is safe, sleeps soundly, and sleeps on the pillow, it really doesn't matter.
Cooperative expert Kong Lingkai
Attending physician in pediatrics
Master of Pediatrics, Second Military Medical University
Basic Life Support (BLS) Certified Instructor
Audit Expert Ma Xuemei
Deputy Chief Physician of the General Hospital of the Northern Theater of the People's Liberation Army
Producer: Damili
Title image source: Stand Cool Helo