Blanket in Crib - Toms River,NJ

Updated on June 30, 2011
M.T. asks from Eatontown, NJ
20 answers

I wanted to know when other mothers started putting a blanket into their childs crib. My daughter just turned two and a couple months ago I started putting a pillow in her crib. She has been great with that so far so I wanted to start putting a small blanket in her crib for her. She likes to put a sheet on her when she lays on the couch in the morning so I thought I would give it a shot in her crib. I am a little nervous because a couple of times I have found her in her crib with her pillow over her head so I am affraid she might put the blanket over her head as well. I have a vidoe monitor so I am able to keep an eye on her without going into her room. Let me know when some of you started putting the blanket in.

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M.P.

answers from Portland on

At two she is able to move away from the pillow or blanket. She won't let herself suffocate. It's darn uncomfortable to not get any air.

We are concerned about having things in the crib for small babies who can scoot or roll over and not move away from the object once they get covered. Even a small baby, however, would not suffocate if a light weight blanket were over their face.

I've investigated infant and children's deaths and have never heard of a baby over the age of several months dying from suffocation. Once they're able to hold their head up, roll over, and move around the crib they will not remain in a suffocating position.

7 moms found this helpful
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M.B.

answers from Austin on

When my kids were infants, they always had blankets.... they also slept on their tummy!

I know now there are concerns about tummy sleeping, but we lived in Iowa... it was cold in the winter! They needed blankets! My son was born in November....

2 moms found this helpful

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R.Y.

answers from New York on

I'd give her a light blanket and see how she does. I started giving a blanket at around a year when my kids outgrew the sleepsack. Also, I pulled the covers over my head almost every night as a child and survived.

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J.K.

answers from Phoenix on

With all mine, I didn't put a pillow or blanket in their crib. Once I put them in a big bed is when I did the pillow and blanket which I usually transitioned them into a bed at age two.

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T.N.

answers from Boston on

The blankets pillows toys etc are a problem mostly when the babies are very young and do not have the muscle strength to lift their heads or turn them away from things. My two daughters have both had blankies in their crib since they were around 4 months old. My oldest got a big girl pillow at 2 after using her Nemo fish as a pillow for a good six months.

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B.B.

answers from Portland on

Around age 1. Mine is very energetic and a mover so I know he probably won't get stuck under anything. I don't put pillows in the crib ever though. My son got his pillow at 18 months when he moved to his toddler bed but is was a small camping size pillow.

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M.L.

answers from Houston on

Around age two. I used a small little baby sized lap quilt. It wasn't big or flimsy enough get bunched up or wrapped up and wasn't so plush it would suffocate if it was pulled over his face.

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D.B.

answers from Los Angeles on

I co-slept with each of mine, but when they did sleep for naps or the beginning of the night by themselves, I did a small receiving blankets long before I ever did pillows. My kids were each under a year old. As they got bigger they got like throw blankets (the kind you'd use for the couch) on their beds. They were all about 2ish when they slept on thier own with the throw blankets. It just been the past couple of years that I've bought regular twin sized blankets for my kids because the throw blankets have gotten too small, lol!
HTH.

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M.A.

answers from Charleston on

Trying to remember exactly...but I'm sure it was before 2.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.M.

answers from Lake Charles on

My daughter has had her blankie since day one.. we have one of those nifty sensor monitors so we had no worries.. she has her pillow pet now but it's more like a security blanket-esque type thing at the foot of her bed.

1 mom found this helpful

C.A.

answers from Chicago on

Hi!
Before becoming a mom I was a nanny and each child I watched started at a different age depending on their coordination,how much they squirmed 'n wiggled in their sleep and comfort. . and their parents'! A couple of families(and what I do with our daughter since I'm a professional worrier!) used sleep sacks.They're great! They come in big sizes, you can easily make one or have someone make a few for you if you have a crafty friend or relative or on etsy.com until you and your sweetpea feel confident enough to go for a blanket.
Hope this helps. Happy 4th!

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R.P.

answers from Cleveland on

my daughter had a blanket in her crib with her since she was a yr old maybe a little less then a year because its cold in ohio in the winter and i didnt want ehr getting cold but she never did anything

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L.P.

answers from Pittsfield on

When my DD was about that age, we got her a toddler bedding set for her crib. The comforter is long enough to tuck at the foot of the crib. I liked it because it doesn't tangle easily. We just got one of the inexpensive Circo ____@____.com loved it because it felt more like a big girl bed to her.

Best wishes :)

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J.B.

answers from Rochester on

Both my kids used blankets at a year. I gave them knitted or crochetted ones (with holes). Never have had any problems.

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S.F.

answers from Utica on

My DD was born in Dec and it gets really cold here in the winter so we started to use a light blanket as soon as we stopped swaddling her at bedtime. I was really fearful at first with her being so young but I always made sure that the blanket was well tucked under the mattress and that it never went much past her waist. I gave her a pillow (that she never uses to sleep with) at about 14 / 15 months. You can buy bed sets that come with a comforter, a fitted sheet and a top sheet and pillow case for a toddler bed and the top sheet actually has elastics like a fitted sheet on one end so that the sheet doesnt come loose at the end. Thats what we use
Good Luck

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G.T.

answers from Rochester on

My kids always had blankets in their beds. We live in NY and it's cold in the winter. One of my kids would not sleep unless he had his blanket to hold next to his face. He didn't cover his face with it but just held it and rubbed his face with it. I used knitted blankets with a lot of holes in them so they could not smother themselves even if they did put it over their face.

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N.D.

answers from New York on

We started a long time before 2, probably at around one. I think the breathing thing is only when they are just developing. Our little one loves her blanket!

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B.G.

answers from Birmingham on

My daughter turned 2 in March and has been sleeping with a receiving blanket for about 6 months. The one thing that I do with her (and my 6 year old daughter) is a check on both of them before I head to bed. My 6 year old insists on having pillows on her bed but will not actually sleep with her head on them, so I put them to the side or at the foot of the bed. With my 2 year old, I do the same thing with the blanket. I just move it to the bottom of the bed. This way, she has the blanket to snuggle with but its not going to get wrapped around her in any way.

N.B.

answers from Minneapolis on

I do home daycare, and here in MN the rules for sleeping infants (up to 12 mos old--the first birthday...seems like a very arbitrary date, but thats what it is)...we can have nothing but the baby in the bed. I dislike it as I have little ones who have blankies (a "taggie" boy in particular). Plus I keep my house pretty cold all year round.

My own child is almost 17 and always had something. She was (still is) a blankie-a-holic! At 22 months she was in a toddler bed! Crud...if she could potentially FALL OUT of the bed, she sure as heck could have a pillow and blankets...gee whiz. Mine was a blanket-over-the -ace sleeper. Still is. Freaked me out, sure. But all was well.

I just hate all the regulation and the fear instilled into parents. In a daycare setting, I can see the need for a tad more caution. It gives the inspectors and trainers something to be specific about and a standard to set for us in a group setting, when we have (typically) more quantity of children to check on while sleeping and to care for and monitor about these sorts of things...but I dislike all the freaking parents out. Do you really think every 3rd child died 100 years ago due to having a blanket in their bed? Not likely. They had fireplaces in rooms for heat and used thick blankets. They were our relatives....thats why we are here! JMO~

Good luck with your decision!

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A.F.

answers from San Francisco on

That is one of the rules I did not adhere to. Both of mine had blankets from day 1, granted the first few weeks they were swaddled in them, but then they just used them. To this day my 5 1/2 year old refuses to use a pillow.

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