The Internet is full of horrific stories of how babies have suffocated 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. Indeed, some common sense precautions are a must. Do not buy cheap merchandise, the so called best bargains, they are likely to be of poor quality and hence unsafe.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. In my opinion, a memory foam pillow though a bit costly is a better buy. The memory foam pillow does really mold to the shape of the babys 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.
The benefits of a baby pillow dont end there. According to some doctors, having a pillow, raises the babys head slightly above the rest of the body and makes breathing easier especially when the baby is suffering from a cold. They also say that a firm support prevents cranial deformity which may occur if the baby sleeps with head to one side for too long. 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. Soft pillows or feather filled pillows are a definite miss, the real culprit for all that 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.