Baby pillows

[BabySarah]

I'm thinking of getting a baby pillow for my soon to arrive baby to prevent her from having a flat head.

The ones I have found that are available in Australia are Mimos Baby Pillow and Mije Baby Head Rest.

Does anyone have any feedback on any of these? Are there any others that you would recommend instead?

[brooke88(mum2b09)]

The pead in SCN where my girls were supplied pillows for this reason. I'm not sure of the brand but he said any "peanut" pillow for babies are suitable.
The girls were transferred to a nearer hospital and only had them for a week.

I did however get mini neck pillows at around 4 months as advised by my GP/OP to keep them elevated while sleeping, they had terrible reflux.

[mim1]

Have a look at the SIDS website. Pillows are NOT recommended for babies until 12 months of age. They are a suffocation risk.

My ds & dd never had pillows and didn't have flat heads at all.

[chookylaa]

I have a love nest? Or something love pillow, more like a thin foam thing with a hole in the back of it.
I used it after about 1week of age and stopped when she could turn her head/shoulders.

I WOULDNT credit this as the only thing that stopped her head being flat. By far.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using BubHub

[Hunkamunka]

My dd is 15mths and she still doesnt have a pillow and never has. To prevent flat head you give bub's tummy time and make sure bub's head gets equal laying time on each side. (I used to alternate which side dd's head faced for one nap, and did the oposide side for the next nap.)

I wont be giving dd a pillow untill she is in her own bed for SID's reasons mostly.

[SpaghettiMonster]

I wont be giving dd a pillow untill she is in her own bed for SID's reasons mostly.

I think I will do this as well. I was thinking recently about when I should give DS a pillow. I am worried about giving him one now because he often rolls in his sleep and ends up sleeping on his stomach. So I'm worried if he had a pillow that he would burry his face in it at some point.

[Rachell]

My dd is 16mo and we have just given her a little pillow in the last month, we gave it to her because she had a runny nose and would sleep great with it in there, now she is better she won't sleep with out it..
She is still in a cot, should we be looking at putting her in a toddler bed now?

I thought pillows were Safe over 12 months, I didn't know that it was dangerous if there still in a cot

[Little-Pink-Hen]

My dd is 15mths and she still doesnt have a pillow and never has. To prevent flat head you give bub's tummy time and make sure bub's head gets equal laying time on each side. (I used to alternate which side dd's head faced for one nap, and did the oposide side for the next nap.)

I wont be giving dd a pillow untill she is in her own bed for SID's reasons mostly.

This.
Dd would sometimes sleep on her tummy if she was laying right next to me or on me or if she fell asleep during tummy time. She loved her tummy time which I started whilst in the hospital. Dd got a pillow just before 2 it was used to elevate her during her sleep to reduce coughing and it was my pillow so she would think she was still with me

[BabySarah]

Thanks everyone. I've done some thinking based on your responses and have decided not to get one now.

[Joyaa]

I have come into this thread late – probably too late for BabySarah – but would like to share my thoughts. I am an osteopath with a special interest in treating babies, and as it happens I started stocking and selling Mimos baby pillows about 6 months ago. (I am not mentioning this in order to sell any here, but simply to be completely open about my position and any possible interests).



For cases of flat head syndrome (e.g. plagiocephaly or brachycephaly) I find the Mimos pillow - or any equivalent - can be a useful adjunct to hands-on techniques, exercises and positioning. The pillows won’t necessarily cure the problem but they can help. Their soft, supportive backing definitely helps to keep a baby from pressing on their head’s flat spot, and this is exactly the the same aim as one of the primary aims of baby helmets. (In my opinion some babies definitely need helmet therapy for their flat spots).



Today a client brought in her baby’s Mije “baby head rest”. I hadn’t seen one before and felt completely open-minded as to what I would find. Actually, perhaps not completely open-minded as I rather expected it to be pretty similar to the Mimos pillow. It isn’t. The Mimos is described as being “94% air, completely safe as the baby is capable of breathing through (it)”. I don’t know exactly how they tested that statement, but it’s very easy to test that an adult can breathe through the Mimos with the gentlest breath – easily. The Mije I saw was made from memory foam, which is a denser, heavier material that even an adult cannot breathe through. Also, being made of memory foam, it is heat-reflective, so in a hotter climate can cause baby’s head to sweat a lot. (See wikipedia on “Memory Foam” for more info – don’t just take my word for it). I would like to be able to recommend pillows other than Mimos for babies, especially as the Mimos is imported from Spain and quite expensive, but the Mije – an Australian made product – is one I won’t be endorsing yet. Obviously, if they start to make it from a light-weight breathable foam, I may change my view.


Some have mentioned a peanut pillow. I would tend to recommend this where there is a torticollis (wry neck), as it will help to prevent baby’s head from slumping. Torticollis can occur with a flat head (indeed it may be the cause of the flattening), but the two conditions don’t always go hand in hand. When there is just a flat head, I would think that the Mimos or an equivalent is more purpose built for the task.


Others have commented that the SIDS site doesn’t recommend pillows until 12 months of age. Certainly there’s been a marked increase in Flat Head Syndrome since the start of SIDS back to sleep campaign (wikipedia: Since the back to sleep campaign came around in 1994, the increase in plagiocephaly has risen by 600%, but has lowered SIDS by 80%). My feeling is that paediatricians wouldn’t be recommending peanut pillows, Mimos pillows and probably certain other pillows too if they weren’t completely confident of their safety.


“Tummy time” is excellent advice, but not all babies can or do accept “tummy time”, and in any case it is not always sufficient. In some cases baby pillows, baby helmets, paediatric physiotherapists or osteopaths are what the doctor ordered.

I hope this helps.