Should a Boppy Pillow or Other Type of Pillow be Used in Day Care Centers as a Sleep Aid or Sleep Positional Device?

A Boppy Pillow is a crescent shaped pillow that has been in the marketplace for 25 years. It is used by families, schools, and day care providers as a positional device for infant exercise, strengthening, and during feeding time. While the Boppy Pillow is quite popular and a useful item to have, it can also pose as a danger to infants when it is used as a purposeful sleeping device or alternatively as an item that is left with or near an infant during sleeping or nap time.

The manufacturers of the Boppy Pillow warn parents and child care providers about the dangers of having the Boppy Pillow with an infant during sleep time. In particular, the Boppy Pillow website provides the following:

Never Allow Baby to Sleep on the Boppy Pillow

The website also goes on to warn parents about the dangers of having an infant sleep face down and of the risks of positional asphyxia. The recommended uses according to the Boppy Pillow website are for "feeding - nursing and bottle feeding, propping, tummy time, and sitting."

A day care center should not have a Boppy Pillow, regular pillow, stuffed animal, or blankets in a baby's crib or sleeping area due to the risks of positional asphyxiation and SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Furthermore, sleep and nap time is not the time period for a child care provider to run errands OR to be in other parts of the day care center. Direct supervision should be in place to properly monitor the child during nap and sleep time.

You can read more about the Boppy Pillow at Boppy Pillow - Frequently Asked Questions.

The book - Florida Day Care Center Injuries - Legal Rights of the Injured Child - Building Blocks of Knowledge for Parents - has chapters on Record Keeping, Supervision, Emergency Procedures, Playground Safety, and other matters. You can get this book for free at Florida Day Care Center Injuries.

---