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. Yes there are some precautions which you have to take. 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. As the name suggests, the memory foam pillow molds to the contours of the babys head and thus provides a very good support. It was worth the buy because ever since my baby started sleeping on the baby pillow I have not seen her vomit her nightly feed and she sleeps oh so soundly like an angel.
There are other advantages to using a baby pillow. 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 opine that pillow support prevents cranial deformities which can occur if the baby sleeps with head to one side for a long duration. Make sure you check the pillow cover. Just make sure you buy the softest, linen cotton material for a pillow cover. Such a material helps prevent allergic reactions or rashes, a common occurrence if using synthetic pillow covers. Dont buy soft or feather pillows, they are the ones responsible for the 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.