Your baby should not have a pillow in his crib until he is at least two years old. Babies do not need pillows, and there is a serious risk of suffocation associated with the use of pillows by children under age two. By the same token, you don't want to use too heavy a blanket on him either. A “blankie” is typically a thin, lightweight receiving blanket and is fine to use. A heavy blanket in a crib presents a suffocation hazard. While you don't want your baby to be cold, it's much better to raise the temperature in the house than to pile blankets on your baby or put one big heavy blanket on him. You can also dress him in two sleepers for warmth if need be.

Never allow a young baby to sleep on a sofa, beanbag chair, featherbed, or any other surface that is not very firm. If he's old enough to roll over, he could wind up face-down in the soft surface and be smothered. In addition, on a sofa, even if he can't roll over yet, he can turn his head, get his face up against the soft back of the sofa, and be smothered against it.

This is even more true if you are napping with him and place him between you and the back of the sofa, thinking you're providing safety by keeping him from rolling off. In your sleep, you could roll toward him, wedge him more firmly against the back of the sofa, and help to smother him.

Even if the back of your sofa feels firm against your back, it's a hazard for your baby.