BS 1877-8 is an International Standard that focuses on textiles and fabrics used for domestic bedding. It gives requirements for pillows and bolsters.
BS 1877-8 specifies requirements for pillows, including pillows for prams and cots, and bolsters for domestic use other than those filled with cellular rubber materials. BS 1877-8 includes performance requirements for the hardness of infants’ pillows for air-flow through.
Note 1: The pillows covered by this part of BS 1877-8 are not recommended for children under 12 months old to sleep on.
Note 2: The titles of the British Standards referred to in BS 1877-8 are listed on the inside back cover.
BS 1877-8 on pillows and bolsters for domestic use is useful for:
There are several aspects of a pillow that may cause a certain amount of risk to the child using it, particularly the fact that if the surface becomes wet because of the child upsetting something or being sick, and the porosity of the pillow and cover does not allow the fluid to drain away quickly, any advantage which the pillow has when it is dry will be forfeited.
BS 1877-8 has been developed for bedding used for domestic purposes such as pillows and bolsters. It introduces an additional standard size of the pillow and new metric sizes of bolsters.
BS 1877-8 includes a washing procedure whereby the pillow is twice washed, rinsed, and dried as an integral part to conduct test methods for airflow and for hardness.
BS 1877-8 also helps you to reduce the risk of a pillow being in any way responsible for fatal accidents it is recommended that the cot pillows are filled so that the surface of the pillow is firm enough to prevent a child’s head from sinking into it and such that the covering is not loose enough on the surface to be drawn into the mouth.