Methods and apparatus to facilitate sleeping of infants

A restrainer for an infant, said restrainer comprising:

• a pillow body comprising a medial portion and a pair of arms extending therefrom, said pillow body defining a first restrainer end, each of said arms comprising a first end, a second end, an upper surface, and a lower surface, each of said arms having a first thickness measured between said upper and lower surfaces, said medial portion formed integrally with and extending generally laterally between said arms first ends, said medial portion having a second thickness that is substantially equal to said first thickness, said arms are spaced a substantially constant distance apart in a mirrored relationship such that a well region is defined between said pair of arms to facilitate retaining at least a portion of a torso of the infant, said pillow body further comprising a plurality of layers coupled together to enclose fill material, said plurality of layers facilitate maintaining a substantially constant thickness throughout said pillow body;
• a support member comprising a body portion and a head portion extending from said body portion, said support member defining a second restrainer end opposite said first restrainer end, said second restrainer end having a thickness that is less than said first thickness and said second thickness, said body portion extending across said well region and between said pair of arms, said head portion coupled to and extending from each of said pair of arms second ends, said support member is positioned between said upper surface and said lower surface, said support member configured to support an infant while said pillow body retains the infant within said well region, an intersection extending between said support member and said medial portion is contoured to receive buttocks of the infant;
• and
• a plurality of fasteners extending from the second restrainer end, at least one of said plurality of fasteners configured to couple to a crib post to facilitate securing said restrainer in position relative to a mattress separate from said restrainer.

A method for supporting an infant, said method comprising:

• providing a pillow comprising a pillow body and a support member, wherein the pillow body has a medial region and a pair of opposing arms including an upper surface and a lower surface extending from the medial region, the pillow body defining a first pillow end, the support member defining a second pillow end opposite the first pillow end, each arm having a first thickness measured between said upper and lower surfaces and the medial region having a second thickness that is substantially equal to the first thickness, the second pillow end having a thickness that is less than the first thickness and the second thickness, the pair arms are spaced a substantially constant distance apart such that a well region is defined between the pair of arms, the well region having a width that is less than one-third of the total width of the pillow, the pillow body has a substantially constant thickness throughout the pillow body, the support member has a plurality of fasteners extending therefrom to secure the pillow to a crib post;
• positioning the body of the infant on a portion of the support member that defines a lower portion of the well region and extends between the pair of opposed arms wherein the support member is positioned between the upper surface and the lower surface, an intersection extending between the support member and the medial portion contoured to receive buttocks of the infant;
• and
• positioning the head of the infant on a portion of the support member that is coupled to and extends from an end of the arms, at least a portion of the torso of the infant is facilitated to be restrained within the well region by the pillow body.