But these devices — essentially a small pillow with an indent or a hole in the center (see illustration) — are unnecessary and even dangerous, says Ben Hoffman, chairman of the AAP Council on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention. “Infant head-shaping pillows run counter to what we recommend at the AAP, which is that babies should sleep on their backs without any soft bedding. These products pose the same suffocation risk to your sleeping baby as does any other soft bedding, such as padded crib bumpers and blankets,” he says.