What Are the Types of Baby Blankets and Which of Them Are the Best for Your Baby?
Welcome! I’m sincerely glad for you, ’cause I know how happy it is to expect the birth of a baby! I can understand you, as I also have children and though they are no longer small, I well remember that time, those feelings and incredible emotions. They so strongly influence parents that I, for one, still see my children being babies in dreams. And the dreams are so real!
Your child is the one and only. Every child (both the soul and body) is unique. Children are the most precious treasures for their parents and it is clear that all the best goes to them.
You have chosen the right place for a cradle (read pieces of advice thereon in the articles about beds) and in your hands there is a list of necessary baby bedding blankets. Now that a baby is no longer protected from the outside world by its mother’s bump, mom has to make sure that it still feels warm and safe. High-quality, warm and soft baby blankets are needed.
We’ll provide you with information obtained from our knowledge and experience. But our view is our personal subjective opinion and you should listen to yourself, your own heart. If you like exactly that baby security blanket, that fabric, its texture and color, an attractive muzzle of a lamb, bear cub, marmoset, frog or dog… buy it! Anyway, you buy what pleases YOU, as nobody feels better than you what is best for your child, because you love it. A mother fully and implicitly trusts only herself or her own mother. I remember how my mother, a grandmother of my children, having a water thermometer, still checked with her elbow the temperature in a baby’s bath, assuming that the instrument might be defective.
Now determine the purposes for which you want to buy a baby blanket:
a) for comfort and a sense of warmth while sleeping in the crib (baby crib blankets);
b) as a bedding on the floor or in the playpen in a wakeful state;
c) for warming after taking a bath;
d) for walks in the arms of mom or dad (as a bedding underneath or for covering);
e) the latter two variants, but for walks in the stroller, etc.
Now we’ll tell you about what fabrics can be used. They are divided into two major groups: natural and chemical. The natural originate from animals (silk – from the silkworm, wool is mainly obtained from sheep and goats, as well as from certain breeds of dogs, llamas, camels, Angora rabbits and others by carding or shearing) and from plants (cotton, flax, etc.). And from the same raw material one can obtain the fabric of different compositions and textures. For example, from the cotton, manufacturers can obtain a thin transparent cambric, a denser calico, satin, flannel and a very dense and durable fabric known as denim that a baby doesn’t need yet.
The animal origin itself and the purpose of wool in nature tell about its excellent quality, for instance, keeping heat and protecting against both cold and heat of the material. Organic baby blankets are made of cotton or wool. Artificial fibers are obtained from the natural by chemical processing (rayon and acetate fibers). Rayon is beautiful, well-washed and ironed, but crumples and frays easily along fabric sections. The acetate fabric is shiny, light, but not very durable. Synthetic fibers are obtained, believe it or not, from coal, oil, gas, etc.
There is no need to be afraid of buying baby clothes blankets that combine natural, artificial and synthetic fibers. For example, adding synthetic fibers to the cotton make its weak qualities disappear (a pure cotton cloth shrinks heavily, that is, reduces its size after washes; a thin cotton cloth tears from many washes; the image burns out in the sun and fades more and more after each wash; the fabric rumples easily). Thus, synthetic fibers improve the properties and structure of natural fabrics. In addition, each company values its name and, of course, has a certificate of quality of its products, especially for children’s products which, in our opinion, must pass the strictest quality control.
Of course, time of year, weather, individual characteristics of your toddler are important for the selection of a baby receiving blanket of the desired quality. It makes sense to have a few baby blankets. You are likely to have them, as your friends will probably present your baby with a pink blanket (if you have a girl) or a blue blanket (if you have a boy). Close relatives may give a little giraffe baby blanket or other luxury baby blankets. In addition, grandmothers, aunts and mother are themselves free to crochet or knit wonderful baby blankets.
How to make baby blankets? It’s very easy, follow the instructions:
1) buy, for instance, a flannel or fleece fabric of the size you need;
– you can round the corners (using a cardboard box template);
2) make edges decorative:
– with the help of a needle or crochet, embroider edges of the fabric with a thick thread (color is at your option) so that it looked like the inverted letters VVVVVVVVV;
– or make a fringe with scissors around the edges (1-3 inches long);
– or sew on a satin ribbon, creating a little waviness;
– or, by folding the ribbon in two, hide the edges of a handmade baby blanket in it and fasten by hand or with the help of a sewing machine;
3) you can make a baby blanket quilt by sewing together two layers of the fabric and putting a wadding pad inside, etc.
There are lots of ways to implement baby blanket ideas (you will soon yourself begin to tell other young mothers about how to make new baby blankets) and making them is so simple that, if desired, both your spouse and an elder child can handle it.
Usually, the inner surface of baby blankets is monotonous, it may be smooth, terry and weakly or strongly shaggy. And the external may be both monotonous (e. g., yellow and red baby blankets) and with cheerful images, multicolored. I like colorful funny kittens, ladybirds, butterflies and flowers very much. But I was surprised and even shocked when I saw the skull and crossbones in the range of colorations! The fact that there are colorations in the style of punk, perhaps, means there is a demand for that. But, parents, this is your style, your choice, not that of your baby; when it grows up, it will choose for itself, but for now it’s better to stick to the accepted standards. We don’t like funky baby blankets with spiders and even pictures of owls whose eyes look now to the right, now to the left, now are closed… in general, that’s not the point. I don’t have any positive emotions looking at them and I, for one, wouldn’t buy such baby blankets.
That was a little digression. You can make embroidered baby blankets with your own hands or purchase custom baby blankets. There are also a few options here: personalized, monogrammed and christening baby blankets. You can come up with and make for yourself or order a monogram (a sign consisting of beautifully embroidered initial letters of the name and last name or just the name of a baby). On personalized baby blankets people usually embroider only the name; or name and last name; or name, last name and date of birth of a baby. We wouldn’t advise using a personalized baby blanket as a baby stroller blanket for two reasons: 1) strangers shouldn’t know information about your child; and 2) it wasn’t without reason that in the old days people concealed the real name of a baby or gave it a double name; in any event, exhibiting the name of a baby weakens its energy protection. It’s better to cover your toddler in public places with knit baby blankets in which mother or grandmother mentally transmitted her love in each loop of threads and that is the strongest energy protection!
I’ve read nowhere about this recommendation, but I advise first to rinse ANY new baby blanket in water (a purchased, presented or made with your own hands, as you know the fabric and thread had been purchased too, hadn’t they?). After all, before it got to you, imagine how many people had taken it in their hands (water will wash away a possible dirt and foreign energies). Anyway, iron the both sides of a baby swaddling blanket.
It is impossible to tell everything we’d like about baby blankets, because there is too much information: from a dry and concrete encyclopedic to a true-to-life received through our own experience. I hope that what you have read will come in handy for you. We sincerely wish your baby a good health and a fortunate fate!
