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When buying a baby blanket, safety is the top priority. Avoid fluffy quilts and pillows in the crib. Choose lightweight, natural-fiber blankets without trims or fringes. Consider blanket pajamas for warmth without entanglement. Wash flannel blankets before use and avoid acrylic blankets. Ensure the weave is tight enough to prevent hands or feet from getting caught. Crochet blankets are decorative but not suitable for nighttime use.
When buying a baby blanket, the first concern is safety. Safety far outweighs aesthetics, since babies under one year old shouldn’t use certain blankets. However, it is possible to find a safe baby blanket that is also aesthetically pleasing, as there are so many patterns and designs available.
One baby blanket that should always be avoided is the quilt that may come with a crib set. There are concerns that fluffy quilts have been implicated in sudden infant death syndrome and may actually cause suffocation. This is also a good reason to avoid pillows in the crib.
Since a child can overheat more quickly than an adult, consider lightweight, natural-fiber blankets. A baby blanket is a good choice to start with, and in fact many babies prefer to be swaddled at night. The tension feels similar to being in the womb. Cotton blankets abound in colors, patterns, and prices, and are usually found in designs that match nursery themes.
For a slightly older baby, you can choose a slightly heavier baby blanket, perhaps a cotton design. In any choice you should avoid a baby blanket with trims, fringes, buttons or things that could be torn and accidentally swallowed. Also, a crib bumper is safer if it’s plain and not used after the first year.
Some people prefer to dress the baby in blanket pajamas which will provide warmth without risking the baby to get entangled in the blanket. These can be garments resembling a nightgown with a closed bottom, or they can have feet at the bottom. Consider the weather before dressing a child in overly warm clothing.
With a flannel baby blanket, you should wash the blanket 3-4 times before use, as the blanket tends to accumulate a large amount of lint during initial use. Several washes tend to get most of the lint out so it doesn’t get swallowed or potentially irritate your baby’s nose. An acrylic baby blanket, in contrast, may become fuzzier the more it is used, so it may not be the best choice. Also, man-made fibers are warmer, which may not provide adequate ventilation during the night.
Blankets woven from natural or man-made fibers should have a tight enough weave that the baby cannot get his or her hands caught in the weave. Consider the crochet baby blanket for daytime use only. These are suitably decorative but again they can trap little hands or feet in tiny holes in the design.
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