Baby blankets are more than bedding to a baby, they are a soft home where a newborn human begins life outside of the warmth of a womb. In the first few hours, days and weeks, the blankets baby needs most are the ones that will sooth and calm, keep warm and swaddle for a feeling of protection.

Later personalized baby blankets with designs and names and cartoon characters and fun colors with alphabets and numbers may become something they themselves select to snuggle or play with, but in the beginning blankets for babies are a cocoon of softness and comfort, and that is what we should never forget when selecting a layette set, which is a small selection of clothes, baby bedding and products for a teeny newborn.

Cotton Baby Blankets

Baby doesn’t need half as many things as advertisers wish to make us believe. Just a few undershirts or nighties with drawstrings for easy access, a couple sleepers, a pair or two of teeny little socks, some cloth or disposable diapers, and a few receiving blankets. Knitted baby blankets are nice to have for throwing over a carriage to take a stroll or to drape over mom’s shoulders while nursing, but medium sized baby receiving blankets will be just fine as well. Cotton baby blankets (in fact all things cotton) are best for baby’s delicate skin because it breathes and still keeps them snug and warm. If at all possible I would recommend organic baby blankets that are free of chemicals and dyes even if baby doesn’t appear to be allergic. Organic is a good way to start life.

Baby Bassinette and Baby Bedding

During the first months, personal baby bedding isn’t a huge priority unless baby will be in a crib in their very own baby nursery right from day one, but otherwise it’s enough to snuggle her/him in some blankets, pad a small baby bassinet with two or three medium sized baby fleece blankets (folded to fit the bassinette shape) and on top of that just spread a cotton baby receiving blanket to act as a sheet that can be changed frequently, and that’s it.

After about 3 months or so, when baby has a crib and may sleep on her/his own during the night then you can slowly select a fancier baby crib set from the zillions of baby bedding sets on the market, but there is no rush to do so before baby arrives or immediately after.

Baby Products – Less is Enough

Don’t stress out about not having something, especially if it’s your first baby – babies primarily sleep, sleep and sleep, and every few hours wake up and look for a breast or a bottle and fall back to sleep. In between all this they soil their diapers and need changing – so lots of diapers, lots of wet wipes and a little powder is good to have nearby.

Once a day, usually in the morning, baby can have a bath, so a little tub is nice (but not essential), a soft washcloth, a little mild, preferably organic, baby shampoo or gel and a large very soft towel with a teeny hood. If your house is cold it may be a nice touch to have a portable heater to set in the kitchen or bathroom while bathing baby. But honestly, all the things you think you need, you really don’t.

Fancy dressers and changing tables, cribs and night lights and stuffed animals and padded crib sets and cartoon characters and monogrammed baby blankets and dozens of bath products and bells and whistles really are designed for parents not newborn babies. Teeny babies that arrive after 9 months in a watery womb are happiest when snuggled close to mother’s breast, allowed to sleep, kept clean, and fed when needed.

A Blink of an Eye

That simplicity of needing almost nothing will change, and after a few months you will want more things to make your job easier, like baby slings, carriages, strollers, high chairs and fancy baby accessories for the crib and maybe even personalized baby clothes, but don’t panic too soon.

Enjoy baby without a lot of baby stuff…revel in their tiny fingers and toes and little gurgling sounds and the way they smell and how they sleep in simple cotton baby blankets….don’t waist your time worrying and shopping because they will be newborn for only a blink of an eye…

The perfect blanket for your baby is out there, probably somewhere in one of those elusive or exclusive online companies offering to deliver African cotton, Asian bamboo, or even organic baby blankets from Madagascar, right to your door. Yes. There are blankets for babies that are luxurious and plush, fancy with lace or simply knitted or embroidered by hand. It’s all about WHERE to find them.

At Your Baby Blankets You will find articles about different baby blankets and find useful suggestions to choose something for yourself and your baby or to give as a gift. But the most important service this site provides is that it sorts through hundreds of other sites and narrows down your baby blanket choices to a select few high quality items that won’t disappoint. These suggestions may lead you to your ideal personalized baby blanket without the headache of hours of searching or shopping.

What you want is to put a smile on baby’s face and lighten mom’s load, because a baby must snuggle and smile and giggle and a mother has enough to care for without wondering if her baby blankets are hypoallergenic, organic, synthetic, or knitted with the right kind of lambs wool.

Here you will also find articles about the baby security blanket, which is a type people often forget about since its purpose is less obvious. However, a security blanket could be one of the best gifts your baby will receive, or perhaps it will be you who gives this thoughtful gift to a newborn friend.

Please take a moment to browse through the posts. I’m sure you’ll discover a few fun things about baby blankets you didn’t know. This site will also answer the following questions:

• Why choose natural or organic baby blankets?
• Why wrap a baby in swaddling blankets?
• What fabrics breathe and why does it matter?

• What can you do to help baby have fewer rashes and skin problems?

• What do skin problems have to do with baby blankets?
• What should I avoid when monogramming personalized baby blankets?

• Are traditional handmade and embroidered baby blankets always a safe gift?

• Must a new mother have blankets only in teeny baby size?
• What’s the big deal about baby security blankets?
• Where can I buy a baby blanket that’s a bit wild to suit mom as much as baby?

My baby sister (who now has babies of her own) came into the world when I was almost 10 years old. Since it was before the era of ultrasounds, no one actually knew if she’d be a SHE or a HE, but it was practically guaranteed by local townspeople, especially the midwife’s intuition, that she would be a BOY!

During the months of waiting I saved every penny of my allowance to buy a present for my little brother.

The Sunday before the arrival of the new addition, I went secretly to the local market to select a gift for my little brother. I looked through baskets of plush toys, was offered the latest cartoon bearing baby bottles and bibs, pondered over the packages of white cloth baby diapers and was bewildered by the tininess of a myriad little baby undershirts. But I wanted something special, and I finally found it at the little old lady’s stall at the back of the market. She had the most marvelous handmade baby blankets I had ever seen. There were dozens of blankets for babies, even organic baby blankets before organic was popular, and knitted baby blankets, and embroidered baby blankets and…

I selected a very large baby blanket (because I refused to believe my brother would fit in one of those cute, tiny ones), actually it was a huge, thick cotton baby blanket in pale BLUE! Very satisfied with myself, I went home, wrapped it up and waited.

When the little bundle emerged from the midwife’s delivery room a week later I was not at all prepared to hear the verdict.

My baby brother was a GIRL!

But everyone was so terribly thrilled about my brother being a sister that practically the whole town arrived with delightful PINK presents, pink baby blankets, pink frilly dresses, tiny pink satin slippers and pink lacy bonnets. I was quite devastated.

There was no way I could present my sister with my brother’s BLUE baby blanket as a gift!

So I hid it in my closet and never said a peep to my mother or anyone.
As the weeks passed, I grew to adore my little sister, and helped with her care as much as a 10 year old could. I learnt to change her diapers, bathe her, powder her tiny bottom and swaddle her in the teeny tiny pink receiving blankets.

One day she became ill, allergic to the formula she’d been drinking, and this caused her to soil or vomit upon every single baby blanket she’d been given. When at last, several vomity hours later, her little stomach had been calmed with goats’ milk (and she had been bathed and powdered), my mother turned to me exhausted, almost in tears, and said, “I have nothing to wrap her in…go find a small sheet or a towel or something…anything….!”

And that was when I ran to my closet, unwrapped my brother’s special blanket and returned to swaddle my little sister in the soft folds of the huge BLUE baby blanket. I cradled her in my arms until she fell asleep… all swathed in blue.

Baby blankets are a good choice because they are useful, practical and mustn’t match perfectly with the chosen nursery décor.

However, here are a few cautionary tips based on real comments from new mothers and mothers-to-be.

Be careful about monogramming to create personalized baby blankets if you are unsure of the EXACT spelling of baby’s name. And never put a date of birth on a baby blanket or other item unless you are absolutely certain the date is correct.

Carefully select where you get the personalized baby blankets monogrammed. There are many companies who use odd colors, poor quality thread and the end product just looks cheap and not personal at all.

Blankets for babies are NOT heirlooms no matter what the baby monogramming companies say. Baby blankets are blankets for a baby to sleep with, play with, snuggle in, pee soil and vomit upon, spit on, chew on… and will never be bronzed mantle pieces. So choose a blanket that is made of natural fibers, is soft and comfy and could double as a baby security blanket. The best heirloom is a blanket so tatty and worn and torn and destroyed by use that it ends up, after 5 or 6 good years, in the garbage!

Embroidered, knitted and handmade baby blankets may be treasured by traditional moms, grandmothers and some new moms as well. But if baby has been born into a an ultra modern, contemporary family or into a home where eco, natural, organic and vegetarian will be babies first words, then I suggest giving a blanket that matches the environment they will grow up in.

1. For good quality monograms to create personalized items -My Ubby Build a Blanket -Using their ubby blanket builder, you can choose from their more than 50 fabric styles, colors and print options. They also have 11 edging colors and stitch options and many personalized features and add-ons.

2. For baby security blankets -Fisher Price Animals of the Rainforest Security Blanket – available from Amazon – $29.99

3. For organic baby blankets – Nature Baby offers everything natural and organic you might desire for baby, including bedding, blankets, diet, organic food, and zillions of wonderful other products. This is a small family business in Auckland, New Zealand, which started simply to have the best natural products for their own family. They wanted their children to grow up in non-toxic world and they share their finds with you. Nature Baby is one cool natural shop! They have an online shop too and deliver worldwide if you set up an account.

4. For cotton baby blankets – The Peanut Shell is a great little shop with some unconventional cotton baby blankets like the Park Avenue Swaddle Baby Blanket for $34.99 It is sage and pink floral cotton lined with fuchsia minky.

5. For knitted pieces – some genuinely fine hand knitted baby blankets can be found at Irish Arans for as little as – $39.00. All their blankets are authentic hand knit, created in the historic Irish tradition by expert craftspeople. Contact them at: 353-234-6100
6. For quality handmade – some genuinely weird, but amazing hand crafted blankets for babies you must have a look at Nordic Kids in the UK. If you can’t find it here it doesn’t exist! Nordic Kids bring you the best Scandinavian designers’ funky baby blankets, baby clothes and accessories.

And she was right. When her daughter was born she was the happiest little baby ever. She had the softest white cotton diapers made from natural cotton gauze and she slept next her mother’s breasts in a little gauze snuggly. At night she was wrapped in organic baby blankets her mother had made from cotton gauze as well, and during the day she wore natural white cotton dresses.

My friend’s clothes line had nothing but white cotton hanging in the African sun and her daughter always looked so fresh and clean. Perhaps it was the natural white that surrounded her, but that little baby’s skin glowed. I don’t recall ever seen her little bottom bothered by diaper rash and I changed her often enough to know. I can’t attribute her cheerful nature and good health entirely to her organic cotton attire, but it was certainly part of what made her one of the most beautiful babies I would ever see.

It may seem as if organic diapers, cotton baby blankets and gauze clothing is the ideal choice for children in the tropics or those who live under the heat of the African sun, but in fact going natural and using organic baby products can be a lifestyle choice no matter where you live, even in Alaska or a Fjord in Norway.

Here are some organic baby blanket suggestions in all natural cotton, fleece, wool and silk:

I was recently impressed to discover Ali Hewson and Bono – founders of a company called EDUN, specializing in organic clothing and other natural products, and whose mission it is to aid developing economies with sustainable employment through fair trade practices.

Their line of organic EDUN products is produced in Peru, Tunisia, Kenya, India, Mauritius and Madagascar. They don’t have many baby products, but they have ONE that is quite impressive: an organic baby blanket, 100% Organic Cotton which Features an African poem called Splendid City, softly printed on the blanket. It’s made in Kenya at Wildlife Works.

Another company is Robbie Adrian, in California, who manufacturer organic baby blankets in very tasteful designs. They have a line of what they call luxury organic baby blankets and they aren’t stretching the truth. Their products are truly luxurious – a long way from merely natural fibers, gauze and wispy cotton baby blankets. All their plush baby blankets are 100% certified organic cotton velour or 100% certified organic cotton fleece, and the trims are all 100% natural silk.

They have exquisite soft baby blankets, cotton baby blankets and organic baby blankets in natural, raspberry, chocolate, eucalyptus, taupe dot, ocean blue and raspberry dot starting at $26 and going up to about $68 for the larger baby blankets.

Kushtush Organics is another place to find organic baby blankets. They have an unusual baby blanket from Organic Caboose, which is an Eco Fleece baby blanket produced by Malden Mills using Polartec Ecospun fleece made from recycled soda pop bottles. The Eco Fleece organic baby blanket is machine washable and dryer friendly. For only $14 it is an Eco bargain.

They also have organic baby blankets made of merino wool – suitable for baby’s delicate skin, yet warm enough for the coldest nights. – $97.50 Kushtush Organics also has knitted baby blankets in organic cotton jersey. Receiving blankets are all organic and come in 7 eco-friendly pastels: lavender, pink, blue, buttercup yellow, sage, natural and mint. – $15.95 to $17.95

ECOCHOICES is another company to keep in mind for all organic baby products including embroidered baby blankets. They have a good selection of natural baby bedding and other supplies. Here are some of their most popular products:

• Organic Cotton Changing Pad–organic cotton Sherpa fleece changing pad – $39.95
• Organic Cotton Chenille Changing Blanket – $29.95
• Travel Organic Cotton Changing Pad – $19.95
• Natural Organic Wool Crib Baby Blankets – Natural/baby Blue/Baby Pink but contain no dies – $89.95
• Natural Chemical Free Wool Blankets -$39
• Organic Cotton Weaved Crib Blankets – 35.95

• Super Soft Organic Brushed Cotton Crib Baby Blankets -$42.95

• Organic Baby Blanket – Poetry Blanket: with inspirational quotes by Kate Douglas Wiggin, William Blake, or J.M. Barrie -$35.95
• Embroidered Alpha Baby Blanket and Pillow Case Set – Alpha Blanket- $60/Alpha Pillow Case – $28/Alpha Blanket /Pillow Case – $86
• Organic Cotton Receiving Baby Blankets – natural or low impact dyes of blue and green – $64 each
• Embroidered Baby Blankets – Hand Embroidered Organic Cotton Forest Crib Blanket – $96
• Embroidered Baby Blankets-hand embroidered organic cotton receiving blanket -$49.95

It was a piece of a larger baby blanket, I think, nothing too special, but I slept with it, rubbed it against my cheek when I sucked my thumb and cuddled it when I felt sad. I also dragged it around my dad’s coffee and sugar cane plantations, used it to wrap baby rabbits, sat on it when I needed a picnic blanket for my dolls and tossed it on the beach as a cloth at pretend seaside tea parties. I also wiped my nose on it, mopped up spills with it, and dried my pet monkey with it. (Yes I grew up in the tropics and had a monkey to whom I fed bananas and bathed once a week.) I imagine my security blanket had to be disinfected fairly often, but I can’t remember a day between ages 3 to 5.5 when Banky wasn’t with me.

I can’t remember much about my first banana boat trip to Livingston Island except that I held my security blanket real tight! And sailing in the Caribbean with my dad, sometimes in hurricanes and storms, would have been un-survivable without soft baby blankets to wipe the salty sea spray from my eyes. When I climbed an active volcano for the first time at age 4.5, with my parents of course, I remember the lava spewing out from the carter only half as well as I remember hugging my baby blanket as I crouched behind a tree.

I understand that the baby security blankets you might be wishing to purchase for your newborn baby or as a gift for someone special may not end up in such places, providing comfort to freshly bathed monkeys, being wipes for salty-eyed sail-boating toddlers, or being cuddled by volcano climbing children, but frankly you never know.

Baby security blankets have come a long way since 1966 when I was born. I’ve noticed, at friend’s baby showers, that there are the most extraordinary security blankets. They make me want to burrow my face in them and suck my thumb! Okay I’m a strange 43 year old woman with 3 cats (no monkey, now), but my inner child is alive and well.

When my sister had her two children, naturally I made sure they each had baby security blankets of their own, and that’s how I know where to find some very snug-able, tote-able, disinfect-able baby blankets that will make any newborn feel comfy, cozy and secure at sea, on mountains and islands or in their most exotic dreams.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Bear Security Blanket -personalized teddy bear– embroidered bear blankie/about – $29
• Aurora Tech Giggles Giraffe Plush Pink Giraffe Baby Security Comfort Blanket/ about- $8
• Plush Golden Retriever Lil’ Snuggler Baby Security Blanket by Douglas – about $14
• Personalized Lamb Blankies – extra huggable blankies/ about – $30
• Kiddopotamus Huggacub -luxe baby security blanket/ about – $11
• HuggaCub – luxe baby security blankets – soft microfiber fabric with satin trim – $19.99
• Spot the Dog Security Blanket – $19.95

• Kidsline Tiddliwinks Froggie Security Blanket – embroidered/ machine washable/ about- $10
• White Comfort Silkie- Designed by Mother of Comfort- /White Flannel /about – $18
• International Playthings I Play ChiChi Blankie – blue pastel baby tab blanket/ about $10
• Spunky Buddyluvs by Gund Baby from BabySakes – puppy security blanket/ about -$20
• Micro-cozie Puppy Security Blanket – a Micro Cozy Blankie/blue/ from Amazon /about – $31
• Chenille Giraffe Baby Security Blanket – super light cashmere/machine washable/ about -$11
• Lovie Jack Terrier Blanket – ideal for newborns/ breathable fabric / about – $23
• North American Bear Dog Baby Cozies Blanket – great for travel/machine washable/ about – $8