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.