| In this day and age of polar fleece and cute little baby | | | | therefore helps mom and dad sleep better, too. |
| caps and clothing, does the infant child really need a | | | | Baby security blankets come in many sizes, colors, |
| blanket? Some blankets are big and bulky and make it | | | | weights, and textures. The term "security blanket" |
| hard to wrap a baby in them without losing him in all | | | | gained in popularity when Charles M. Schulz put the |
| the folds. Others are too small. They also slip and slide | | | | character "Linus" in his Peanuts cartoon strip. As you |
| and hardly ever stay in place. Blankets have even | | | | probably know, Linus drags his trusty blanket around |
| been known to smother an infant. One time a friend | | | | with him wherever he goes. Linus isn't a baby, but a |
| had taken care of my baby son for the day. We | | | | little boy who feels comfortable with his blankee. A |
| made plans to meet along the road on my way home. | | | | newborn usually can't tell one blanket from another as |
| There was a howling blizzard and he was all wrapped | | | | long as it's soft. By the time the baby gets 6-12 months |
| up and covered with a heavy blanket when she | | | | old, he has his routine and certain items he likes and |
| handed him to me. When I got back into my car and | | | | others he dislikes. Parents are the ones who have |
| unwrapped him, I discovered that his head was on the | | | | given him this routine and items to have and to hold. |
| wrong end of the bundle that we had been carrying so | | | | The baby by this time is familiar with certain |
| carefully. Now that couldn't have been good! Is all this | | | | objects-many times a soft toy or a blanket |
| wrapping up really necessary? | | | | (sometimes both). These items provide comfort at nap |
| Since the beginning of time, baby blankets have been | | | | time or bedtime and make it much easier for the child |
| made out of every material known to man-from | | | | to sleep contentedly. When travelling and sleeping in |
| mosses and leaves to buckskins and furs. It's a natural | | | | strange places, the familiar smell and feel of these |
| instinct in all of us animals to want to protect our | | | | security items helps the baby rest comfortably. Some |
| babies and keep them warm. Have you ever noticed | | | | mothers have duplicate blankets so that there is a |
| how a dog or a cat will curl up around their young, lick | | | | chance to wash the dirty one. This doesn't always |
| them, and keep them cozy? Even a mother hen will | | | | work and sometimes the security blanket can get real |
| take her chicks under her wings and bring them next | | | | scuzzy. I've seen a 10 year old girl who keeps a little |
| to her. I grew up hearing the story of my aunt's birth in | | | | satin corner of her security blanket hidden in her |
| 1908. She was born at home on the farm and | | | | pocket at school, so that the other kids won't think |
| weighed only 1 ½ pounds. They put her into a | | | | she's a baby. But that little piece makes her feel |
| cotton lined cigar box which sat on the oven door of | | | | confident and secure. Teenagers (especially girls) like |
| the old wood cookstove. Aunt Anne lived to be 93 | | | | to take their soft blankets to snuggle up in on the bus |
| years old! | | | | ride home after a tiring sporting event. |
| There are many types of baby blankets in use today. | | | | A crib blanket is usually larger. Some are fleecy and |
| These include receiving blankets, crib blankets, and | | | | others are quilted. But either way, they are soft and |
| security blankets. The receiving or "swaddling" blanket | | | | cozy. Some babies like the fuzziness and others like |
| is the first covering a newborn baby will have. This | | | | the satiny feeling. A keepsake blanket can be any |
| blanket is usually made of soft, lightweight, cotton | | | | blanket, but many come with the child's name and birth |
| flannel which is easy to wrap tightly around the baby. | | | | date embroidered on them. This makes the blanket |
| Swaddling gives the newborn the snug, secure feeling | | | | especially personal for the youngster and also makes |
| of the womb. Evidence suggests that swaddling may | | | | a very welcome and useful gift. |
| help reduce the symptoms of colic. Researchers | | | | After the child gets older and no longer uses his baby |
| believe that swaddling may also lessen the risk of | | | | blankets, they can be cut into squares and made into a |
| Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), because it | | | | patchwork quilt for the next generation. What about a |
| prevents babies from rolling onto their stomachs. With | | | | pillow cover using these squares of history?. I've even |
| what we now know of SIDS, it is safer for young | | | | made doll blankets for my granddaughters using their |
| babies to sleep on their backs rather than on their | | | | old blankets. |
| tummies. Years ago we were told that sleeping on the | | | | Baby blankets have been used at our place to wrap |
| tummy would give the baby a sense of security and | | | | up baby calves and lambs which have gotten chilled |
| make it easier for him to get rid of gases which can | | | | outside. Flannel receiving blankets make wonderful |
| cause colic or upset stomach. It is important for babies | | | | dusting and cleaning cloths. Some have even been |
| to feel just as snug and secure on their backs as they | | | | used as grease rags in the shop where my husband |
| would on their tummies. We can do this by placing the | | | | works on his machinery. The baby blanket never goes |
| baby's hands in a natural position over the chest and | | | | to waste. |
| securely wrapping him in a cloth wrap. Swaddling helps | | | | is a website which offers a wide variety of baby |
| keep the baby from fidgeting and jerking as they settle | | | | blankets. Most of them are available with |
| and sleep. Once the infant is asleep his startle reflex is | | | | personalization. They have a line of smaller security |
| less likely to awaken him between sleep cycles. This | | | | blankets that are handy for travel. |
| makes a longer, more settled sleep for the baby and | | | | |