Fleece scraps

If these were made larger & double thickness, they would also be good as donations to the local homeless shelter. Fleece is very warm, lightweight, and forgiving if it gets damp -- Sounds to me like it would be a winner for homeless people...

me

Beverly

Thank you, Beverly! It's fun to do a project now and then that goes together fast and doesn't require much concentration or skill.

Doreen in Alabama

Actually, I made quilts of this size for my babies before they were newborn. This size is perfect for a baby of younger than 6 months old. The receiving blankets were too thin and too long. My babies were tiny so I wanted something solid to hold them. They practically lived on these for the first six months. Of course I made them out of soft cotton fabric remnants and old cotton dresses etc.

Yes, you need to be careful, as you should never use fleece for blankets for babies or small children.

me

Why ever not? My boys both had polar fleece yardage cut down to size for cot(crib) blankets - they are warm to use and they wash & dry easily, unlike woollen cellular blankets which are traditional over here. They are also sold over here by the major nursery suppliers such as Mothercare.

Lizzy

Because they can get over the child's head and cause anoxic brain damage. This is irreversible and has happened to a number of infants and small children.

me

As can any bedding. That is why we in the UK are taught to make the bed up with only enough length of blanket & sheet to go up to the chin of the child. "Feet to foot" is the name we use for that technique. Our

Lizzy

I was commenting on the size of the blanket. As I mentioned in my post, I made them out of cotton for my babies. Even now, I like fleece more like a bed sheet than as a blanket because it keeps the bed warm.

"...has happened..." Cite?

Or is this just unsubstantiated speculation?

No, it is not merely speculation. I am a registered nurse, and we have seen this occur. By the same properties that cause it to be oh-so-warm, fleece pretty much prevents air exchange (other blankets do this to a varying lesser extent). Small children and infants do not have the respriatory capacity to overcome the fleece should it be over their heads for any length of time..

Just because you don't find something on "Google" does not mean it has not happened.

me

"...we have seen this occur"? You were an actual witness to a child smothering under a fleece blanket? Where? When? Let's have some facts. Cite a newspaper article, medical journal, etc. please.

Just because *you say* it happened does not mean it has happened.

At this point in time it is considered safer for babies to sleep without blankets or to use a thin blanket that is tucked in and only comes up to the chest. Babies are considered to be safer if they sleep on their back and wear a sleeping sack rather than having a blanket. There are articles on the web relating to SIDS. One of the many can be found here >

I know that for the past 9 years each of my children have been told by their pediatricians not to use blankets on babies and in particular to avoid fleece except if the child is in the stroller and mom is with the baby. That may be because fleece is generally light weight and easy for a very young child to kick off and have it cover the baby's face. Rather than argue the subject I prefer to avoid fleece for all infants. I don't think anyone knows for sure what causes SIDS but I for one would rather error on the side of caution and give a new mom a sleeping sack like this one.

FWIW, did a pubmed search (US National Library of Medicine) for combinations and permutations of asphyxia and/or anoxia with fleece, blanket or blankets... no relevant hits in medical literature.

I found nothing, either. Which is why I asked for a citation, I'm not fond of rumors and urban legends passed off as truth, no matter how well-meaning. Businesses could be destroyed, and real people's livelihoods could suffer....

Beverly

I have seen and heard things that I couldn't give a cite for so I wouldn't necessarily doubt that just because someone can't give a cite, that it doesn't happen.

That is also true but then I haven't ever beena ble to find anything using google on petrified hessian either and I have both seen it and know a bit about it.

And, as a post menopausal woaman, who cannot stand having synthetic products near me in bed because they don't 'breathe" in the way that natural products do, I would think that there is some sense in not having synthetics round a very wee baby. They can't move like an older child can. I seem to recall reading somewhere that overheating (rather than being too cold) was possibly implicated as being a cause of SIDS and what Jusme has written makes some sense to me.

I don't lie, but thanks for your most unattractive and libelous inferences.

I personally have seen a child with brain damage related to anoxia caused by a fleece blanket, yes..

me