Ship your Christmas order ASAP!

According to the United States Postal Service (USPS), NOW is the time to ship your Christmas gifts.  Tomorrow (Wednesday, December 16th) is the recommended ship date for standard mail packages that need to arrive by the 25th.  For First-Class and Priority Mail to arrive by Christmas, postmark by December 21st. For more information on shipping options for all your other gifts, visit usps.com or check out this USPS press release from last week.

Whether you’re looking for luxury cashmere, simple organics, comforting security blankets or another unique baby blanket, Blanket My Baby has it.  So be sure to order all of the gifts for the babies in your life from blanketmybaby.com by tomorrow. Or, simply select Expedited Shipping between the 17th and 21st of December for quick delivery!

We hope that you will keep BMB in mind for all of your baby shower gift and family blanket needs in 2010.  We look forward to serving you.

Happy holidays!

Find a baby blanket like Jon and Kate’s

In this video, Kate plays a fun game with the kids using a large fuzzy blanket.

Jon and Kate Baby Blanket Video

Check out our selection of stroller blankets, fleece blankets and handmade blankets at blanketmybaby.com.  Many of these blankets are large, fuzzy unique blankets that can grow with your baby and help you make fun memories of your own!  Sometimes the simplest gifts make the best gifts.

Stroller Blankets

Handmade Blankets

Fleece Baby Blankets

How to use the Snug and Tug Blanket

The video below shows how to use the Snug and Tug swaddle blanket by Go Mama Go Designs.  The Snug and Tug is unique, simple to use and effective for swaddling.  It is available in several cute prints and colors (including pink, green, blue, white, rainbow and more) at blanketmybaby.com.

Snug & Tug has a triangular shape and was specifically designed for swaddling. Winner of multiple awards, this unique blanket uses a velcro system for a tight and secure swaddle. Recommended by doctors, nurses, doulas and parents.  Snug & Tug is available in 2 generous sizes to fit your growing baby and is made with high quality breathable, stretchable super soft cotton. In a snug swaddle, your baby will sleep better than ever.

Great blankets for a jungle safari nursery or just to bring out your baby’s wild side

Little Jax, our friends’ baby appears in our posts often.  Our baby present to Jax was a baby bedding set that matches his jungle safari nursery.

Recently we’ve added several products to blanketmybaby.com that would compliment his “wild” room.  If you’re looking for the perfect animal accessory to coordinate with a themed nursery or if you’re just looking for a unique baby shower gift, visit the Blanket My Baby (BMB) online store to browse a plethora of animal-adorned blankets.  A few of the products offered by BMB are pictured below and many of BMB’s animal blankets can be embroidered/personalized.  Happy Shopping!

Baby Massage

I decided to search for a video on baby massage after I saw my friends do it to their baby, and he loved it!  Who knew that babies love massages as much as adults do.  If your baby is relaxed and sleeps well, that translates into better sleep for you.

Check out this video, one of the suggestions is to lay your baby down on a soft baby blanket.  We can help you there.  Now, I know this lady’s voice is a bit creepy, but any technique that will help a baby sleep better is worth it’s weight in gold.  That’s why swaddling is so important!  Check out the video for yourself, and give baby massaging a try.

SwaddleDesigns Cashmere Baby Blanket

As this ultimately luxurious blanket proclaims, “you’re never too young for cashmere.”  If you have a desire to introduce your baby to this amazing fabric, then this is a great product to do it with.  This blanket is simple enough in it’s design.  It’s blue with mocha trim, but the fabric is anything but normal.

The finest cashmere in the world from the high grasslands of Asia.  This blanket makes an incredible gift of softness to  gently caresses the little one you love.  It’s made of 100% cashmere, and it is 36″ square with contrasting trim.  Cashmere is naturally hypoallergenic.  It’s hand washable but you may dry clean it as well.

This blanket typically goes for $300, but you can get it for $150. Yes, it seems like quite a bit for a baby blanket, but if you want nothing but the best for your baby, then cashmere is the way to go!  SwaddleDesigns has done it again with another outstanding baby blanket.  Shop for it on our site with other cashmere blankets,

Cashmere Baby Blanket

Personalized Baby Blanket – Bath Time Fun

This personalized baby blanket comes from Simplysublime.com.  Each personalized throw from this site is individually handcrafted with your own unique text woven, not printed, into each throw as it is being made.  This is a nice and lasting technique for the blanket.  

The blankets are 100% cotton and they are huge!  A full size 54″x70″ jacquard woven throw blanket is what you get here.  The blankets are fringed on all sides and handcrafted in the USA.  This baby blanket may not be right for the crib but as a decorative piece in your nursery or for you to cuddle up with.  There are over 20 different designs to choose from for your baby or kid.  The blanket goes for $99.95. 

You can put in first name, last, both, the date or other messages on the blanket.  Instructions for this blanket say to be descriptive when on how you want your text to show up on this throw because the text box provided can fit an unlimited amount of text in it.  So, there are obviously some technical issues that this site needs to resolve, but the blanket is still a pretty cool gift.   

An Everyday Parent’s Advice for Buying the Perfect Baby Blanket – My top three criteria include Fabric, Functionality and Style

Heather, 28, Florence, KY
Proud mom of David, Marisa, Joseph and TBD

The perfect baby blanket depends on the owner.  It has to be perfect for you and your baby.  My top three criteria for finding a baby blanket I love are:
fabric, functionality and style.

Fabric
The feel of the fabric must be comfy for the baby and not irritating to me.  The fabric should be heavy enough to keep my baby warm, but light enough so that the baby does not wake up drenched in sweat.  I avoid heavy fleece, thin cotton that allows my baby to feel a draft and all fabrics that are not breathable.

I despise cheap cotton/flannel receiving blankets.  They end up all skewed and out of square after the first washing. I know there’s no way to check for this before buying them, but my Gerber receiving blankets all did this, along with others from cheap stores. Name brands like Carters make really sturdy, much higher quality receiving blankets and it’s well worth paying a bit extra for blankets that hold up.  I use receiving blankets for EVERYTHING.  I love them.

Functionality
The blanket has to be big enough to swaddle with.  There are few things more annoying than trying to swaddle a baby with a blanket that is just a centimeter too small.

Also, since babies are professionals at getting things dirty, the blanket must be durable and able to withstand many washings.  As stated above, I suggest avoiding cheap, cotton/flannel receiving blankets.

Style
The blanket must be cute and unique.  There is a large selection of baby blankets on the market, so I look for one that meets all of my criteria.  With a little searching, I can always find a baby blanket that has a comfy fabric, functionality and my style.

An Everyday Parent’s Advice for Buying the Perfect Baby Blanket – Why you should buy unique baby blankets and an idea for the next top-selling, functional blanket

Heather, 28, Florence, KY
Proud mom of David, Marisa, Joseph and TBD

Unique Blankets
I like to buy baby blankets with really unique patterns and high quality, all-natural fabric.  I want a blanket that screams “unique” at first glance.  Why put in the effort to find a one-of-a-kind product if everyone mistakes it for a Babies-R-Us or Walmart blanket?  I try to find something that catches the eye of anyone passing the stroller.

Fashion is fun, but not most important.  You still have to be practical when it comes to baby products.  I would want a heavy enough weave to keep the wind out, but not bulky or too warm.  I like a blanket that can be used during all seasons.  I avoid materials that pill or fade quickly so that it seems indulgent and special for longer than all the generic, cheaper, common blankets.

My idea for the next best-seller
I think a blanket with a slit at the center of the lower third that you could put the bottom of a car-seat or stroller buckle through would be a nice addition to my collection.  This way the baby could be bundled up from below for extra insulation rather than just wrapping the exposed top of them. But, the slit would have to have some sort of soft flap so it wouldn’t be drafty.  It would also need to be designed so that it wouldn’t be bunchy for the baby to sleep on.

An Everday Parent’s Guide for Buying the Perfect Baby Blanket – It’s all about the TEXTURE

Amie, 32, Cincinnati, Ohio
Proud mom of Allie and Ella

The top three qualifiers for a great baby blanket are definitely texture, color and size says Amie, mom of two.  However, she says a great texture is the number one baby blanket attribute by a wide margin.  Below, Amie shares why texture is key when it comes to finding a baby blanket that both you and your baby will love.

Well for me, it’s all about the texture…

Textures for play
Of all the baby blankets I owned, the one I liked best was a “tag” blanket that my sister-in-law made.  The blanket is a 24” square, colorful blanket with all types of ribbons on the exterior for babies to feel and chew.  Babies love to play with fun textures!

Textures for temperature
Recently I saw that they’re making baby blankets out of the same material as the extra-soft North Face coats.  The micro-fleece blankets feel fantastic and fleece is a great material for keeping your baby warm and cozy.

Textures for swaddling
For swaddling a newborn, the perfect blanket texture is just like an extra thick, cotton t-shirt.  The material is soft against your baby’s skin, not too hot and not too cool.  The elasticity in this type of material allows for the stretch needed for a good, tight swaddle.

Textures we could all live without
A dear friend made us a flannel blanket when one of my girls was born.  I love it because she made it for us, but we really never used it because it was just too stiff and bulky.  You wouldn’t use a blanket that was stiff, bulky, hot, itchy or otherwise uncomfortable.  Why wrap your baby in a texture you wouldn’t wrap up in?