hand quilting takes alot longer---some people would not want to put that kind of time into a childs/baby quilt that will be used and abused ---others love hand quilting---and would think the time is well worth it...it is a personal choice.
hand quilting is beautiful-... so is machine quilting.
as for suppleness and drape---that is dependant on the batting choice- not the quilting choice (other than density of quilting-which is another personal choice) if you heavily quilt by hand= it's going to be like densly quilting by machine-
so---i know it's not much help---but it's simply a personal choice- taking the time to hand quilt- or machine quilting...the quilt itself (and batting) is what dictates the loft/and drape.