Which batting for a baby quilt???
 

I'm attempting a baby quilt for a soon-to-be-born grandson. I'm using a panel and planning to stitch around the characters to make them stand out. The panel is about 36" wide. I don't want the quilt to be too thick but yet thick enough to be nice and "cushy", if you know what I mean.

Which type of batting is best for a baby quilt? I'd imagine it will get washed fairly regularly in the washing machine (my daughter doesn't handwash ANYthing), so will have to be washable.

Thanks for any advice...this will be my first quilt.

I love the Dream Green low loft. It is soft, not bulky and quilts beautifully. I recently used it in two baby quilts.

I used bonded poly batting in my grandson's quilt. Almost 7 years and many machine washes later it is still soft and cushy.

I love Warm and Natural -- it quilts beautifully, and when finished & washed, has that wonderful 'old quilt' feel to the piece. Have made many dozens of baby quilts using it. I don't use poly batting as it doesn't 'meld' (for lack of a better word) to the fabrics used to make the quilts. Be sure and quilt as the package directions say, as you don't want your batting bunching up after lots of washing because you didn't quilt it close enough. Babies love quilts!

My favs are "Warm and Natural" and Hobbs 80/20. Works well for me and wash well.

I used warm and natural on a flannel baby quilt and it is so heavy (weight) that I am waiting to give it to her until she is older...if used as a cover, it would be too heavy on her chest IMHO...

I use poly batting for all my quilts, warm without the weight.

The baby quilt on my table right this instant is using a good quality mattress topper that I got at a rummage sale for next to nothing. (I'm cheap!)

I always use a poly batting for baby quits because it is not allergenic -- even cotton batting can shed dust. I learned when my son had terrible asthma and I could use only non-natural materials. Even for sheets. I do use regular cottons for my fabrics though.

Mim

I am prejudiced. I always use COTTON batting. Summers when I was in high school I fought fires. I want NO ONE to experience a fire but poly batting MELTS. My son and family survived a house fire and my 3 month old granddaughter was wrapped in a COTTON quilt to escape.
Warm and White batting is very light.
Just my 2 cents worth.

Wow! Lady Elizabeth you certainly gave me something to think about! I would have said the Hobbs 80/20 at first but now I'm wondering!
I'm sure both of those babes will be snug wrapped in special made quilts! :)

Wow....thanks for all the wonderful advice and batting suggestions. I should have said I'm in the UK so not sure I'll be able to find all of those brands but will try.

Thanks again!

So far I've only used poly batting for any of my quilts. I like the fluffiness, more like a comforter.

I agree with LadyElisabeth for the very same reasons. Synthetic fabrics MELT onto the skin. I've known people that were wearing synthetic clothing during fires and suffered terrible burns as a result. It's not something that we ever want to think about but it does happen. DH is a firefighter and we are both hot air balloon pilots. We only ever wear cotton clothing while ballooning and it is what we recommend to all of our passengers. We've never had an issue, thank God, but there's always a first time. It's all I ever wear responding to fire calls even just as an auxiliary member.

Safety first
 

Check out the following web address. It is a machine quilters magazine. http://www.imqa.org/media/uploads/20...Fall2011_1.pdf. I don't know how to put in a link, but imqa.org is a LA Quilter magazine I just did a google search 'safest baby batting'. This was the article I was looking for. I had seen it some time ago.

I read their article on batting safety and they urged all long arm quilters to try and get quilters to use Quilters Dream "DREAM ANGEL" batting as it had the best fire retardant test results. As I long arm quilter I will be placing an order to have crib size bats of this on hand for baby quilts. Neither the woman whonwrote the article nor anyone doing the tests is associated with the Quilters Dream Company.

Well, I've searched on Google for "Quilters Dream "DREAM ANGEL" batting" and "fire retardant batting" (and also used the word "wadding", which is what they call it here) but there are no UK companies that have it! If anyone knows of one, please do let me know. I did find some for stuffing toys but I'm looking for some in a roll or a single piece to make the crib quilt. Otherwise I'll just have to try the next best one, I suppose.

I would use Quilts Dream Cotton. They make the best batting! I wouldn't use anything that is puffy. You wouldn't want a babies face to get buried in the quilt.

I like using fleece fabric on the back of baby quilts.It doubles as batting and backing, is soft and washable. You can sew around the edges, turn it right side out and then quilt. That way there is no binding to do. It does want to stretch a little so want to secure it with safety pins and do simple quilting.

I went to a lecture about battings and the woman tested all kinds of battings. I know that she said cotton didn't burn like the poly stuff does, it was a much lower flame and slower. But she said that Wool batting was the best for baby ones because it will put itself out. She had a 4x4 square and set it on fire, and watched it. The flames were out and didn't smolder like the other battings did.
If it were me I would use the wool battings. they are harder to find but for the safety of my child. I found some and I'm going with that.

I've spent over 20 years as an EMT and I couldn't agree more. Poly batting melts in high heat - the blanket doesn't have to be on fire. If cotton catches on fire, it burns but it doesn't melt.

And thank goodness your family survived LadyElisabeth!!!

Silverneedle, thanks for the link to the article. It certainly gives us something to think about. I'll start looking for a different batt type for quilts, starting now! Those pictures were enough to convince me of the need to change.

As to the person looking for wool batt for baby quilts, you ought to ask the mother if there are allergies. I was given a quilt made with a wool batt, and cannot enjoy it because of the severe reaction I have to the wool.