I hand quilted 2 quilts about 10 years ago and both have held up great.. I made my son a quilt last Christmas and it was handquilted.. He washes it all the time and it looks like it did the day I finished it.
I do think a baby quilt would be wash alot.. However I agree if you want it to end up as more of an heirloom I would hand quilt it. I quilt pretty loosely so they drape alot and I have always used warm and natural but I think next time I will try Hobbs 80/20 I hear great things about it.
I really suck at machine quilting even with aton of practice.. (I like to blame it on the machine) I actually prefer hand quilting things. I think they look so much nicer..

Thanks everyone for your insight! I really appreciate hearing everyone's wealth of knowledge and experience. Hope to be here one day sharing mine :) I probably will hand quilt this one since I have some time. I think it will a special time for me quilting it by hand. Thanks again.

How about combining both, as many quilters do? Machine quilt in the ditch and maybe for straight-line quilting, hand quilt the free-form motifs. Sturdy and with the extra special touch of hand quilting.

I think you'll be glad that you are going to hand-quilt it - makes it just extra-special!

Amen, I hand quilt also, to me I put my love in hand quilting. I have made and finished 6 bed sized quilts this year, plus 6 crazy 8 stars and 2 queen size quilts and the year isn't over. I do my hand quilting at night while watching TV with my DH. I too always tell the reciprocates that if they don't use the quilt, they have to return it, as quilts are made to be used and loved, not put away in drawers

I have been hand-piecing and hand-quilting for about 20 years. I enjoy the process, but it is time-consuming....more so than a machine project. (I too finally broke down and bought a LA so I can finish up a stack of hand-pieced tops). I agree with several of the comments above that both methods are acceptable for durability. However, there is a special significance to hand-work. I am curious....is this baby quilt for your own child...your daughter?....or for your daughter's baby? If this is your 'first' and you opt for hand-quilting, you could be tying your self to a future of hand-quilting for all those babies yet to be...:) Whatever your decision, the quilt will be a family treasure!

Hand and Machine quilting are two different crafts, each valuable and to be appreciated. I would do whichever one I wanted to...there is no right or wrong choice...but...here's my 2 cents... I ALWAYS make baby quilts on the machine just because they are going to be loved and drug and dirtied more than any other project you will ever make. My sons both stood and stared at the washer and dryer till their quilt was done and back in their hands when they were toddlers. The machine stitching is simply so much stronger that the quilt will look nicer much longer. For that same reason I do not tend toward the pale pastels for my baby gifts...red, navy, deep green, dark combinations...many times for little boys, I try to find a dark plaid and use the colors in it to choose the coordinating pcs...they will just look better after little boys make a fort, play tug-of-war with the dog, shut it in the door as they drag it outside, eat their lunch on it under the nearest tree, splash it a bit in an irresistible puddle while wearing it as a cape and then take their nap on it in the middle of the living room floor. You understand this is all one morning, right? I never had any experience with little girls, maybe they are kinder to their blankies....but this was a pretty tame morning for my boys!

I always have one handquilting project in progress. I also do FMQ on quilt as you go projects. If I want it machine quilted and it isn't something that wouldn't work well or look good as a QAYG, I send it out to be LA'd. I just can't get the hang of maneuvering a large project under my domestic machine.

I'm with you on the hand-quilting choice. If it's a very personal piece, like for a grandchild (should I ever have any) I hand-quilt, because I'm investing more of "me" into it, and, like you said, there's a bonding involved. I have also machine quilted on my domestic, when it's a less personal project. I know all quilts are personal, but some more than others :)