April 5, 2010

  • Receiving blankets are the answers to everything

    Before I became a parent and before I was introduced to Dr. Harvey Karp, I always wondered what receiving blankets were for.  Granted, I had vague notions of swaddling babies, starting from when my cousin (who is now 20) was born, but I never knew the wonders of receiving blankets until I became a parent.  Tonight, Sam and I were trying to figure out how we can fix something, and then I came up with the bright idea of using the receiving blanket for it.  In response, he said, "The receiving blanket is the answer to everything."  I laughed in agreement.  We then proceeded to list all the things we've used the receiving blankets for:

    1.  swaddling baby for sleeping
    2.  as a light blanket during the day
    3.  to shield baby from sun when in the stroller
    4.  to shield baby from wind when in the stroller
    5.  as a 'mat' for tummy time
    6.  rolled up as a pillow for baby's head
    7.  rolled up to block the baby from rolling over
    8.  to cover me when I'm nursing
    9.  to cover the car window while I'm nursing
    10.  to cover baby's toys that we don't want baby to play with
           (what she doesn't see doesn't exist at her current stage)
    11.  to wipe up drool
    12.  to wipe up spit-up
    13.  to wipe up tears
    14.  to wipe up sweat (from crying so much)
    and lastly but best of all...
    15.  to soak up diaper explosions (read:  watery poop in projectile motion during first mos) 

    Receiving Blankets have been life saviors in our household...  :)

Comments (4)

  • haha nice!!! :) You got some creative use of the receiving blankets! :)  

    BTW, I watched a DVD of a bunch of experiments that proved that babies do have a concept of object permanence. It's fascinating. Either way, it's out of sight, out of mind!!

  • @kanfood - Yeah, they MUST have. I can believe that.  I'd love to watch the DVD, but you probably watched it in class?  Anyway, yeah, at this point, she's understanding object permanence more and more.  When I walk away from her line of sight, I try to keep talking to her, so that she gets the idea that even though she can's see me, I still exist!  It didn't really work very well before, but it's working better now.

  • I always wondered that too. Thanks for demystifying the receiving blanket for me. Although now I'm wondering why they're called receiving blankets. What do they have to do with receiving?

  • @licoreen - Good question. Perhaps they were originally used to wrap up the baby when he/she comes out.  (hrm...that's yet another use!) :)

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