Besides burp cloths, a baby blanket or a down crib comforter, lightweight sleepers and other items, a receiving blanket should form an integral part of your shopping for a newborn.

The baby arrives in a new environment and nothing can give him better comfort than swaddling because it provides a feeling similar to the gestation period spent in the womb. It’s no wonder that swaddling has been in vogue for generations and that there is convincing evidence showing that swaddling was practiced even during the Egyptian civilization.

A receiving blanket should be lightweight and should have the capacity to provide warmth to the infant. Regular baby blankets are larger in size, heavier and can prove to be quite cumbersome for swaddling.

Fleece is a soft bulky fabric with a deep pile that is most suited for receiving blankets. It is soft on the baby’s tender skin. It is light even though it appears heavy and the pile provides the much needed warmth that the baby needs most.

The yarn does not have a pile when it comes out of a spinning mill. It is the weaving and the processing techniques that it is subjected to that produce the pile that we see on a fleece receiving blanket. Cotton and wool fabrics are made to go through a mechanical process called ‘raising’ that is used to bring out the fiber in the yarn to create a pile. Wool is also washed vigorously, a process called ‘milling’, to compress the fabric and give it a velvety feel without increasing the initial weight of the fabric. Normal cotton and wool blankets also undergo the same processes but the basic fabric is heavier and woven with smooth but heavier counts of yarn.

The first thing that you should ensure is that the blanket you are buying is organically produced - right from the growing stage to the finished stage. Cotton and wool fabrics can be washed and processed with the aid of natural soaps. Synthetic fabrics made of yarns like polyester, however, need to be treated with chemicals to produce the same fleece-like appearance and feel.

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