Hi I am interested in any information about sewing for babies. I am to be a new grandma in the 2007 year and am starting to make up things that are neither male or female driven and my daughter-in-law can use. I have been out of the children sewing loop for a while so I guess my question is can we use normal fabric like flannel and cottons and terry for infants still are are their regulations on infant wear now? I ask for this was the talk years ago around here while my little ones were toddlers. Did anything change or can I go straight ahead with my plan?
Thanks I appreciate any help in this.
TTFN
Kat
Replies
Commercial manufacturers of infant/toddler wear must use fire-retardant fabrics and finishes in order to avoid lawsuits, but even many commercial garments lose their fire-resistance properties after a few washings. Many fabrics in fabric stores are also labelled "not for use in sleepwear" for the same reason; the manufacturer doesn't want to be held responsible for any injuries. Obviously, to have such measures in place, manufacturers must have been sued by distraught parents.
However, if you look at real life, you know that you cannot let your infant or child be anywhere near open flame, with or without flame-retardant clothing on and that clothing flammability is not the biggest danger anyway. Humans have survived quite well for tens of thousands of years wearing cotton, even when we slept next to fires to stay warm.
Also, the substances added to fabrics to make them flame-retardant are chemicals of dubious safety in and of themselves, and the fabrics that are so treated are synthetics that aren't very comfortable anyway. Even as a hyper-cautious parent, I didn't want to use those on my babies; however, your daughter-in-law may have very strong feelings on the subject. She would probably appreciate your asking her preferences, not only about the fabrics but also about the garments and sizes and colors.
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