Wool and babies

Hi all, I feel like a bit of a fake in here as I'm not even pg yet! However, when I was pg I started knitting a baby blanket, and have decided to carry on and knit a bunch of the cute things I have the patterns for a book designed for babies newborn to 9 months. It gives me something constructive to do before we start TTC.

My question is, I recall hearing somewhere that wool isn't good for newborns' skin. Does anyone have any experience in using wool clothes for littlies? What age did they start wearing wool, any skin reactions? Etc etc.

Any info would be great as I don't want to knit a lot of newborn size things and then find it's going to cause a nasty skin reaction.

Lisa xx

My DD wore wool from birth (natural fibres only until 5-6 months) and she had no reaction whatsoever to it. It "breathes" very well if it's a loose knit (not to small needles).

HTH

I have had DD in wool stuff since the weather got cool enough - so she was prob about 8 weeks? No problems here but I imagine any reactions might be an individual thing? There are wools that are softer than others and aimed at being for babies - I would knit with that...

My two wore baby cardigans and beanies from day 1....coz they looked so cute dressed up in them. No reactions.

But I could imagine if it was itchy scratchy wool not smooth thin wool it might get a reaction....from anyone any age!

Have fun knitting!

I think you just have to make sure they dont over heat is all.. just common sense sorta stuff. Alot of people use those wool liners and have no problems.

Thanks so much for the replies ladies :)

The wool I've bought is the wool recommended for the patterns, and it is quite soft and snuggly, so should be fine. First up is the blanket..which still has a long way to go..lots of time to fill in though.

Thanks again, Lisa xx

Oh good luck with the knitting! I'm sure it'll turn out to be beautiful.

Annika has 2 knitted cardi's, 1 was home made by a friend, and the other was store bought. She didn't have a reaction to either one.

My daughter has worn wool quite a few times. She doesnt wear it every day, just every now and then and she hasnt had any skin reactions and the wool doesnt seem to bother her. We've had a few wool blankets given to us as well, which I dont use on her bedding, but I use them as play rugs and they seem to be fine.

Make sure you get a fine quality merino wool. Often the scratchiness that people feel is from a mixture of stronger wool which isn't suitable for clothing. The softest of merino wool is just lush against your skin and would be ideal for baby as it is natural and also breathes really well whereas some of the synthetic fibres can make baby hot and sweaty.

I would suggest you only use 100% wool. We used wool nappy covers from when Caty was a newborn and had no issues.