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The benefits of using bamboo on your baby’s skin – Guest Blog: Tiny Chipmunk

Posted on 6 Jan, 2017 by Sarah Hart

Last month I had the pleasure of working with Vicki Weinberg, owner of a local Tonbridge business, Tiny Chipmunk, to photograph their products. Tiny Chipmunk produce high quality muslin swaddle blankets in beautiful designs – but what makes them particularly unique are that the cloths are made from Bamboo. Vicki has written a guest blog to explain the benefits of using bamboo on your baby’s skin. When photographing the swaddles, I listened to Vicki explain these benefits and must admit I was totally fascinated to hear what a wonderful material bamboo is for our children’s skin.

Tiny Chipmunk have just launched a new range of muslin swaddle blankets and I’m so excited to tell you about them and why they’re so unique.

First, a bit about me. I’m a mum of two from Tonbridge, with a 3.5 year old and an 8 month old (who was 4 months old when this venture began). I’m a huge fan of swaddling, and swaddled both my children as long as they tolerated it!

When my second child was born I discovered muslin swaddling blankets and loved them instantly. They were huge, not as thick and heavy as traditional blankets, and had other uses. The only thing was, they didn’t feel as ‘special’ as a lovely blanket does. They were made of cotton, they weren’t that soft, and they went all crinkly when washed. (And as a busy mum where was I going to find time to iron them?!)

So when I decided to embark on creating my own (which is a whole other story), I wanted them to be different to others on the market. Tiny Chipmunk muslin swaddles are certainly unique in design (they’ve been custom-made, just for us), enormous (four foot by four foot) and they’re made of 100% bamboo, rather than cotton.

This was a very deliberate choice. I truly believe bamboo, with all its wonderful properties, is the perfect fabric for wrapping a baby in and I want to offer the best possible products.

Firstly, bamboo is incredibly soft. It has smooth fibres, which have been likened to cashmere or silk, and it gets softer each time you wash it. It doesn’t cling, drape, or get static-y. (Or go crinkly in the wash!)

It’s also naturally insulating. This means it’s warm, but also breathable, making it perfect in all temperatures and helping to prevent your baby from overheating. Bamboo is absorbent and actually wicks moisture away from the skin (like some sports gear is designed to do), keeping your baby dry and more comfortable.

As well as feeling amazing, this absorbency means it can pick up your scent, making it super-comforting for your baby, which can even help their sleep!

It’s UV resistant – so great to use to cover little arms and legs on a sunny day. (I always wrapped one around my baby’s legs when she was in the sling to keep the sun off.)

Bamboo has unique natural anti-bacterial qualities, which make it perfect for your baby’s sensitive skin, especially for those with skin sensitivities. This basically means that bacteria doesn’t live well in bamboo – so it doesn’t thrive. It’s also deodorising, so won’t get smelly!

Finally (although I could go on!) bamboo is great for the environment. It’s the fastest growing plant on earth, requires no pesticides, no fertilisers and very little water to grow. Because it grows so fast it needs to be harvested more frequently and does not take up as much space as other harvested plants. It’s also 100% biodegradable, unlike man-made fabrics.