Traditional Pram Blanket

A friend of my sister recently turned up to an event in our town with their baby in a beautiful old silver cross pram, she said it was her pram from when she was a baby and her mum had been about to get rid of it and she couldn’t bare it, so she asked if she could have it.  Inside she had a pram blanket which was a traditional design of a home knit that I have seen many times; it was perfect and went with the pram beautifully.  It was knitted with a leaf design on the top and was lined with silky fabric on the back.

I told her that I had been given one just like it for my son when he was born; it brought back so many memories.  It was prefect for that pram because it could like flat in the large pram top.

The sad thing is that pram blankets are not really used anymore because they are not really practical to use in prams these days.  Many modern prams are very small and lightweight and often use the car seat as the top which clicks on to the chassis, which means it is sloping instead of flat.  It is a reflection of people using them on public transport or lugging them in and out of cars.  An old silver cross would never fit in a standard car boot or be able easily to fit on a bus.  Using these old traditional styles of pram blankets in a modern pram would mean they just do not stay on the baby and are not really long or wide enough to tuck in properly.

Of course this presents a dilemma to the grandmas and aunts who knitted them, what can they make instead.  Home knit jumpers and cardigans are not very fashionable and so many mums want to keep up with the latest trends and styles, so even if they are given them they don’t use them.

The other dilemma is what you use instead of a pram blanket.  Well there are many other options and there are new and inventive ideas coming on to the market every day.  Many of the prams today come with a cosy toes that fits in to the pram like a sleeping bag.  They can’t fall off and are all in one, so they wrap right round the baby.  If you don’t have one of these you can buy travel wraps which again fit into the pram or car seat when you are going out you put the baby in, wrap and go.

These products are definitely on improvement on practicality and make life much easier and simpler for mums.  But it is still a shame to see some of the old traditions go and it is nice when people make an effort to revive them occasionally, even if it is a bit of an effort.