Weighted blankets for autism, anyone used them?

[CuriousMama]

Ds2 has aspergers (going through diagnosis stage) and one of his sensory problems happens mainly at night. He thinks snakes are on him either before sleep or wakes very upset thinking this. A nurse friend of mine mentioned the weighted blankets that mould to the body and give a feeling of security. I've had a look and they're not cheap so wanted to know if they're any good before I even think about getting one. I don't get any benefit for him yet but am applying on the off chance? It'd help so much with things like this. He needs a new mattress too as he was rather incontinent and even with plastic covers there was still some leakage when he tossed and turned and they got pulled off.

Any advice appreciated. TIA.

I don't have any personal experience of these but I am going to borrow one from our local special needs toy library. I don't know if you have any near you, this one is run by kids charity.

Oh thanks for that I'll look into it. I hope you have success with it chuckeyegg?

watching with interest as DD has been recommended to use one by OT

she piles her bed up with soft toys so i think there is something in it..

Yes ds2 wraps his duvet right round him.

I just contacted the nearest SN toy library to ask them if they have them to try? Will wait and see.

ds used to wrap himself up so tightly in his duvet that you could unwrapp him!!

I made him a weighted panel and stitched it onto his duvet (cost about £15.00 and was a bit of a fiddle)

Ds slept much better once he had his new duvet - he used it for 18 months but no longer needs it.

www.articles.complexchild.com/june2009/00130.pdf

I made a panel in cotton and sewed it to the duvet, then put the cover on as normal.

DS didnt like the weighted blanket for some reason but he does like firm pressure and security.

He has his quilt but also has two double fleeces which he starts off with one wrapped around him under his quilt. If it isnt enough he will pull the other one up from the bottom of the bed.

They are also used for "special bed" down stairs when the school day was rough or more often than not he pulls the big sofa cushions from the backs and puts them on top of him

I bought this heavy duty waterproof mattress:

www.furniture247.co.uk/shop/mattresses/waterproof-mattresses.html

It was free delivery whereas Argos etc charged £20 del on top so the price wasnt much different.

I have been over the moon with it and have not had to use a single mattress cover. I just have a cover for his quilt :)

With DS's sensory issues he can have trouble going to sleep, I looked at weighted blankets and like you thought they were expensive, our solution was we have a very heavy cotton king size blanket, which we fold up and put on top on him for the nights he feel's he needs it (less and less which is lovely)...do you have something tucked away you could try?

Of course if it ever warms up, it will be too hot......

Thanks for your messages.

mrslaughan I did wonder about trying something like that? I'm applying for benefit so hope I get it and then it will pay for a blanket?

I made them for my little girls. If you can see I can tell you how

Our OT department can lend one out to trial - so it might be worth asking them as well

Our local OT that is - that made it sound like I had my own OT department, lol

We have one for dd2 . She loves it, doesn't just use it for sleeping either. If she's whizzing round the lounge creating havoc or having a meltdown I wrap OT round her shoulders and she sits remarkably still! She's got a weighted belt (she takes this off now but enjoys lugging it around), and has worn a weighted waistcoat which she loved!

Glad to hear they work then

Yes we had success with both weighted waistcoat and weighted blanket. I borrowed one from our OT then bought 2 cheap cotton blankets and a hoard of the penny shaped weights you put in the bottom of curtains. then I sewed the "pennies" into the blankets by sewing a square round each one. I actually needed less pennies than I had expected as when I had only done half of the blanket I compared it's weight with the borrowed one and found it was already slightly heavier. SO I unpicked half the pennies and sewed them into the other half of the blankets. I did wonder if he would like it and if it would put up with the kind of wear and tear involved. Both were positive. He loved it ( he is 20 now but it still lives in his suitcase on top of the wardrobe.. in case!) and the blankets washed and tumbled dry with only a minimal amount of shrinkage. Once when it went away on a camping hol some of the pennies leaked a little rust but most of that washed out and it never happened again. NB I did sew the little squares round each penny a number of times using different stitches on the machine to make it VERY difficult for little fingers to unpick.

For the waistcoat I used a heavy cotton poplin again in 2 layers and between it layered a thin polyester padding with the same coins. I made the coins part of the design and after sewing them in very firmly with various stitches changed to brightly coloured threads and made a feature of them and sewed little appliqué pictures onto some of them too, specially Wallace and Gromit stuff which he loved. It was a much loved garment that washed and wore very well until it did literally wear out. Happily he was fine by then with replacing it with a nice leather waistcoat which was trendy as well as feeling a little heavier.
Definitely borrow one before you lash out a lot of cash. Good luck, hope it makes him feel safer.

Take heart my lad who couldn't deal with crowds, loud noise or bright or flashing lights... just got back from a pub gig with a local band where he not only helped out as a casual "roady" but also carried trays of beer for the band at half time. I just tell you this to encourage you to do one day at a time as things seldom turn out as you expect and more often than you can believe.. turn out better than expected, Prognosis with my son was he would never speak and might never walk. He certainly was not going to manage a mainstream school or have any kind of independence. Yes he still has plenty of challenges, but he completed mainstream school and at his final Prize day his head master said the school was a better place for having him in it. He is just finishing at college and now aspires to work in radio. Who knows if he will succeed, but it wont be for lack of trying. So... sort out the weighted blanket but don't imagine you will be dealing with weighted blankets for ever, most people eventually grow out of it and like all children.. go on to find NEW problems for their parents to solve!

Problem with curtain weights or marbles is if you had a child who eats or chews.
You can buy weighted none toxic beads now called poly pellets, often used for reborn dolls. They are washable and spread nicely. Weight guidelines are 10% of body weight plus an extra pound if needed.
There are guides online on how to make them.

We had a trail for one off the OT for 2 weeks, and then if it helps they will help you get funding for one, so its worth asking. No point in buying one if it doesnt help. Didnt help my daughter it makes a good distraction for her when shes in a high state but i wanted it to help with her sleeping, as getting her off to sleep is a nightmare then waking her up in the morning sets the tone for the day which is never a good one.

Good luck

Thanks for the information everyone it's really helpful.