Has anyone tried a weighted quilt to help their child sleep? Did you have any success? Is it worth the money?

We have one for my son that we have only used a few times. We were instructed to put it on him for 20 minutes or until he fell asleep, but not to leave it on for any longer than an hour. He loves it, but refuses to sleep without it. Basically we put it on him and when we sneek in later to remove it he wakes up. It got to be too much trouble so we stopped using it for sleep and use it for him to curl up in during the day when he gets stressed out.

What is a weighted blanket supposed to accomplish? Better sleep initiation? My son is 3 and has a very hard time falling asleep and I have not heard of using weighted blankets before. Can you explain the concept to me?

We are having two made right now. For sleep and to keep in the car when she wigs out there. I hope thay help some. When we borrowed one, she certainly sought it out so...we're hopeful.

Hello,
We have found weighted blankets have worked & also bought a weighted
turtle. Yet,a week to two weeks after putting our child on a vitamin supplement
called SuperNuThera (liquid form),we removed
the weighted blanket from our child's bed along with the dozens of stuffed
animals&dolls she put on her bed herself. Ever since she sleeps without
any weighted blanket,without any toys on her bed & sleeps great! We could
hardly believe it,yet keep in mind we had our child on the casein free/gluten free diet for 3to5 weeks by the time the vitamin supplement was started.
Good luck.

Thanks for the replies. You have been very helpful. But I do have some questions for you.

GabesMom-Why only one hour? Do you know if this is the typical recommendation? (My son wakes many times in the night.) You mentioned your son seeks it out when he is stressed. How effective is the calming in terms of physical symptoms. Do you think this is something that may help Kelly's Daughter when they are in the van? If you didn't have one, with the hind sight you have would you purchase one?

Shue-Did your daughter use it at bedtime? If so did you also remove it after an hour? Did it help her sleep? Did you notice a stress reduction in your daughter? What are the weights of the quilts you ordered? After you get your quilts please update us on you opinion of them.

Faith-How long did your daughter use the weighted blanket? How did it help her? What about a time limit?

Sandy-My understanding is that the weight helps kids with sensory integration problems. Some of them crave and benefit from deep tactile pressure.

Everyone who has used a weighted quilt-would you classify your child as hyper- or hypo-sensitive in tactile function?

Has anyone else used a weighted quilt? Please share your experience.

Abby did not sleep with the blanket. I didn't offer it at bedtime. She sought it out during the day. She is both hypo and hyper sensitive. She does respond to deep pressure, but she also likes "brushing." Our blankets will be 8 pounds, which is pretty heavy. My OT uses a 6 pound one with her daughter. Wehn we get them, I will let you know how they work for her.:)

The OT said that after 20 minutes the blanket loses its effectiveness. He really didn't go into the why, and I can only assume that like the weighted vests they may not be good for them after prolonged use. I don't know that I would have spent the money on the blanket had I know what I know now. I think I would have just gone for the much cheaper weighted vest or bear hug (we are actually looking into getting him the bear hug for use at school). The blanket was suggested to us because he had a hard time falling asleep and would sometimes only go on a couple hours of sleep for days, which caused his behavior to be out of control. We started using the melatonin at bedtime which has been a life changing thing for us. With the blanket, he is very hyperactive and it just calms him down. I don't think it’s useful for the long term, but when he is in the "rumbling stage" we put it around him and he usually calms down. We have been doing brushing with him for a few months too, but I think it's just too much for him because he doesn't like to be touched.

This weighted blanket sounds like it might help my son. Can anyone tell me where to get them? (or the weighted bear that was mentioned).

Gabesmom -- Can you tell me about the melatonin you use (brand, dose, ...)? Have you noticed any side effects (I have heard that it causes nightmares)? Our son has such a hard time falling asleep. Once he is asleep, he usually stays asleep except for once or twice screaming out in his sleep but then he usually falls right back to sleep.

Thanks.

The melatonin I use is from GNC and cost around $6 for a bottle of 60. It says it's time released, but I don't know if all melatonin is like that or if that makes any difference. It comes in 3mg tablets. I started him off with half, and noticed a small change and then went ahead and gave him the whole pill and that's when he started falling asleep within half an hour.(My son is 8 years old and weighs around 58 lbs., I'm sure you would want to adjust that by weight) I haven't noticed any side effects in the month that we have been using it. I've noticed that he also sleeps better when I can take the time in the day to wear him out by running, riding his big wheel, taking walks, and we just started trying to use a jump rope. The blanket we got was $179 and they also have a small one for $72, but I think if you search on ebay or can find a website on how to make your own it would be much cheaper and just as effective.

Thanks for the replies. You have been very helpful. But I do have some questions for you.

GabesMom-Why only one hour? Do you know if this is the typical recommendation? (My son wakes many times in the night.) You mentioned your son seeks it out when he is stressed. How effective is the calming in terms of physical symptoms. Do you think this is something that may help Kelly's Daughter when they are in the van? If you didn't have one, with the hind sight you have would you purchase one?

Shue-Did your daughter use it at bedtime? If so did you also remove it after an hour? Did it help her sleep? Did you notice a stress reduction in your daughter? What are the weights of the quilts you ordered? After you get your quilts please update us on you opinion of them.

Faith-How long did your daughter use the weighted blanket? How did it help her? What about a time limit?
My daughter used it for about a week & actually the first night she slept better,also calmed down during the day by using her weighted turtle on her lap. Yes, there is a 20minute time limit. I suppose to not overstimulate.

Sandy-My understanding is that the weight helps kids with sensory integration problems. Some of them crave and benefit from deep tactile pressure.

Everyone who has used a weighted quilt-would you classify your child as hyper- or hypo-sensitive in tactile function?

Has anyone else used a weighted quilt? Please share your experience.

We used the weighted blanket for about two weeks or less,but it was actually the 1st night we seen results to which she fell asleep ALL night without tons of dolls&stuffed
animals covering her bed. Her weighted turtle calmed her down during the day& Yes there is a 20 minute time limit. I suppose to not overstimulate.Hope this helped.

Thanks so much for your replies. The information you all shared was very helpful. I think I probably will go ahead and purchase a smaller quilt or even give the turtle a try-but with better insight of what to expect and how to use it appropriately. I was hoping to stick it on my son when he went to bed and leave it on all night long and perhaps it would magically prevent him from waking up frequently or comfort him so well that he would go back to sleep on his own quickly. I see now that this was a fantasy, but it sounds like it would probably help him with his sensory issues and perhaps this will help his sleep.

I just have to add that this is a great boad. It is so awesome to learn about different therapies and treatments that work for other families. It is also wonderful to get advice on implementing the treatments from people that have been there. I also appreciate that everyone is so respectful. I never feel that anyone is pushing a particular treatment onto others or judging them for not using it. Everyone is just very willing to share what has worked (or not worked) for them in a very compassionate manner. THANKS EVERYBODY!

Gabesmom -- Thank you for the info regarding melatonin and the weighted blankets. I did find a few sites on the net from women who make the blankets and I am looking into having one made. I am debating whether the weight should be centered over his torso or spread throughout the whole blanket. Any ideas?

Regarding the melatonin, keep us posted as to how your son is doing on it. I just started the high-dose Vit B6 and magnesium so I am going to give that a little time before introducing anything else new.

Thanks.

I assume the one being made has weights that can be removed, right? Because I think maybe it would be best to have one that covers the whole area and then maybe you could take some weights out to have the weight be on concentrated areas. The one we have is the exact shape and size of a twin bed and doesn't hang over the sides of the bed at all. Could you post the site where you are looking into having one made? We have been thinking we need something small for school, travel, babysitter, ect and would much rather find something cheaper than what they have at that website we bought the blanket.

About the Melatonin, we also started him on the B6 and Magnesium before the Melatonin. We also had him on the DMG, but his biggest issue is aggresivness and that doesn't seem to help so we are looking into other vitamins.