Weighted blanket for PDD-NOS - Does it work?

My son has been diagnosed PDD-NOS. I've been (successfully) working with him on his social interactions, but he has some stimming behaviors that I haven't figured out to change. He chews on blankets, his shirt, toys, and yesterday I caught him chewing his baby sister's hair. He also flaps his hands against his face when he's excited or learning something new. He also has a very hard time settling in to sleep at night. I was just reading online about weighted blankets, and I think it may be a help to us. I'm wondering if anyone has had an experience with them in a child with PDD-NOS and what that experience was. (and yes, I know I should talk to an OT.. still waiting to be assigned one by the school district)Weighted blanket for PDD-NOS - Does it work?
I don't want to call myself an expert in this area by any means... but I do have a son on the spectrum and believe I am on the spectrum myself.



I know that I personally *have* to have one or more blankets over me to sleep well even when it is very hot. I even like to have a pillow over my face and many times a 'body pillow' as a blanket... which I imagine is much like a weighted blanket would feel.



My son's diagnosis is Aspergers and he is *much* less affected than your son. But he also sleeps with a lot of bedding and keeps so many things on his bed that he is balled up in a corner. (I know I have always loved small spaces as well.)



My son has also had some difficulty getting to sleep that were helped with Melatonin... if you need another option to look into.



But really... I think the weighted blanket sounds like a *wonderful* idea for a spectrum child. Ever since I first heard of the idea I've vaguely considered getting one for myself. %26lt;blush%26gt; It just sounds *nice*.



The pressure of the blanket (in my case pillow) just feels like it holds my thoughts in their place so I don't have to fidget or stress not to fidget. When my thoughts get out of control... I move... and that puts my thoughts back in place. I have totally different and less 'obvious' stims than your son... but I can 'see' in my mind how much a weighted blanket would sort of 'hold his mind together' instead of moving so he could rest. I hope that makes a bit of sense to someone other than me. :)



Hope you can get plenty of other input from spectrum families and professionals! :) I'll star the question so that a fabulous contact of mine from both catagories will be sure to see it.Weighted blanket for PDD-NOS - Does it work?
Yes, I've got two sons dx with PDD.NOS and we use the weighted blankets from dreamcatcher and have for 1 yr.

http://www.weightedblanket.net

also there are many ebay stores that make and sell them. To start the blanket shouldn't exceed more than 10 percent of his body weight so for a 30lb child the blanket at 3 lbs, this is what is recommended, I find the larger the blanket the heavier you need, my 37 lb 3 yr old PDD.NOS son has been using a dreamcatcher weighted blanket that is 5lbs. Yes it works, very calming.



The other thing that we've found that works is a huggie vest sz medium

http://www.southpawenterprises.com

weights and resistance-bear hug vest



I agree these weighted blankets work if the child responds to deep pressure and heavy work which just about every spectrum person I've ever seen does, but I recognize there must be some that don't.



My 8 yr old son has a 7 lb one that he has had since he was 6 when he weighed 50 lbs, now he weighs 58lbs and is still using it



Alot of sites have/make weighted blankets, the poly fill is the best I would stay away from some of the other things what is nice about dreamcatcher is it is a mom of an autistic spectrum child that started this and he is older now and still uses it and its like 20lbs, the fabrics there is alot of blue because that is calming, and there is alot of high interest fabrics, not much red-not calming etcWeighted blanket for PDD-NOS - Does it work?
My son uses one and loves it. He has autism. He is fairly low functioning with lots of sensory issues. What you really want to think about before you buy one are what calms your child. If you child likes deep pressure and "heavy work", he'll probably really like a weighted blanket. If he doesn't seek those deep pressure feelings, he may not like it as much. I bought his six years ago from weighted wearables. The dreamcatcher's ones the other answers mentioned look nice too. I've looked into replacing his with one of them. The nice thing about the weighted wearables blankets is that the weights are in removable tubes. He didn't even use them when he was 4 or 5 - the blanket was heavy enough without them - now that he's older (11) I use two tubes. You remove them to wash the blanket. These blankets aren't cheap, a couple of hundred dollars, but they are worth it when they work!! That seems cheap when I think of his sleepless nights over the six years he's used it!.
My three year old daughter has SPD and is most likely somewhere on the Autism Spectrum as well, we are waiting on an official diagnosis but our GP thinks Aspergers. I know that with my daughter we tried a weighted blanket and it was a horrid mess. She wasn't able to tolerate the weight and complained of being too hot (not the case but that was all she could think to say) constantly for the week we tried to use it. Luckily I borrowed one to test, I would have been mighty annoyed had I bought my own. Every child is different and some will love the weight while others won't be able to tolerate it at all. I would suggest trying out a heavy feather duvet, or similar blanket, and see how that goes. We eventually came across a vibrating pillow stuffed with Styrofoam balls(similar to a beanbag chair) that my daughter is in love with.



I also second the melatonin advice. Before we started using it I was lucky to have her in bed by midnight and a full night sleep was 4 hours at the most. Since starting her on melatonin she is in bed by nine and sleeps until I wake her at 7:30. Amazing product!

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