This Product Is Like the Miracle Blanket for Big Kids!

Whew Summer is here!  Spring time was rough at our house.  Largely, because spring brought lots of thunderstorms, which terrify both of our children.  That of course, resulted in sleep deprivation for mom and dad and for the kids.  A double whammy.  But in addition to just the typical thunderstorm issue, our 3 year old son (who had historically been a fantastic sleeper) decided he couldn't stay in his bed to save his life.  It didn't matter what was going on in the atmosphere, it was taking us 1-2 hours every night to get him to stay in his bed.  This literally drove mom (referring to myself in 3rd person here) to the brink of insanity.  No amount of Super Nanny tactics worked.  No amount of comforting, checking in, etc. worked.  He repeatedly said he was scared, but we couldn't identify a cause of what was making him scared...so to be honest, I didn't believe him.  I thought that was an excuse to get out of bed.  He didn't act scared.  He acted like he wanted to party.  But just like other challenging periods in our life, "necessity is the mother of invention."

I should mention that during this time period, we decided to get our son evaluated for Sensory Processing Disorder.  He had shown signs of this in the past, but it wasn't clear to me if he was just a typical boy or if there was something else going on.  (I'll write more about this in the future.) More specifically, we learned in his diagnosis that his vestibular system isn't functioning and developing properly.  What's a vestibular system you might ask?  The vestibular system is the sensory system that provides the leading contribution about sense of balance and spatial orientation for the purpose of coordinating movement with balance.  As the occupational therapist describes it, he doesn't have a good sense of where his body is in space.  Therefore, he always feels off balance.

Well, this explained so many things!  Why he runs into walls and furniture, why he is scared to walk down stairs by himself, why he can't sit still in a chair (he feels like he's falling out), and it turns out...why he can't stay in his bed.  When he lays down in a big kid bed (not a crib or toddler bed), he feels like he could fall out of the bed.  He's 3.5, so he's really too old for baby beds, so how do I solve this problem?  Therapists typically recommend using weighted blankets.  We have a weighted blanket but have been unsuccessful getting our son to use it.  He prefers his fuzzy blanket, and he understandably thinks using both blankets is too hot.  So I was at a loss.

One afternoon after trying to get him to nap for over an hour, he asked me to lay down with him.  I said, "Your twin bed is too small for both of us and all of your pillows (which he prefers to line the wall on the side of his bed.)"  He insisted.  I was exhausted, so I agreed.  We squished into the bed and in 30 seconds, he was asleep.  Interesting.

So I pondered how could I replicate this "squished" feeling for him.  That evening I suggested he sleep in his sleeping bag on his bed.  He loved the idea!  Bedtime was significantly easier.  However, his sleeping bag fell out of the bed in the middle of the night, which was not good for a child who is afraid of falling out of the bed.  So the next day, I took his bed sheet and flipped it.  I tucked it into the mattress around the sleeping bag to hold the sleeping bag in the bed.  Our son loved the idea!  Bed time again was easier, not great but better.  It only took 30 minutes instead of 1-2 hours to keep him in his bed.

But the perfectionist in me said surely, I can improve this some more.  Low and behold I found the SnugBug.  A mom in North Carolina makes these, and it's genius.  It's a spandex sheet/sleeve that fits around the mattress.  The result is basically a swaddle for child.  Our son LOVES this thing!  He is so happy to get in bed.  He stays in bed.  AND he goes to sleep in 20 minutes.  He has literally never done that in his life.  It has always taken him at least 30-60 minutes to go to sleep even when he was a baby.  He's sleeping 11-11.5 hours a night instead of the 10 hours he was getting previously.

This isn't the bedtime solution for every child who doesn't want to go to bed.  But if you have a "clumsy" child or a child with SPD or vestibular issues, this might be an idea you want to consider.  Totally life changing!