Sleeping with Lentils

I mentioned in a previous post that Anna has always had trouble sleeping. She can lay awake in bed for hours, looking at books, trying to stay still and quiet, coming out to go to the bathroom...at times until midnight. Fear can play into it; she will be fearful of an image from a movie, most recently Wallace and Gromit's The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. We have a big star night light in her room, stick on glowy sheep on her walls and ceiling, evening routines, etc. We've gotten mostly used to it, and Scott, being the patient adult after 9pm in the household, sits in her room with youtube sleep music playing on the computer while she drifts off to sleep.

This summer, as I researched sensory processing disorder and sleeping, I came across weighted blankets as a sleep aid.  Weighted blankets have some kind of heavy filling sewn in them--pellets, beans, lentils--so that their weight is evenly distributed. The theory is that the pressure the blanket gives causes some people to produce neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin which have a calming effect on the body. The blankets are available for sale, but there are instructions online for making them at home as well.

When I read about these, I was discouraged. They aren't cheap. And although the directions for making them are manageable for someone with a sewing machine and experience with this kind of thing, I have neither. The money and/or the hassle would be well worth it if I knew it would work, but there are no guarantees. They work for some kids, not others.

So, at our first face to face meeting with Anna's occupational therapist, we said we would like to prioritize helping Anna get to sleep at night. The occupational therapist went behind a curtain, and came out with this...

The O.T. made it herself, and each square is filled with a precise amount of lentils. It is small, reaching from Anna's chin, just past her feet. She has been sleeping with it for six days now.

Does it work? Well, for now Scott is still sitting in her room with sleepy music playing every night (actually me tonight). But, on the second night, Anna  got into bed before anyone was in her room. She seems to be feeling more secure. And she likes it.

So, we'll wait and see. It would be lovely for her and us if she could pop into bed at night on her own and be asleep within twenty minutes.