A couple of sensory needs at night - I Need SLEEP!

One of the things we discovered from Johnathan’s lack of sleeping was that there were sensory needs at night that we weren’t dealing with.  We wanted him to sleep in his own bedroom but he was more in the sitting room with me than in his bedroom.  And not only did I want him to go in his room, I wanted to be in OUR bedroom!

So I started to think about what would be useful for him in his bedroom to help him find it more  comfortable and he could handle being there.  So I began researching to find ideas of what he might be able to use.  Now I don’t remember what order we got these things but they all helped Johnathan a bit. 

What I tried to do was mentally take a step back and see the different sensory issues Johnathan has and try to find an answer for each one.  After he was born, he was swaddled and absolutely LOVED it - as long as his hands were free.  So when he got too big for swaddling, and started to need something bigger I found the baby sleeping bags that have a zip on the side and (generally) poppers on the shoulders.  These gave him the physical sensory needs he had.

Obviously, this solution ran out as he grew bigger so I had to see if there was anything else or if I would have to be making something.  I found the idea of a weighted blanket and thought maybe that will give him the security he needs and at first he found it really helpful but then it got less and less.  He then found a kind of sleeping bag for children and he is in it with his plushie toys.  Soon it will change and we will have to find something else.

I know I’ve talked about the fact he didn’t like sleeping in the dark = well we got him a tube that had water with plastic fish that had bubbles in it which moved the fish around.  The coloured lights were ok, but the two we got actually lost the water- one dramatically and one slowly.  So we had to find a different solution.

We tried all sorts of lights in the dark for him.  Christmas was great because we let him sleep in the sitting room and watch the lights on the tree.  But eventually we have found a light that throws a blue nebular on the ceiling with green dots and he LOVES IT!  He is happy if he wakes up to just look at the lights and goes back to sleep or not.

You see, these are two of the sensory issues that Johnathan had at night and we worked through them and have finally got an answer for the moment.  But although the sensory needs are ostensibly the same, they have changed through the nearly ten years of his life.  

The first thing you always do when looking at the sensory issues at night is to see exactly what your child likes and needs.  This will then inform your research and the solutions you find for them.  Some of them will work and some will not.  And as the child grows and develops the style of the type need changes and you’ll have to find another solution.  You’ll get there in the end, but it may take a few tries.