Sensory Goods Weighted Blanket Review

#ADIMHGG2013

During my time reviewing products for A Day in Motherhood, you have gotten to to meet my children- Joe and Lorelai.  You may remember that me mentioning that my son Joe (he’s 7 now) has Asperger’s Syndrome (now known as an Autism Spectrum Disorder).  One of the biggest issues he has is with sleep.  He doesn’t do it.  He never has been able to sleep or stay asleep.  When he was a newborn, it was not unusual for him to be up 16-18 hours at a time, and then be up every 1-2 hours when he did sleep.  Unfortunately this carried on to the toddler and preschool and school age years. So I am so excited to try and tell you about the Sensory Good Weighted Blanket that should help kids sleep a little better!

We have tried soothing baths before bed, we have tried a strict bedtime routine, we tried co-sleeping (but eventually I wanted my bed back), we even tried Melatonin (at our doctor’s recommendation).  While the Melatonin helped him FALL asleep- it did not help him STAY asleep.  I will not lie- I am so jealous every time I hear someone say they are thrilled their baby slept through the night.  I haven’t gotten a full night’s sleep in over 7 years.We have tossed around the idea for quite some time now about compression clothing and weighted items (blankets, vests, stuffed animals), as we noticed that he responds well to pressure.  You can only imagine the amount of excitement I had when I learned that A Day in Motherhood was teaming up with Sensory Goods (yes- the one you’ve seen on Parenthood on NBC) to offer a CUSTOMIZED weighted blanket for review AND a giveaway!

Your first step is to choose what size blanket is the best fit for your child (or adult).  After you decide which size is the most appropriate, it’s time to choose your fabric.  There are a LOT of selections!  You can choose solid fabric, patterned fabric, and even some Trademarked patterns (Dora, Toy Story, Cars, etc).  Joe selected the “Hoses and Hydrants” pattern for his blanket.  Our next step was to choose a complimentary color, a filling option (plastic pellets or glass beads), and finally the weight of our blanket.  Joe selected red as his color, we chose the glass beads for our filling and we ordered the 9 lb blanket, as Joe is just shy of the 80 lb range.  A few days later I received confirmation that his blanket shipped!  I’m not sure who was more excited when it arrived- him or me.

The day our Sensory Goods Weighted Blanket arrived has made it onto the list of “best days of my life”.  Joe took his blanket out of the box, went straight up to his bed and laid down with it.  He spent the next hour and a half laying there, watching his Kindle, until dinner time.   After dinner he took a shower, got everything ready for school the next day and under the blanket he went.  He was asleep within MINUTES (with NO melatonin)!  The best news came when I received an email from Joe’s teacher later that day.  She said that he was different- he was able to get all his in-class work completed, he didn’t need to leave the room, he was very attentive…..previous to that he had been having some issues.

Our weighted blanket has become extremely important to Joe.  When he needs to calm down we tell him to go get under his blanket for awhile…and he does.  Our weighted blanket goes everywhere with us.  Joe plays flag football and Lorelai is in cheer leading- but he has to sit down and wait for over an hour after he’s done playing for her to cheer.  Normally that hour would be extremely stressful.  His blanket helps him with this.

Please understand that reactions and results may vary….but I definitely think that Sensory Goods Weighted Blankets are worth a try.  Even if there is no special need, you or someone close to you just has a horrible time sleeping, give this a shot.

As excited as I was to try this out, I think I *might* be a smidgen more excited to tell you that Sensory Goods is giving away a CUSTOM Weighted Blanket to one of our readers!  All you have to do is enter below and you will be in the running for your very own weighted blanket!  Please also take a moment and share with us in the comments about who would benefit from this if you were the winner.

If the weighted blanket isn’t your cup of tea, or you don’t think you know anyone that could use it- still check out Sensory Goods website and see all the other awesome products they have- oral motor tools, swings, balance beams, and various other weighted items, there is something there for everyone!  Also take a moment to follow Sensory Goods on Facebook, on Twitter (@SensoryGoods), and Pinterest for their latest news.

Now, to enter to WIN your Sensory Goods Weighted Blanket, just enter below and GOOD LUCK!

Giveaway Open to US Residents, 18+. Giveaway ends 11/26/2013

Congratulations to our winner: Debbie W.!!!!