"Weighing In" on Weighted Blankets.....

3 year old Rosie with her 4 lb. blanket

7 year old JoyAnna with her 6 lb. blanket

11 year old Jerry with his 8 lb. blanket

It’s called a weighted blanket and they are wonderful with a capital "W"!! We just received ours! They were custom made by my dear adoption friend Shannon. Check out her Etsy site HERE. They are absolutely amazing!! You use the child's weight and height to make it just for them! Then of course the fabrics, too! 

Some of our littlest kiddos are pictured above with their blankets!

Let me fill you in. When we brought Jerry and JoyAnna home from Bulgaria last year, neither one of them had very good sleep patterns at all. That's from spending the majority of their lives in orphanages.

Jerry would suck his thumb and rock back and forth, back and forth. Not gentle rocking mind you...but pretty heavy duty rocking. So much so that it would shake and move the bunk bed he shares with my older son, Jon. After maybe 15 or 20 minutes of this, Jerry would finally fall asleep. Poor little guy.....we attribute this to needing to be soothed and hugged and rocked as a small child and not getting that chance. 

Now, with his weighted blanket, he rocks NO MORE!! Did you read that...NO MORE!! He falls right to sleep for rest time and for bed time and stays asleep in a nice deep and restful sleep. He's still asleep when my husband goes in to wake the boys up in the morning! It's amazing! Check out his picture above!! 

JoyAnna, on the other hand, was tied to her crib for 7 years. And so now, with all of her freedoms, she moves and moves and moves some more, even when it's time for rest or bed. She's in constant movement. She LOVES her blanket! See her photo above! She's on her side, sucking her thumb and totally at peace and resting!! She wakes up more rested and ready to go! This is crucial for her upcoming demands of physical therapy and standing/gait training! 

Rosie is our littlest blessing and although she's been with us since an infant, she was born drug addicted and had a really though recovery in the NICU for the first 5 weeks of her life. She LOVES her blanket and is resting peacefully under it right now! When we put it on her, it's as though she breathes a sigh of relief and relaxes immediately!

That extra pressure on the body is solo helpful for all kids!  We have read that the added weight causes the brain to release neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine that improve moods and induce a calming effect. We have totally found this to be true with our children!

We are now saving to order 2 more for 2 of our other adopted children! Maybe even 4 more for our teenagers, too! Oh and maybe a 5th additional one for our newest blessing coming soon! Read more about that: HERE

What an amazing blessing these blankets are! Just had to share this with you! Thank you Shannon!