This is not a topic you will hear about from me on very much. But it is something that is an integral part of my life and has led me on the paths that have created my life as it is today. My son is an adult with severe disabilities that make his life difficult. One of the things that helps is bear hugs, squishes, and other sensory calming things. If you haven't heard of weighted blankets in the past few years, I don't know how.
My son has had compression clothing through the years until he expressed that he could no longer tolerate it. He's had weighted lap pads, neck rings, jackets, etc. And a few years ago, we tried weight blankets made with plastic pellets and glass beads. None of them worked very long term.
But I have a heavy weight quilt on my bed that I inherited from a family member. It's a commercially made quilt and it's got a good weight to it. But I haven't been able to find a similar weight quilt in any store. So I made the decision to try making one for him this year. But with a few changes. The first is that the quilt top and bottom are both made of a super soft fleece that he absolutely loves. And it's a queen size.
Next was that the weight would be even across the whole quilt and would not shift as he does. This was the longest and hardest part of the hunt. I don't quilt. I spent quite a while digging through the internet trying to find information on how heavy different battings were before I finally tripped across a recommendation by someone who did quilt, and had decided to spend a year experimenting with different battings. That recommendation led me to Quilters' Dream batting. And after a phone call, to their newest batting that was even heavier.
The next part involved a wonderful friend who quilts and was willing to save my sanity. She has a long arm quilting machine. So once all the parts arrived, she pinned them all together and quilted them on her machine. She added lots of fun shapes and his name to the quilt. And then she delivered it back to me so I could finished the hems.
She was also the one who recommended that I look at Korean Mink blankets. And so he got an extra gift of an 11 lb Korean Mink blankets. It's not quite as soft as his quilt but he likes it and uses it. The quilt is somewhere around 15 lbs.
The big difference here is that the weight is consistent across the entirety of the quilt and blanket. There is no shifting of beads. No seams breaking and beads leaking. And these can be washed in the washing machine without unbalancing it. And dried in the dryer, on low, without a proble. So just comfortable soft blankets that can be made of whatever material you want to use and will help calm the user.
Is it cheap? No. The Korean Mink blanket was about $80. The quilt ended up being about $125. But I'd paid close to that for one of the glass bead weighted blankets a few years ago. And for the level of calm deep sleep it helps him get, it's worth it. And it's a whole other added level when you add in how it helps him calm from meltdowns during the day.
I am including a link to the Korean Mink that I got him because there are many fake versions out there. So review the specs and make sure that you check that information on the version you choose to get if you get one. Korean Mink Blanket (And yeah, you can get a twin that is a lighter weight because of the smaller size. But still the same even weight as the other sizes.)
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