Butterflies

This is for a little friend of mine. Let's hope she is able to get some restful sleep using this.

Size adjustments

I've made some adjustments to the size of the blankets. You can review the new sizes on the September Price sheet and the prices reflect the new change. Some of the measurements have changed and I have added an extra small and an extra large blanket.

Facebook Page

I thought it would be a good idea to create a Facebook page since that is where a good majority of people are interacting these days.

If you are interested, check me out there and you can "Like" my page.

https://www.facebook.com/McMillanDesigns

September 2012 Pricing

If you are interested in purchasing a weighted lap pad or weighted blanket, here are my prices at this time. (These may change at my discretion based on my costs.)

Prices as of  September 2012

Weighted Lap Pad (aprox. 2#)             $40.00 (weight included)
Approximate Measurements 18"x 30"


Weighted Blanket - X-Small                $40.00  +$3.00 per pound in weight **
Approximate Measurements 30" x 36"

Weighted Blanket - Small                     $50.00  +$3.00 per pound in weight **
Approximate Measurements 36" x 54"


Weighted Blanket - Medium               $100.00   +$3.00 per pound in weight **
Approximate Measurements 38" x 60"


Weighted Blanket - Large                   $150.00   +$3.00 Per pound in weight **
Approximate Measurements 40" x 66"



Weighted Blanket - X-Large               $200.00   +$3.00 Per pound in weight **
Approximate Measurements 48" x 72"



**WEIGHT - The general rule of thumb to determine an appropriate weight for a blanket is 1/10th the child's weight plus one (1) pound. For example, a 50-pound child would need a blanket weighing 5 + 1, or 6 pounds.

MEASUREMENTS - My measurements are an approximation. This is the size that I will cut the fabric. Once the weight is added and the seams are sewn, the finished product will be slightly smaller.

SHIPPING & HANDLING - There is a flat $18.00 shipping and handling charge for all pieces except the large weighted blanket. Please email me for a S/H estimate on a large weighted blanket.

Interested in a weighted blanket or lap pad?

Are you interested in having me make you a weighted blanket or lap pad for you or your child? Please email me at mcmillandesigns2012@gmail.com.

The blankets I make are made with cotton and flannel fabrics I purchase at local stores. The weight filling is craft pellets, made from high density polyethylene.

Machine Wash/Dry - you may put your blanket in the washer and dryer. I recommend a low heat setting on the dryer. Please do NOT put your blanket or lap pad in the microwave as the poly pellets are not designed for extreme heat.

CAUTION - The poly pellets are small and may cause a choking hazard for children under 3 years of age.

Benefits of Weighted Blankets

The Benefits of Weighted Blankets for Anxiety, Stress, and Insomnia

Adults, teens, and children can benefit from weighted blanket therapy. Weighted Blankets are a safe and effective non-drug therapy for anyone seeking a solution for loss of sleep and relaxation.

Weighted Blankets, Wraps, or LapPads can be used to calm down and relax in many different ways by covering the whole body for sleep, wrapping around your shoulders or by laying it across your lap or legs only.  These products can provide relief, comfort and can help supplement sensory disorder therapy treatment for the following: 

• Sensory Disorders of any kind (weighted therapy can help increase Serotonin and Melatonin levels overnight)
• Sleep disorders of any kind: weighted therapy can help increase the levels of Serotonin and Melatonin overnight
• Insomnia, Falling asleep and staying asleep
• ADD/ADHD Spectrum Disorder (many ADHD kids use these blankets to calm down after school or during Therapy sessions, or to relax and fall asleep)
• Asperger’s and Autism Spectrum Disorder (many of these kids use these blankets to calm down after school or during Therapy sessions)
• Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) and fidgeting legs due to chemotherapy treatments or Menopause
• Anxious Feelings and Panic symptoms, Stress and Tension, Cancer or Dental Anxiety, Peri-menopause and Menopause symptoms
• Sensory Integration Disorders/Sensory Processing Disorders
• People who are 65 or older: weighted blankets help calm a myriad of symptoms, including those who have Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s Disease.

The deep pressure touch simulation, or swaddling that happens when you cuddle up with a Weighted Blanket helps encourage the production of Serotonin, a hormone that induces a more peaceful and happier state of mind. Serotonin, in turn, leads to the production of Melatonin, which helps us to sleep more soundly. A Weighted Blanket can help you or your loved one feel better and ease the mind allowing for complete relaxation.

http://www.mosaicweightedblankets.com/benefits/

Cowboys - Toddler blanket

This is a toddler size blanket made for a little boy that loves the Cowboys. It is weighted for this specific user at 4 pounds. It is approximately 36" x 52".

Shark Blanket

This is weighted blanket. It is made with a shark print flannel front and a solid color cotton back. It is weighted for the specific user, in this case just under 8 pounds. It is approximately 48" x 40".

Shark Lap Pap

This is a lap pad. It is approximately the size of a pillow case, 15" x 30" made with a shark print flannel on one side and a solid color blue cotton on the other. It weighs about 2 pounds. This is used for a child to help him remain calm and focussed on his school/home work. 

My Little Pony - Toddler size blanket

This is a toddler size weighted blanket - approximately 36" x 52", it weighs 5 pounds, based on the specific user's weight. It has a white minky back, and a pink Pony printed cotton front. 

The white back side shows you all the pockets. Each pocket has the same amount of weight and once it is laid flat, the weight is distributed evenly across the body.

Intro

This blog has been created as a place for me to display pictures of blankets I have made. It was recommended by my child's Occupational therapist to use a weighted lap pad for my son to help calm him and keep him focussed while doing his homework. After some research, purchasing a weighted lap pad was rather expensive for something I wasn't even sure would work. Since I know how to sew, I thought I'd try my hand at making one. I was able to make my own lap pad for a fraction of the cost.

After more research on the purpose and benefits of weighted blankets and lap pads, I decided to make a toddler size weighted blanket for my daughter who had never slept well. She is 4 and had been sleeping in my bed pretty much every night. She talks and moves around a lot in her sleep. After making her a weighted blanket, she hasn't gotten out of bed once. She is finally getting the rest she needs and wakes up so much happier. I then made my son a twin size blanket. He also has always had a hard time sleeping, complaining that he "can't settle his mind". After a few nights sleeping with his weighted blanket, he said he "finally feels like I got a full night's sleep". That's all the proof I needed to keep making the blankets and letting other people know all about them.

Since then, I've made a few blankets for friends and I'm getting requests for information all the time. See previous post to see the purpose and benefits that weighted products can provide.

If you are interested in a weighted blanket or lap pad, please feel free to email me at mcmillandesigns2012@gmail.com for more information.

Cristy

Purpose and Benefits of weighted products

Weighted Blankets: 
The Ultimate Use Of Calming Input 
For A Restful Sleep

Weighted blankets are one of the most effective tools for helping those difficult to calm down, high-energy sensory kids.

Does your child have a difficult time unwinding, relaxing, and calming his/her body for sleep? Then, weighted blankets may be just what "the doctor ordered!"

These blankets come in a variety of sizes, colors, styles and weights and can be used for toddlers through adults.

Do you or your child find yourself shaking your feet/legs, piling stuffed animals, pillows or layers of blanket/comforters on top of you, or enjoy sleeping in a mummy-type sleeping bag to drift off to and get a good night's sleep? Is it hard to get your body to relax and in a comfortable position for sleep?

Then weighted blankets can help!!

Children or adults with sensory processing disorders, particularly with tactile or proprioceptive dysfunction, have a need for the deep pressure input weighted blankets provide.

Children with excessively high energy levels find these blankets or weighted lap pads soothing for bedtime or throughout the day. They can bring one to school for quiet times. They can wrap them around their shoulders or whole body, or place them on their lap during deskwork and reading times for the extra calming deep pressure input their bodies crave.

Weighted blankets are a simple solution to what often appears to be complex attention, calming, or sleeping difficulties. 

Give your child the input he/she needs and watch "miracles" happen.

Once you try one, you will never believe there was a time you attempted to survive without one!

You see, one of the most commonly used and "prescribed" therapeutic interventions in the Occupational Therapy world is the use of weighted products and treatments that involve what we call "heavy work", proprioceptive input, and deep pressure. The therapeutic use of weight and "deep pressure" to the muscles, joints, tendons and ligaments allows the central nervous system to better interpret and integrate both tactile (sense of touch) and proprioceptive (sense of movement, body position, and pressure) input.

This therapeutic concept and particular treatment is used in schools, clinics, homes, and communities world wide. The use of weight and deep pressure is at the core of almost all OT treatments for SPD. It is safe, effective, and can make enormous differences in these children! Their families rejoice and daily life becomes more tolerable, physically calm, and emotionally regulated.

Specifically, weighted products are used for several reasons with children who do not properly process sensory stimuli/input. The 3 main reasons are:

1. to improve body awareness

2. to calm and improve attention and focus

3. to decrease sensory seeking behaviors

For many children and families, weighted blankets are "life-saving" devices. With weighted vests, blankets, neck wraps, and lap pads, a child who...

...self abuses, may stop.

...can't fall asleep without excessive help, or stay asleep, may FINALLY get the proper rest.

...can not stand or sit still long enough to learn or complete a task, will.

...is constantly touching other people and/or breaking things, may stop.

...exhibits acting out, fearful, or aggressive behaviors when certain sensory stimuli is presented, may not.

...is distracted and unorganized, may become focused.

...throws tantrums when in loud, busy, public places, may become calm.

...can not successfully transition from one activity to another without distress, may finally be able to.

Think about it; from the very first minutes we enter this new loud, bright, bustling world, we are instantly soothed by pressure as a nurse tightly swaddles us in a blanket. This is PROVEN to be comforting to a vulnerable, undeveloped nervous system. This is what we also are trying to achieve!

As older children or adults with SPD, we may still need to be tightly wrapped to calm our over aroused nervous system down. Let me give you an example... did you know this even works well for individuals with mental illness (and probably undiagnosed SPD to boot)? Full body restraints are exactly what a person may need to calm themselves down, therefore they "act out" (consciously or unconsciously). I have literally been told by teenagers in locked wards that they purposely behave in away that gets them put into full body wraps/restraints because it "feels good" and they "finally feel in control". The deep pressure is what they need to feel "normal" and/or grounded. With the restraint/wrap, the calming effect their nervous system needed washes over them.

But, I say... why WAIT until it gets to that point? Weighted products are all about PREVENTION... being proactive BEFORE we see the behavior! In these cases, "pressure" is good! Deep pressure will calm and soothe an over-aroused, disorganized, or "fearful" nervous system. Why put a child in a restraint, discipline him for something that is not his fault and he can't control, or give him medicine when it may not even be necessary (or helpful)? We want you to know, there ARE other options!

http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/weighted-blankets.html