Weighted blanket

[Littlelisa]

Has anyone made a weighted blanket before and can provide some words of wisdom? I've found the pellets on Amazon.com. I know the weight of the blanket should be 10% of the weight of the person it's intended for + 1lb. I've found a few tutorials online about how to put it together but was wondering if anyone on here has done it and could add some advice since I trust you guys more than random people who write tutorials online! Thanks

[Granny Fran]

Interesting. Never heard of them before so I am no help, thanks for the post, however.

[auntiemern]

I don't have any experience with them, but make sure you use pellets or something that will not draw bugs, and can be washed. There was a post of FB the other day that the woman had used rice. I have no idea what she could possibly have been thinking with that move.

[K. McEuen]

I ran across a tutorial for one a couple years ago that was very well written, of course I don't have it bookmarked. Just read through the ones you find and if they make sense to you then it should be ok.

[Sonic]

I attempted one when my son was smaller but wasn't too successful. I distributed my bb's well, but wasn't enough of a sewer to make it work. I did however, with a relative's help who did sew, make a weighted vest.
It worked great until he out grew it, so we switched to lap pads and a little weighted backpack.

If you haven't looked yet, try Abilitations (or something like that) which is a huge catalog full of resources and items for special needs and rehab that pediatric PTs and OTs order from. There are other companies out there that also have catalogs and I used to have a bunch of them, but don't remember their names. Maybe google pediatric PT/OT resources, or if the child is getting any PT/OT ask them for an old catalog. It's full of things that you can easily make yourself.

[Simply Quilting]

Our state 4-H sewing group has made them before. These were easy to make.

As a Mom whose sons have used them. There are a couple pieces of advice. Double check to make sure the fabric that you use feels good to that child - there are many children who deal with sensitivity issues (I have one who didn't like the feel of fleece)

A cheap way to fill them is with old torn-up towels. That is what these where filled with and they really were heavy. The one that we had was about 20 pounds which was more than 10% of the body weight but it was comfortable to the child(ren).

Be sure to sew divide lines otherwise the filling can shift to just one area of the blanket.

The one that we had was sewn into a rectangle of about 4 feet finished (it was originally longer but once it is stuffed, it becomes smaller as the pockets round out). Then sewn across to divide. The blanket closed with velcro which was nice because we could adjust the weight if needed.

The information that we have been told is that there is suppose to be a doctor or OT to approve of the use of a weighted blanket.

[K. McEuen]

https://onthebeans.wordpress.com/201...uilt-tutorial/

This is a pretty straight-forward tutorial.

[Littlelisa]

I'm actually making it for myself. I love sleeping with heavy blankets and feeling "pinned" to the bed so I thought a weighted blanket might be great for me in the summer when it's 110 out and I don't want a ton of blankets. I have read that they are helpful for some children on the autism spectrum. I think this will be my next project. I found the pellets on Amazon.

I did read about someone who made one with rice. I thought that was pretty nasty. You couldn't ever wash it.

[Annav]

Adults can benefit from weighted blankets as well. We use them at the state hospital where I work.