Try This Tuesday: Weighted Blanket

A few years ago I made Junior a couple weighted blankets and they quickly became something we use daily. Sometimes for positioning and safety(to keep him from sliding or rolling), other times for spasticity. When he is dealing with seizure activity or spasticity it really helps to wrap his weighted blanket around him. In fact it usually calms him right down within seconds.
Here is a picture of Junior snuggled up in his weighted blanket, this one is made with fleece material and weighs 6 lbs.



To make this weighted blanket I used 2 yards of fleece and 6 lbs of polly pellets. I have heard of people using dry beans or rice but I prefer the polly pellets because the blanket can then be washed.

Fold the 2 yards of fleece(or other material) in half so you have two layers. Put a seam on 3 sides and leave the top open. Then put a seam about every 4 inches so you have "tunnels" in your blanket. I then measured the length so I would know how many squares I would have(once you add the pellets you will be seaming across so you will have 4X4 in squares). Figure out how much of the polly pellets will need to be added to each square(you want the same amount in each square). I used a little scale to do this but I doubt you really need to be that exact. Pour the amount for one square into each tunnel, shake it down to the end, then sew a seam across. Be careful this can be very hard on that sewing machine needle if it hits a polly pellet. Repeat until you get to the top of the blanket and then put a seam across the top.

Here is Junior's "summer" weighted blanket. It is just made out of lightweight cotton material.



Find more ideas to try on my blog Adaptations 4 Kidz.