I was so excited to have the opportunity to review DreamCatcher Blankets!  This is an amazing company that makes custom weighted blankets and other weighted products.  One of my favorite things about the company is that it was founded by the parents of a child with Autism.  When Eileen and J.C. Jackson’s nine-year-old son STILL wasn’t sleeping through the night, they began looking for a weighted blanket at the recommendation of their Occupational Therapist.  When they didn’t find anything that met their demands for high quality and affordibility, they made their own.  And from there, their company was born!  It’s their desire to provide high-quality, affordable, attractive weighted blankets to special needs families.  They have put a lot of research into their materials and methods–their website is full of helpful FAQs and links to studies about the effectiveness of weighted blankets.

Their story spoke to me. My nine-year-old daughter does not sleep through the night either.  Squirrel often lays in bed for an hour or more every night, trying to fall asleep.  She wakes up two or three times on a good night (more on a not-so-good night!) and sometimes cannot fall back asleep for an hour.  Between her sensory issues, her anxiety, and her OCD,  her thoughts often take over and make her very tense and agitated.  Then she just cannot stop thinking to fall asleep!  Needless to say, this makes mornings very hard for her.  She’s short-tempered, and she often dozes off in school because she’s just exhausted.  After reading the success stories on the company’s website, I was anxious to see if a DreamCatcher weighted blanket would help her as well.

Our 12-pound cotton and fleece blanket arrived  just five days after shipping.  It has a colorful, “grown-up,” girly print on the front, which Squirrel loves.  The fleece and the satin binding are perfect for her tactile needs–she strongly dislikes anything stiff, itchy, or rough, so the soft blanket is just right for her!

(By the way, DreamCatcher has a huge selection of fabrics to choose from if you want to custom-order your blanket.  They also have an in-stock inventory to choose from, which ours came from.  It’s very important that you make sure any blanket you use is the right weight for your child. To determine what size/weight would be right for you child, please check with your child’s Occupational Therapist.  Squirrel craves deep, strong pressure, so our OT said a 10-12 pounder was right for her–that’s twice the recommended weight for her frame.) …continue reading