We're helping children with Sensory challenges.
The gentle restriction which the fidgetbum brings, comforts children and helps them to relax. We're helping mums and dads, supported by Occupational Therapists, to make bedtime easier and help children to have a better nights sleep .
Here are a few comments we've received from parents ..
Happy Mum : Lesley
Happy Child : Mack, 7 years
I have struggled for years with my 7 year old autistic son and his sleep issues. We made the decision a few years ago with the advice of our paediatrician to have melatonin prescribed to him as it would normally take nearly 2-3 hours to get him to sleep EVERY night!
This definitely worked for him as it allowed him to decompress and naturally fall asleep however it didn't help him to remain in his own bed, so he was coming into our bed every night which then became earlier and earlier and if he wasn't allowed to come in then a meltdown would happen. The time came for something to change as he was getting bigger and the space was getting smaller, so we looked for sleep solutions that might help.
My son has sensory issues like most children on the spectrum and like lots of deep pressure. I had thought about a weighted blanket but he likes to be out of the covers and have his feet exposed. I have tried all sorts of duvet togs to see which one suited him but he would still end up outside the duvet.
I had seen some things on Facebook not realising that it may be something that would help my son to get back into his own bed again. So with the encouragement of Mel and some friends we decided to give it a go!
I chose the date that it would happen and low and behold my son is in his own bed and has been for the past 2 weeks. I found that the fidgetbum allows him to get some sensory feedback because of the stretch in the material but also allows him to have some coverage and warmth.
He personally prefers to be under the fidgetbum alone without the duvet underneath but once under he then likes to have the duvet on top. I think that this is only due to the warmer weather and in the winter he will have the duvet and fidgetbum. I am truly amazed at how well he is coping with it and loves being zipped up every night. I will be recommending this to all of my friends with autistic and non-autistic children who have sleep issues.
Fantastic job Mel on a fantastic product.
Happy Mum : Amy
Happy Child : Henry, 3 years
I am the parent of a 3.5 year old who has sleeping and sensory difficulties found in children with autistic spectrum disorder. Our son has not slept longer than 1.5 hours at a stretch regularly or consistently for his entire life! And us even less!
Over the years we tried sleep training, routines, magical CDs promising the land of dreams! White noise, sleep suits (our son refused sleeping sacks and until the past year a duvet) Having felt we had exhausted all options and ruined by sleep deprivation, we reluctantly requested Melatonin be prescribed. We saw an initial improvement for the first few weeks, which tapered off and then we were back to square one.
Due to the nature or my sons acceptance of all things 'new' I started looking for products and asking about other things we could use. I approached our sons occupational therapist, who suggested we tried fidgetbum as a product which might offer our son some pressure that would be comforting but not restrictive. THIS has been the answer for us!
After watching the instructional video (at least 20 times!) he understood and accepted the fidgetbum. It really helped him seeing other children demonstrating the product! THANKYOU!
Our son is sleeping for MUCH longer stretches and I can honestly say ..... Of all the money I have wasted over the years ...... This has made up for it! I had been considering a weighted blanket, but apart from being a lot more expensive, not as portable, washable etc - I know my son would have probably rejected it. I think he understands the fidgetbum to be part of his bedding, especially with the neutral colour, which was helpful for us.
I can't recommend this product highly enough!
Mel was really helpful, listening and responding to our requirements and her customer service was superb! I am already spreading the word - I never thought we would find anything that would help.
I would encourage any parent with a child with sensory processing difficulties to consider this product to be something that REALLY could work.
