Keep Myself Calm Giveaway

We present this giveaway thanks to Community Member Dawne Hammerschmidt, owner of Sew Sensory. and mom to Dane and Olivia. Dane has Down Syndrome and Sensory Processing Disorder. Here’s Dawne’s story from her about page:

“[Dane’s] sleep was very restless, much of the time spent rolling, sitting up and falling back over, and falling out of bed – despite a barrier!  During the day he’d be very active with little attention span and very high frustration level.

Our Early Intervention worker had suggested the use of a weighted blanket and/or vest.  The ‘loaner’ blanket offered by the program had an extensive waiting list..so the research began.  What an eye opener!  Not only were these items very expensive, they were ugly and had a therapeutic look/feel to them.  The more I looked, the more I found that many of the manufacturers’ really don’t have an understanding of what they are selling.  Some are using lead materials to weight their products!!!  Many use organic materials which sounds great but may cause allergies, attract insects/pests and are unsanitary as they are un-washable.  Some even use rocks. Rocks are porous and retain some level of moisture  (even if they feel dry to the touch) which of course can lead to mold – then I thought; “Do I really want to put a  loads of rocks in my washer and dryer?”

As I continued delving into what I needed,  I found that there were pre-manufactured sizes and weights.  So despite the recommendation of a weighted blanket being 10% of my child’s weight plus 1 (one) pound (Dane weighed 26 pounds at the time) I could only purchase an 8 pound blanket!  It was about at this point that I decided I would be sewing my own.  After doing so and discovering what a difference it makes for my son, well, the whole family, I thought about how great it would be if other parents could easily find what is suitable for their needs.

Dawne is sponsoring this week’s giveaway for a weighted lap blanket! All you have to do to enter is be a member of our site and comment below so we know you want it. We’ll announce the winner next week! Meanwhile, check out Dawne’s site to see all she has to offer (and she takes custom orders)! Also if you have questions about the blankets, remember you can message Dawne by logging in, going to her profile and sending it from there. We know she’d love to hear from you!