November 22, 2006 8:42 pm
This Bed is Just Right
SJ sleep habits were different from birth. We expect that with infants, but unlike LJ and MJ, he never shifted to a typical sleep pattern. He went to sleep late, woke in the middle of the night and woke up early. Once he was out of a crib, he began getting up in the night and crawling into bed next to someone else, usually my wife. Seven years later, we finally found something that is making a difference.
We noticed some unusual sleep habits when SJ was small. Every night we would tuck SJ in with head on or next to his pillow and the covers tucked in around him. An hour later, SJ would be lying on top of his covers with his body flipped around so his head was at the foot of the bed. It was like this every single night, and pretty much still is.
We noticed the other unusual habit when SJ crawled into bed with us. During the day, he was mostly indifferent or even adverse to hugs and close contact. Nighttime was a very different story. After crawling into bed, he would snuggle up close to one of us. After a while, he’d throw an arm over us, followed shortly by a leg. This was followed by elbows in the neck and knees in the back. Eventually, arms and legs would be in knot. We’d get up and put him back in bed but there was rarely a night that he stayed there all night. Some nights he would just get out of bed and lay down on the floor in the hallway.
A few weeks ago we got around to replacing his mattress. His old one was very firm and without a lot of padding. We took SJ with us when we made the final shopping trip. When we walked into the store, he immediately found one of the new viscous foam mattresses that have no springs. I tried to get him to try a more traditional (less expensive) mattress. He tried them but he kept going back to the foam mattress, laying down on it while wearing a huge smile.
We were just about to buy a regular mattress that it hit me. If he really likes the feel of the mattress, and it sure looked like he did, maybe he’ll sleep better on it. Of course, maybe he wouldn’t but there was no way to know for sure. It was enough for to know that it might help. So yes, we paid a few hundred dollars more and bought the foam mattress.
In case you’ve never tried one, lying on a foam mattresses is a completely different sensory experience. You feel the support of the bed on all parts of your body at once. There’s no bounce and your body sinks into it, giving the feeling that lying in the bed rather than on it. It feels rather strange to me, but SJ really likes it.
On the way home, my wife and I decided to put some effort into increasing the odds that the bed would make a difference. We gave SJ lots of verbal reinforcement that he was going to comfortable and that he would want to stay in his own bed. We also told him that if he slept by himself for 10 nights in a row, we’d put up the bunk beds and he could have the top bunk.
Well of course he slept by himself the first ten nights. He got up a few times but went back to bed by himself. We gave him a freebie and let him crawl in with us one night during a thunderstorm.
He kept up his end of the bargain. I’m still trying to find the missing hardware to stack the bunk beds.
Now you are making me want to run out to Mattress Factory and test a foam bed—-well, Charlie is set to outgrow his single bed sooner than later, and we will have to consider other “bedtime options” then!
Bunk beds! Charlie would love it, though I can see him getting completely silly at night about going up and down the ladder. That photo of SJ on the pillow is worth at least the difference between the foam mattress and the regular one.
November 23rd, 2006 at 3:55 am
Very cute picture… And, my autistic son is obsessed w/ Buzz Lightyear–I don’t know what it is about that movie…
November 29th, 2006 at 12:26 am
I guess I should also introduce myself. Kristina turned me on to your blog and I’ve been lurking for a couple months.
And, since I’m a relative newbie to this whole autism thing, I’ve been enjoying your blog very much.
November 29th, 2006 at 12:28 am
Thanks for leaving a message Rochelle. I do a lot of lurking myself. I enjoy writing and reading blogs, but I find it difficult to carry a conversation in the comments.
With input from Kristina, you won’t be a newbie for long!
November 30th, 2006 at 12:18 am
The mattress sounds interesting. We have a Tempur-pedic in one of the spare bedrooms that we got for my wife when she was pregnant and very uncomfortable (it didn’t help). It is now unused as a bed (and covered with lots-o-stuff). We’ll have to try the Bear on it when we’re ready to move her into a bed. For now she’s a lot like SJ in her sleeping habits, so she sleeps in a very large playpen where direction is totally optional (and irrelevant, except when it comes to shifting her blanket).
Cute pic, BTW.
December 5th, 2006 at 8:34 pm