Swingin'

Our B-man is a sensory seeker.  This means that he needs more input.  He doesn't actually feel everything.  I think it's why he throws up so often - he doesn't feel full until it's too late.  Then he's over full and has to give some back. It's way when he says he's sick, he's really sick.  When he was little we thought he was having allergy troubles until he spiked a fever - he had pneumonia (he actually got pneumonia 3 times between 6 months and 2 years old).  He never complained or whined.  It's the opposite of the sensory avoider. The avoiders are the kids who don't like tags in their clothes or scratchy clothes.  As a seeker, B loves compression.  A tight hug will calm him down.  On stressful days we dress him in compression shirts.  He sleeps with a weighted blanket.  He even has a weighted stuffed shark, he takes it to school on stressful days to to keep in his lap. 

His school used to have a sensory room.  It had a trampoline, a ball pit, a beam, crash pads and a hugging swing.  The hugging swing was B's favorite.  It was made out of a spandex-y material.  When he sat in it, the spandex enveloped him, giving him the input he craves. 

B's Aunt Yaura (Laura) is crazy about him and so very thoughtful! She bought him a swing for Christmas! It's designed just like the hugging swing except it's mesh instead of spandex. 

Last week over spring break, we finally got it installed in his room.  He's so excited! He needs help getting into it but he can get out on his own. 

We rigged it up so that it will hold his pillow behind him as well.  He gets in the sleeping bag, I hold down the swing and he wriggles in!