All Done

So we finished the Wilbarger Brushing Protocol and I have to say I am very pleased with the affect it has had on his sleep! He is sleeping in almost every day, sometimes until 9 a.m. and hardly waking up. In fact he woke up in the middle of the night after the second day of doing it, but was still really groggy when asking me to rock him (I finally realized he needs this to calm himself at night to help with his sensory integration).

Usually, he is wide awake. In fact after I rock him he is still wide awake when I put him back to bed, but due to my diligence he usually likes quietly in bed as long as I have rocked him for about 5 minutes. Sometimes he will not even go back to sleep and still be up when my husband gets up at the crack of dawn to go to work.

However, it looks like a new day is dawning with his sleep patterns and if that was the only benefit of the brushing then I am all for it! He also seems to be paying better attention and following directions better as well, but this may be simply from getting better sleep. If it works, then I am going to use it.
This weekend was also a pleasant surprise when he went to breakfast with us for mother’s day. He sat in his seat pretty much the entire time, which is usually a very difficult task. He did have some issues trying to touch people in the booth behind us, but after switching him to the opposite side he did very well. Especially considering the place was packed with only one server and that we had to wait one hour before we even got our food.

He did do one thing that I know my husband doesn’t think is very funny, but I certainly got a bit of a laugh. He had been eating potatoes with ketchup and managed to get it all over his hands and face. During the meal he asked for a hug from my husband (more sensory seeking behavior), which we try to comply with now knowing his need for this to help him remain calm.

After inspecting his hands to remove any leftover ketchup my husband gave him a hug. Only to have Mr C purposely wipe his ketchup stained face all over my husband’s white shirt. I couldn’t help but laugh, I wonder if it was Mr C’s plan all along. We played right into his plan, the little stinker!

Day 2 of the Wilbarger Brushing Protocol

Today is the second day that we have been doing the Wilbarger brushing protocol with sessions every 90 minutes. Yesterday, did not go as well as I would have thought. We had quite a few meltdowns over little things. He really was an emotional wreck.

Last night, he slept through the night until almost 8:00 a.m. this morning! I couldn't believe it. I actually had to check and make sure he was still breathing as I was even up before him! Usually, he wakes around 6:30 a.m. With a 7:30 p.m. bedtime he should be getting around 11 hours within the range of the recommend hours of sleep for his age. Yet, he often wakes up at night almost 2-3 times a week and sometimes can't fall back asleep, which is a symptom of sensory processing disorder. Naps have been a thing of the past for awhile now. He fights them so hard it was easier just to put him to bed earlier to make sure he was getting enough sleep.

Today, he has been so much better! Maybe I am imagining it, but his attention seems to have already improved. He also did very well with transitioning activities, which usually requires a lot of creativity and patience on my part. He even said a few complex sentences that he has never said before. Most of his speech is often very fragmented or difficult to understand. I can't wait to see what the next few days are like!