Moving House Book.

After some difficulties with my son while we were packing to move, we put some strategies in place to help him deal with and understand the move. His Occupational Therapist sent us a 'Moving House' document book, that we just needed to change to suit Jydan and add photos in. I made it a lot simpler to suit his age (he is 19 months), added photos to tell the story, printed it out, binded it, and made it into his Moving House book.

If you would like the original document, that you can customise to your child, feel free to email me at harleymcocks@gmail.com and I will happily send it to you!

Now we can introduce more about our new house and his new room and exactly what's happening through moving week.

We are hoping this will help with his anxiety and other issues. Fingers crossed!

If you are looking for ideas on packing with a sensory child check here.

Dealing with Sensory Processing Disorder.

I haven't blogged much about sensory processing disorder and the sensory issues my little man is dealing with, but I felt that I wanted to share a little bit of insight into my little mans world.

My son was referred to a Speech Pathologist at eleven months old because he still had not started to eat food. Well he did, until we introduced lumps and solid food, then he refused it all. This was making it really hard for him to gain weight, and he began to loose weight too. After a phone call with the speechie, she thought it was best to have an Occupational Therapist observe him also. After the first visit with the OT, she thought it was best to continue seeing him because of his sensory issues, which is the reason why he never wanted to put food and things in his mouth. A few visits later and he started actually eating, which was amazing!

My son's mouth and face is where the most of his sensory issues are. Unlike most babies, Jydan wouldn't put toys and other things in his mouth. If he does get food around his mouth and lips, he quickly rubs it off. As well as saliva. When he does eat, and he feels food may fall out, he holds his hand over his mouth so food doesn't touch his lips, chin, ect. If it's a new food, he will put it close to his mouth and before trying it, he puts it down. He won't eat anything slimey and runny (he will now have mashed potato though). He won't let anyone feed him and he never took to a bottle of a dummy.

He also deals with a few other things, we've found that depending on how stimulated he has been through the day, he will or will not have blankets on him through the night. (If he has had lots of stimulisation, he doesn't want the pressure on his body. If he has had just a normal day, he is fine with the pressure). This is also the same with clothes. We will sometimes find that after going out and having a big day, coming home he will be crying in the car trying to get his clothes off. If we've had a normal day at home with not much stimuli, he will want to be covered head to toe. If his clothes are wet or dirty and we have to change them, and he is having a day where he needs the pressure of his clothes, he will cry and cry until he is redressed. He won't wear certain textures on his head, IE different beanies and and hats, and even so, any beanie's can be a struggle to keep on - which I know can be pretty normal for a toddler anyway. He will wake every hour through the night if he is wearing a cloth nappy too.

Pain is something else that has to do with my son's SPD. My son seems to have a very high pain threshold and doesn't react to pain. Pain senses seem to not deliver. With his vaccinations he doesn't even moan! Blood tests he screams because has to be held down, but not the pain. He often just rolls and gets right back up when he bumps his head - in fact he loves to hit his head on things!!

His sleep is also something else associated with his sensory issues. Jydan has been such a terrible sleeper from four weeks old and has found it really hard to get back into a sleep cycle. He will stir every hour or so, especially at the start of the night. During the day he struggles to sleep any longer than 40 minutes.  I had no idea these two were linked until I researched more about Sensory Processing Disorder! We haven't got to the bottom of why though, we definitely know that his sensitive to noise has something to do with it, but it could also be a stimulation issue or even an anxiety thing! With more visits to the Occupational Therapist, we are hoping that this is also something we will have help with.

During the pack up of our house Jydan stopped talking and sleeping, he also had some behavioural issues. He was so anxious about his environment being packed up. Those with sensory issues, because so many senses are heightened and things can feel so different compared to you and I, most take comfort in a strict routine and knowing exactly what's going on. A slightest change in routine can leave my son feeling really anxious, which results in behavioral changes.. so you can imagine when we started packing up all his things.

As time goes on we figure out his sensory issues more and more and are learning to deal with them. Sometimes it can be really overwhelming and frustrating, and sometimes people give me the strangest look when I try to describe all this to them, I think it's hard for other people to understand. I will write a post more about SPD in general, rather than just with my son, and also how things are going in a few months time.

10 tips for packing with a sensory sensitive toddler.

1 : Involve them in the packing.

Imagine being someone who likes routine and doesn't cope well with change, waking up to your environment that's so different.
Involve your little person with the packing, if it take you 10 times as long, it sure is worth it for them. Give yourself extra time to pack so your little one can help. Plus! Wow! Do they love 'helping'.
Talk to them while you pack the boxes, even if you think they may not understand, let them know what you're packing and that you're putting it in the box, get them to help you, show them the now empty space ect. Make packing into a fun little game - boy do I wish it was!

2 : Leaving toddler's room until last.

I must say, we did pack up a little bit of my son's room, but have left a lot until last aswell. You don't want to throw to much more change at them, and even a slight change can be a big deal. Changing a bedroom can be like moving all over again for some. So leave their environment until last, so they still have their place to go to which is the same, while everything else is being packed up.

3 : Unpack toddler's room first.

Basically the same as the last point, but allowing them to settle into their new room while the rest of the house gets unpacked. Giving them a safe place.

5: Create a 'quite area'.

A tee-pee or a tent is perfect for this, set up a little area where they can escape from any sensory overload. Their area.

6: Keep in mind over stimulation. 

Remember that packing and unpacking creates a lot of stimuli for a little one. Pulling out things they haven't seen in a while, playing with boxes, new and exciting things about, and of course, lots of changes in the environment. Allow lots of playing and exploring, but keep in mind that this all can over stimulate easily, especially if you have toddler with sensory issues.

7: Prepare for lack of sleep.

I think this is a given when packing and moving anyway, but with my toddler, packing up his environment effected him so much that he stopped sleeping (and talking!), and he would only sleep in his mummy's arms. Lots of comfort. It got better after a couple of weeks.

8: Prepare for behavioural changes.

Aren't toddlers frustrated enough? Add in environmental, routine and a whole heap of other changes and you have one cranky toddler on your hands. Plus, if they aren't sleeping, it makes these moods so much worse!

9: Routine!

As much as you can, I know it can be so hard, stick to your normal routine to avoid too much change and stress on your little one.

10: Introduce things.

If there is going to be new things in the new house, especially their bedroom, show them if you can, before the move. For us, we changed my son's room theme. We introduced his new bedding to him (which is usually fairly difficult for him to cope with). His new bedding will follow him through the move, and help him with settling into his new room.

Hope this helps!