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Special Needs
ash2
member
ASD son keeps banging his chest into the crib..help!
ash2
member
DS has started repeatedly banging his chest into the front of his crib before he falls asleep at night and when he wakes during the night. He now has bruises on the middle of his chest from doing this. Is there anything I can put on the front of his crib to prevent him from hurting himself?
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Re: ASD son keeps banging his chest into the crib..help!
I don't know that this thing is padded at all but you could put some sort of padding underneath and cover it with this. We used the fireplace protector things, padded things for the hearth on DS #1's crib for teething and they are padded, not super but it would be a start.
https://www.amazon.com/Leachco-Easy-Teether-Cover-White/dp/B000H3FRA8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1329938251&sr=8-5
Also, since odds are it's a sensory thing to help himself relax and calm down (like some kids bang their heads) I would try to add something sensory into your bedtime routine. Maybe bouncing on an exercise ball if you have one or something along those lines, heck even holding his hands and letting him jump up and down on the bed for 5-10min might help.
When I read the title of this post my heart fell for you and your son. DD has very severe self injurious behaviors and this is something that we've struggled with at points. Except for DD it wasn't/isn't exclusive to her bed, but really anywhere she has access to.
I'd first want to address the cause of the behavior. Whether that ends up being sensory or another issue. Possible functions I can think of off the top of my head are: is he communicating "I want out", but doesn't have the words? is there a way to give him the words so that if he "asks" for a little while you respond to his asking and then fade that as he learns that there is a better way to communicate than self-harming? (or as PP suggested switching to a toddler bed?) or does he only do it when his diaper is wet/soiled? if he's just not sleeping and is bored--could you give him a soft/sensory toy to play with? something that vibrates or has textures/weight to it? obviously you'd rather him go to sleep, but it'd be better than hurting himself. In DDs case, her behaviors are an attempt to replace sensory deficits and lost input--as well as a result of some other more psychological/trauma related issues, which most likely wouldn't be relevant for your son. If you're having trouble determining the cause, your ABA team, OT, or child psychologist would be all be good resources for help.
In terms of sensory-- a weighted blanket may be helpful if the issue is more about him banging into the side to get pressure. For DD, though she likes deep pressure from me, a weighted blanket is scary. She relies on swinging and rocking her in rhythmic motions before bed (any any activity for that matter!) for soothing. And really beyond that--the rocking has to be just the right way. The way that DH rocks DD gets her kind of riled up and she actually engages in MORE behaviors. Versus a different rock that I do being soothing and resulting in less. Basically what I'm saying is if the first thing you try as far as a sensory/behavior approach doesn't work, don't give up. Recruit your OT or BCBA and solicit more ideas. Because really this is all so child-specific and not even consistent between one child over different time periods.
Since DDs issues were very deep-rooted and we knew that they were NOT going away overnight, our next step was to make sure that we weren't allowing her to learn that harming herself would "feel good" or meet any of her sensory and psychological needs. We needed to make her bed a completely hurt-proof spot.
DDs bed is literally lined up... Here's the run down: First--a good thick crib bumper--I found the thickest ones to be at Pottery Barn Kids. These were much thicker than the bumpers at walmart or BRU. Dwell Studio (the nicer target brand) also has some that are pretty thick. Also, along those lines--if you happen to be around the hospital anytime in the near future (or possibly your pediatrician or any therapists associated with a hospital clinic could hook you up), they've also given us the pads that they use on their hospital cribs. Our hospital has to throw theirs away after each patient (not sure if this is standard) so they have a huge stock of them. The hospital bumpers aren't as thick, but they're about twice as tall as a regular bumper and have velcro ties on the sides to secure it to your slats pretty well. They'd work especially good if you've dropped your crib down. When DDs behaviors were at their worst, I used the bumper as my first "line of defense" and then literally lined her entire crib with additional pillows standing up tall on the entire perimeter. On the top rails of her crib, we have lined all of the wood with the medium/large size pool noodles. (Target sells a few different sizes.) The pool noodles cut very easily with a steak knife. We just did it down one side to the mid-point. DD learned how to lay down and kick the noodle off with her feet so we had to add multipurpose (zip) ties in a few spots. After we did that, she started sitting up and scratching her body against them on purpose until she bled, so DH used clean suction tubing to cover the zip ties. I think aquarium tubing would be pretty similar to this. But hopefully you don't need that extent of help. Now that DD has learned that her bed is a safe place and she doesn't have to hurt herself there, she still has her pool noodle for when she stands against the rail, but no longer needs the bumper and has lost a good majority of her pillows. 
If this persists and you don't find relief even after bringing in a few professionals for help, there are also "medical" beds. They're super expensive, but sometimes you can get insurance to cover them. There are quite a few different ones that all serve different purposes, there are some specifically marketed towards being a bigger safer version of a crib for a child with intense self-injurious behaviors. Obviously not the first thing to put on your list, but good to have in your back pocket in any case. Hopefully you won't need something on that level since this seems to be a relatively recent development. Hoping your son (and you) both get some relief soon.