son leaning on us

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My son has been leaning his whole weight on me and his dad lately. I think this might be linked to the fact that he hasn't had any OT yet this year. (It's in his IEP and I'm wondering how much of a stink I should make about it...) I'm going to read up about it in my sensory books but I wondered if anyone had any insights.

(It's not that we mind it so much, but he is quite large and it can be uncomfortable/painful/dangerous at times.)

If OT's in his IEP then I think you should start asking direct questions about when it's going to start, and keep pushing for it (pun semi-intentional ).

Does he only lean on people, or do you see him leaning on or over furniture or other objects?

My son seems to be a complex mass of sensory processing issues and is hyper in some and hypo in others. Combine that with a complete lack of awareness of personal space and yes, I get leaned on a lot. He is still quite small, but getting bigger and it is moving from uncomfortable towards painful for me.

Recently, with the OT's approval, I have been dragging my son around the house in a sleeping bag before he goes to bed. There are a couple of steps in the hall, and he loves getting bumped or slid up and down them. It does seem to provide him with a form of sensory input that he craves: it calms him and he definately gets to sleep much more quickly if I "drag" him before bed. The things you'll do to get a child to sleep!

He also has a rocking stool - the kind that come as a foot stool with the chairs sold as "nursing chairs". I got the stool from Freeshare and he loves it. He leans over it, so he's pressing down on his stomach and rocks back and forward on it. Again, it soothes and calms him.

Do you do OT techniques (sensory breaks) at home? We do them at least 2 times a day and they make a HUGE difference in how well regulated my son is physically and emotionally.

Leaning can be a core strength issue or it could be vestibular or proprioceptive dysregulation. Either way some good home exercises might be:

swinging
crawling
tossing a heavy medicine ball

Or he might just be tired. Going back to school can weigh heavily on their physical and emotional strength which could be making him too tired to stand upright.

my son has always done this, he also does what marcia describes with furniture, leaning over it so his stomach is pressed against it. the leaning provides deep pressure contact that some of our kids just need.

i tend to give him a lot of big squeezy hugs, and sometimes will lay down next to him and roll against him to squish him. his dad will wrestle with him, and has on occassion rolled him up in an area rug or swung him inside a sleeping bag. and he himself finds ways to get that contact, by leaning against us or onto furniture, sitting squished against us on the couch, crawling under the area rug or fitted bed sheet, piling himself with blankets or pillows. when he plays his DS, he is commonly laying on his side on the floor rather than sitting somewhere.

ive been thinking about getting or making a hanging bag type chair, like the kind idea used to make (their ekorre chair). something cocoon like that he can get into.

you can have him do whats called heavy work to try and get some of that input too. have him move heavy objects, load up a backpack with books and have him wear it around.

i would definitely talk to the school about getting the OT started. im not so sure it will help with providing the input he gets from leaning tho, as OT is generally fine motor stuff like handwriting. but its something he should be getting and delaying it doesnt help him any.

My 5 yr old son has always done this too. He has vestibular issues, and low muscle tone. He enjoys "deep pressure" like tight hugs and squeezes too. He gets OT at school, but he still does this sometimes anyway.

Thank you for this post. My son does this. I had no idea that it was a sensory thing, but it makes sense now.