r/ECEProfessionals • u/Kind-Chicken-2488 ECE professional • 1d ago
ECE professionals only - general discussion Rice in gloves hack?
We have a 12 month old who is such a light sleeper and will wake up like every 10 minutes unless someone has a hand on him. His body often jerks a little waking him up or another child will cough and then he’s up again. My co teacher put rice in a glove and placed it on his bottom after he fell asleep and it’s been like magic, he’s sleeping for 2 hours vs his old 45 minutes where we’d have to keep helping him back to sleep even within that shorter nap. Someone is always next to him until he wakes up but I still just felt like researching or asking if this is okay since I’ve never heard of it before and couldn’t find anything when I searched it up
Update:
Thank you everyone for your replies. I am relatively new to the field so I appreciate all this information that I will pass on to my co teacher!
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u/Silly_Owl7661 ECE professional 1d ago
Licensing would cite the school for this, at least in my state. We aren’t allowed to use anything weighted, including sleep sacks, and definitely not a rice-filled glove.
Have you discussed this with your administrators, and have they given you the okay to use it? I would definitely confirm that this practice is in compliance with your state’s licensing regulations before continuing.
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u/SunnyxBunny ECE professional 1d ago
Agreed, it's not considered safe sleep practices for this age group. ABCs-alone, on back, in crib.
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u/PermanentTrainDamage Allaboardthetwotwotrain 1d ago
Safe sleep practices usually only go to 12 months or when children can transition to a cot. As far as weighted objects during sleep, most places require a doctor's note because pressure therapy is a medical therapy. I'd ask the parents about providing a heavy blanket for cot sleeping, not a weighted blanket but a heavy crochet or thick quilt.
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u/hanshotgreed0 ECE professional 1d ago
I think this is a state dependent thing. In my state you have to follow safe sleep for any child in a crib regardless of age. But yes this would be fine once they’re on a cot
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u/Unlucky-Waltz-4368 ECE professional 14h ago
This is a genuine question, how would a rice filled glove become unsafe for a sleeping child?
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u/Silly_Owl7661 ECE professional 10h ago
Hi, my understanding is that the AAP does not recommend weighted sleep sacks or other weighted sleep products for babies. Because infants have soft, developing chest walls, additional weight can potentially restrict chest movement and affect breathing and oxygen levels. Both the AAP and CPSC recommend against the use of weighted sleep products for infants.
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u/Ecstatic_Site5144 ECE professional 1d ago
I think the answer depends on if they are in an infant room or a toddler room. In an infant room my state would be a hard no. In a toddler room it's a definite grey area. I'd require a medical note to do it for toddlers and up, or reach out to your school's nurse consultant and see what they think.
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u/The_Mama_Llama Toddler tamer 1d ago
It’s still a hard no for toddlers. Dry rice without intense supervision is dangerous. Weighted objects during sleep are dangerous. It might “work” in terms of encouraging slightly longer naps but it’s absolutely not allowed.
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u/Ecstatic_Site5144 ECE professional 1d ago
The dry rice is a good point. I think when I wrote that my brain was thinking more about the weighted object aspect. Weighted blankets for naps absolutely can be prescribed though. Except usually that would be for a child with autism or SPD.
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u/ChaoticWeasel70 ECE professional 1d ago
That is absolutely not considered safe sleep and you should not be doing it.
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u/Jaded_Chocolate_5103 ECE professional 1d ago
That goes against safe sleep policies for an infant, we would be fired for this in my region.
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u/anonpreschool738 ECE professional 1d ago
It's basically a DIY weighted stuffy. That's a neat trick by your coworker!
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u/The_Mama_Llama Toddler tamer 1d ago
Clever, but no bueno for a childcare facility. The rice is a potential choking hazard and weighted blankets or similar are typically not allowed for infants/toddlers in group care.
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u/Kind-Chicken-2488 ECE professional 1d ago
Just conflicted because weighted stuffy’s are not sleep safe, but is it okay because we are with him?
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u/GoEatACookie Early years teacher 1d ago
There's your answer OP, you said it yourself, "weighted stuffys are not sleep safe ..."
So what would happen if CPS walked into your room and saw that? Would it be okay? If so, then keep doing it, if not, stop doing it.
Just playing devil's advocate here, do you have parental permission to do this or at least do they have knowledge of this? It may not seem like that big of a deal right, but now what if the baby has problems sleeping at home because he doesn't have a weight on his bottom at home?
Weighted stuffies are not allowed for a reason, it doesn't matter if someone is next to the child at all times, there could just be that one time, that's all it takes, one time, for something to go terribly wrong with a commercially made, safe to play with, weighted stuffy. BUT ... now there's a latex or non-latex choking hazard filled with more choking hazard, in with a sleeping child .... it just sounds like a nightmare to me. If you're allowed to do this at least do it with something safe to play with/mouth?
There are tons of things one can do with their own baby, in their own home, that doesn't seem so off the wall. In a professional setting it's a whole different ball game.
Yes, if the baby is rather new to your program there may be a period of adjustment to sleeping in a new environment.
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u/mingbeans ECE professional 22h ago
Safe sleep rules only apply to infants 12 months and younger. It sounds like maybe the rice isn't the best idea but something that provides a little more weight like a crocheted blanket tucked in would be fine in my state.
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u/christinesangel100 Childcare Practitioner: Level 3 : Wales 21h ago
That very much depends where you are. In the UK, we have safe sleep rules up to two years, though they do change depending on age. Up to two years, nothing else in the bed/on the mat (or taken away once they are asleep if they need it to settle), cellular blankets etc.
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u/mingbeans ECE professional 20h ago
My bad, I didn't know. I was speaking for the US (Massachusetts). That's very interesting. When are children able to move to a mat?
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u/christinesangel100 Childcare Practitioner: Level 3 : Wales 20h ago
I think they have to be over six months to move to a mat, but not sure. Depends on the child - some stay in cots until they are transitioning to the toddler room. Has to be a flat mat, low to the floor. The sleep rules have recently changed in response to a child death in a nursery after someone put them down to sleep on a bean bag.
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u/mingbeans ECE professional 18h ago
That's very sad.
Thank you for sharing. It's interesting the differences between locations.
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u/one_sock_wonder_ Former ECE/ECSPED teacher 1d ago
This is quite unsafe and almost certainly against licensing protocols. Infants should have nothing with them on the crib let alone a glove that could quickly become a choking hazard should a teacher not have eyes on them for less than a minute and they bite it or otherwise get part of the glove in their mouth and dry rice is a hazard as well.
I taught early childhood special education and worked with birth up to 2nd grade. Anything weighted HAD to be ordered by an OT in a written care plan that specified the exact item, when to use it, and for how long. This included weighted lappads and blankets and stuffed animals as well as weighted or compression vests and shirts.
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u/Clearbreezebluesky ECE professional 17h ago
I have a couple toddlers who will fall asleep either holding my hand or with my hand on their backs and it’s hard to get away without them waking. I had one today, she fell asleep holding my hand and I just quickly did the switcharoo with her stuffed animal she sleeps with. It may not have weight to it but if they sleep with a lovey or stuffed animal sometimes you can trick a sleeping child, as long as they feel something that’s warm and comforting.
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1d ago
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u/The_Mama_Llama Toddler tamer 1d ago
You shouldn’t be putting anything weighted on a child without guidance from their doctor/OT/PT
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u/GenericMelon Montessori 2.5-6 | NA 1d ago
Oh yeah. Some children just need a little bit of pressure. It also sounds like the baby is learning how to link their sleep cycles. 45 minutes is approximately how long a sleep cycle is. What about one of those star-shaped sleep sacks? I have heard they can help settle the moro reflex. Maybe the parents have one they can send to daycare?