Hi Hanna,

I've been asked by quite a few families for advice to support with difficulties tolerating clothing, nail cutting, hair washing etc. 

The first thing to think about is when to do these activities. Think back to when I've talked about spoon theory in the past - an activity such as nail cutting is going to take a lot of spoons away from a child who is sensitive to tactile input. So a weekday after school is probably not going to be a good time for example as they likely have no or few spoons left. When does your child have the most spoons? One of my sons is definitely at his best on a Sunday afternoon after swimming and my other son is at his best on a Saturday late morning after a big lie-in. Timing is everything!

Another thing for some of you to consider is that if your child is in intense burnout and is actually quite unwell, then it is very unlikely that they have the capacity to do these types of activities. The key in this case is burnout recovery first and then you can try some of the strategies below. Please see my newsletter library if you'd like to read my 3 part burnout newsletter series. 

You may have heard me talk about my winning sensory formula:

vestibular + proprioception + deep tactile = a regulated child

So if we think about this in terms of personal care activities here is an example of a a little routine you could try:

1. Pick the best day and time when your child has the most spoons. Use whatever visuals/prompts/social stories that work best for your child so that they know what to expect.

2. Consider whether doing the activity in front of a mirror may be helpful so that your child can better see exactly what is happening - this can really help some children, especially with hair washing. 

3. Before you start the personal care activity, encourage your child to do some movement activity (vestibular input) and some muscle resistance activity (proprioceptive input). This could be a bigger activity such as going on the trampoline in the garden and then an indoor swing or it could simply be bouncing on a therapy ball, running on the spot and pushing as hard as they can against a wall. You can see my YouTube channel for lots of activity ideas. If your child likes deep pressure massage (deep tactile input) then you could also do that.

4. Whilst you are carrying out the personal care activity consider whether there is a way your child can continue to receive vestibular, proprioceptive and/or deep tactile input. For example, during nail cutting your child could be sucking and biting on an ice lolly to get proprioceptive feedback to the mouth and jaw and if there are 2 adults then the person not cutting nails, could be giving deep pressure massage (if you are alone then you could use a weighted item or a compression vest). With hair washing for example, whilst your child is sitting in the bath getting their hair washed, you could encourage them to push their feet hard into the side of the bath to get proprioceptive feedback. You could also encourage them to blow out of their mouth like when blowing a balloon or bubble.

4. Once the activity has finished, your child may need lots of chill time to recover and prefer not to talk or be touched, however some children benefit from finishing with a big deep pressure hug. Having something to suck or chew after the activity can also help the child to calm. 

This isn't magic...your child won't go from hating the activity to loving it! It can however really help to dampen down the severity of the sensory discomfort and help your child feel slightly calmer and more regulated. 

Hope that's helpful. Have a great week.

Hanna

P.S. I have a few spaces left in my Sensory Confidence group. We meet monthly online, communicate regularly in the private community area and you have access to my in-depth training and loads of handy resources that you can download and keep. All of this is only £149 for 6 months. There is more info here. 

If you'd like an in-depth assessment, professional report and support for your child and family then I have a space in the summer holidays for Sensory Success. All the info is here.