Lulla doll has shown to help foster children

Last year RoRo donated 27 Lulla dolls to members of Threads of Change, an organization supporting foster children and their families.
A few months after the donation took place we received multiple stories from foster parents, telling how the Lulla doll helped their foster child.
Every child is unique and these stories show how the doll can help in different situations and with a variety of challenges children face.

May is National Foster Care Month in the United States, so every May we participate in raising awareness of the problems foster families have to face. Last year we participated by donating Lulla dolls to 27 foster children in the US, in collaboration with Threads of Change, which is a 100% volunteer run group that exists to serve foster kids during a time of crisis in their life.
After using the doll for some time the members were asked to answer a number of questions about their usage of Lulla doll and we've gained very valuable information from this collaboration.

Lulla Doll Foster Care Donation

Our contact at Threads of Change told us how glad she was hearing great stories about children who had poor sleep habits, utilize the doll and develop much better sleep habits, to the delight of their foster parents.

"We can not effectively express our gratitude of your donation of Lulla dolls. Many families have recommended the doll to others, and we often tell new families about the doll when they come to utilize our services for the first time.
We all agree that you have a great product and thankful we had this opportunity to support so many kids in care with their sleep habits with your donation."

- Employee at Threads of Change

Stories from foster parents

It is a known fact that sleep is often in short supply with adopted and foster children. They may refuse to sleep or rest and face an inability to sleep. Many adopted and foster children have a difficult time falling and staying asleep.

We received so many wonderful stories, telling how the Lulla doll helped their foster child. Every child is unique and these stories show how the doll can help in different situations and with a variety of challenges children face.
The foster parents told us that Lulla doll helped their children:

- Giving them comfort when falling asleep in the evening
- Giving them comfort when they wake up during the night
- Sleep better throughout the night
- Wake up less often / Sleep for longer stretches
- Sooth them to sleep
- Fall asleep faster
- Sleep throughout the whole night without waking up
- Experiencing a more positive bed time routine (e.g. stop crying and screaming)
- Stop harming themselves during bedtime
- Deal with transitions
- Wake up happier

Below you can read examples of the stories we received from this project.
The children's names have been changed in this text.

Baby Charlie

Baby Charlie would usually wake up randomly throughout the night.
The Lulla doll has helped to comfort our little guy and help him not wake at night. He loves to snuggle his doll and it helps to soothe him to sleep more quickly than without the doll. We’ve experienced all of the benefits that we thought we would.

Susan

Prior to receiving the Lulla doll Susan would be flopping around her bed during bedtime, getting up multiple times, singing, yelling at us for an hour+ before falling asleep. She also wakes up with night terrors. Susan now holds the doll on her chest and falls asleep within minutes.

Kara

The child had night terrors before receiving Lulla doll. She would also wake up multiple times throughout the night looking for her pacifier. When falling asleep, she would want me to stay by her bed or hold her.
The child now falls asleep on own with no tears. She sleeps through the night. I didn’t know what to expect honestly. This tool was very new to us, but we have seen much progress with the doll and are grateful for it.

Sisters - Rachel and Beth

The girls share a room. The 2 year old would scream, throw, kit, and even bite herself.  Every night for more then 2 hours. There would be nights where she would scream without stopping.
My foster child is no longer harming herself. She is going to sleep with out having an episode. She has become a different person. 

  

Aron

Before receiving Lulla doll we would spend 4 plus hours putting our foster son to sleep. He now goes to sleep within 30 minutes at night.

Baby Lucas

The Lulla doll has helped keep him asleep longer and wake up less during the night.
I have noticed he now will play in his crib with the Lulla doll when he wakes instead of crying right away.

Jessica

Jessica is diagnosed with PTSD among other things. She has severe night terrors.
Jessica likes having her doll. If she wakes up she will push the belly and says she isn’t scared because her doll protects her.
She hasn’t been coming into our room and sleeping on the floor to feel safe anymore.
She still gets nightmares and they wake her up. But she is able to fall asleep much faster.

Lauren and baby sister

Lulla doll helped the 2 year old with transitioning sleeping here during nap time. She used to wake up during the her nap.
I think it is great for kids that are coming from uncertainty.  We purchased one for my bio son and he liked it. It kind of sounds like Darth Vader (total Star Wars Fan) so when we would tell him to go get his Darth Vader he knew what we were talking about at 2. I found it helped him sleep much longer in the morning. He was not waking up when the sun came up.
I was very satisfied that it helped both of my girls transition when it was introduced during visits. I think it's a great tool to have to help kids transition. 

Baby Victor

Baby boy has always been a pretty good sleeper, but he was waking up sporadically throughout the night. We thought the doll would help make his sleep longer and more consistent, especially with the news that he would be having over night, extended visits, with other family members.
Baby boy sleeps longer now with Lulla doll and wakes less often. We were hoping for the exact benefits we have received by using the doll.

Baby Josh

Prior to receiving the Lulla doll he refused to sleep without a person holding him. Regardless of what he slept in, he couldn’t fall asleep without being with a person.
The benefits I have experienced with the Lulla doll are related to his sleep patterns. It was a life saver. Lulla doll did exactly as I needed it to. 

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