Please tell us a bit about you and your family:

I’m Molly, a mom of 2 beautiful children, Wynter and Storey. Wynter is our sweet, brilliant, blonde, curly-haired boy, he is 4 years old and he is Autistic. Storey is our gorgeous, spirited, opinionated, daughter, she is 2 years old  and she is currently in early intervention for developmental delays and “at risk for autism spectrum disorder.” Our life is a little more colorful and chaotic than most people understand but beautiful nonetheless.

What first made you search for an app to help with your situation?

We were willing to try anything for our child with Autism who struggled falling and staying asleep. The first night we listened to “Close Your Eyes SleepyPaws,” Wynter fell asleep before the 15-minute story was over. This has to be a coincidence I thought. We tried another story night after night and after a week realized this was our only change, so this had to be the cause of our better nights.

Did you try any other ways to help with your situation?

I was pregnant with my daughter Storey and desperate to get him sleeping before we had another newborn in the house, so we spoke to our pediatrician. “Kids with autism often struggle with sleep…try Melatonin.” It worked most nights on getting him to sleep but often made night wake-ups come earlier and even harder to calm him to get back to sleep, so we stopped and just did what we could to survive each night. We spoke to another doctor, “Kids with autism often struggle with sleep…try exposing him to more direct sunlight and get him more exercise during the day, limit screen time, and have a consistent bedtime routine.” All things we had done up to that point, to the best of our abilities. We’ve tried sleep studies and never made it through enough sleep or sensors to actually have it be valid, we tried letting him sleep in our bed, and we used every resource in our tool kit without success. We were surviving, not thriving.

How did you feel the moment Moshi worked for you?

I felt relieved that I had a go-to when I have trouble sleeping. We are forever grateful for Moshi, for the stories my son looks forward to. It has given us hope that sleep is possible for Wynter and our family.

What feature do you find the most helpful on the Moshi app?

We love the stories and the fact that Wynter gets to help choose his bedtime story each night.

If you were asked to recommend Moshi, what would you say?

Kids with autism often struggle with sleep, Wynter is Autistic and while every night is not seamless or perfect Moshi has allowed us to take a breath at night. Our rough nights went from taking 3-4 hours to fall asleep to now a rough night may take an hour and is not the norm. Our night wakings went from screaming and crying or partying in the early hours of the morning to him waking up, coming to our room, and going right back to sleep. While I’m not naive to think this may last forever, things can change on a dime for my sweet boy and what works today doesn’t always work tomorrow but for now, we are enjoying bedtime and snuggles with Wynter rather than dreading it; thanks for Moshi.

What would be the one word you’d use to describe Moshi?

Game Changer (I know that’s technically two words, but I think anything else wouldn’t describe it).

Do you have any tips for other families using the app?

Be open-minded, and favorite the stories/songs/meditations that tend to work best for your child.

Bexy

Moshi's Head of Customer Experience & Community Operations. It's been a pleasure working for Moshi since 2011. I'm a Mom to two children, both with additional needs. I am passionate about learning more about children's struggles and hope to be able to share my experiences/learnings with others.