diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8d3ec6b..dfba7d4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-React Visibility Sensor
-====
+# React Visibility Sensor
 
 [![Build Status](https://secure.travis-ci.org/joshwnj/react-visibility-sensor.png)](http://travis-ci.org/joshwnj/react-visibility-sensor)
 
@@ -7,8 +6,7 @@ Sensor component for React that notifies you when it goes in or out of the windo
 
 Sponsored by [X-Team](https://x-team.com)
 
-Install
-----
+## Install
 
 `npm install react-visibility-sensor`
 
@@ -23,8 +21,7 @@ In this case, make sure that `React` and `ReactDOM` are already loaded and globa
 
 Take a look at the [umd example](./example-umd/) to see this in action
 
-Example
-----
+## Example
 
 [View an example on codesandbox](https://codesandbox.io/s/p73kyx9zpm)
 
@@ -40,13 +37,13 @@ To run the example locally:
 General usage goes something like:
 
 ```js
-const VisibilitySensor = require('react-visibility-sensor');
+const VisibilitySensor = require("react-visibility-sensor");
 
-function onChange (isVisible) {
-  console.log('Element is now %s', isVisible ? 'visible' : 'hidden');
+function onChange(isVisible) {
+  console.log("Element is now %s", isVisible ? "visible" : "hidden");
 }
 
-function MyComponent (props) {
+function MyComponent(props) {
   return (
     <VisibilitySensor onChange={onChange}>
       <div>...content goes here...</div>
@@ -55,25 +52,43 @@ function MyComponent (props) {
 }
 ```
 
+### Child Function syntax
+
 You can also pass a child function, which can be convenient if you don't need to store the visibility anywhere:
 
 ```js
-function MyComponent (props) {
+function MyComponent(props) {
   return (
     <VisibilitySensor>
-      {({isVisible}) =>
-        <div>I am {isVisible ? 'visible' : 'invisible'}</div>
-      }
+      {({ isVisible, visibilityRect, getRef }) => (
+        <div ref={getRef()}>I am {isVisible ? "visible" : "invisible"}</div>
+      )}
     </VisibilitySensor>
   );
 }
 ```
 
-Props
-----
+The child function must return an element. The 3 arguments that you can access from the child function are:
+
+- `isVisible`: Boolean
+- `getRef`: a Function allowing you to specify which element should be used for calculating visibility. This is useful when you have something absolutely-positioned. Using `getRef` is optional, and if it is not called a wrapper `<div>` will be created with the ref.
+- `visibilityRect`: an Object indicating which sides of the element are visible, in the shape of:
+
+```
+{
+  top: Boolean,
+  bottom: Boolean,
+  left: Boolean,
+  right: Boolean
+}
+```
+
+---
+
+## Props
 
 - `onChange`: callback for whenever the element changes from being within the window viewport or not. Function is called with 1 argument `(isVisible: boolean)`
-- `active`: (default `true`) boolean flag for enabling / disabling the sensor.  When `active !== true` the sensor will not fire the `onChange` callback.
+- `active`: (default `true`) boolean flag for enabling / disabling the sensor. When `active !== true` the sensor will not fire the `onChange` callback.
 - `partialVisibility`: (default `false`) consider element visible if only part of it is visible. Also possible values are - 'top', 'right', 'bottom', 'left' - in case it's needed to detect when one of these become visible explicitly.
 - `offset`: (default `{}`) with offset you can define amount of px from one side when the visibility should already change. So in example setting `offset={{top:10}}` means that the visibility changes hidden when there is less than 10px to top of the viewport. Offset works along with `partialVisibility`
 - `minTopValue`: (default `0`) consider element visible if only part of it is visible and a minimum amount of pixels could be set, so if at least 100px are in viewport, we mark element as visible.
@@ -87,16 +102,14 @@ Props
 - `resizeThrottle`: (default: `-1`) by specifying a value > -1, you are enabling throttle instead of the delay to trigger checks on resize event. Throttle supercedes delay.
 - `containment`: (optional) element to use as a viewport when checking visibility. Default behaviour is to use the browser window as viewport.
 - `delayedCall`: (default `false`) if is set to true, wont execute on page load ( prevents react apps triggering elements as visible before styles are loaded )
-- `children`: can be a React element or a function.  If you provide a function, it will be called with 1 argument `{isVisible: ?boolean, visibilityRect: Object}`
+- `children`: can be a React element or a function. If you provide a function, it will be called with 1 argument `{isVisible: ?boolean, visibilityRect: Object}`
 
 It's possible to use both `intervalCheck` and `scrollCheck` together. This means you can detect most visibility changes quickly with `scrollCheck`, and an `intervalCheck` with a higher `intervalDelay` will act as a fallback for other visibility events, such as resize of a container.
 
-Thanks
-----
+## Thanks
 
 Special thanks to [contributors](https://github.com/joshwnj/react-visibility-sensor/graphs/contributors)
 
-License
-----
+## License
 
 MIT
diff --git a/example/main.js b/example/main.js
index 7be0055..6405821 100644
--- a/example/main.js
+++ b/example/main.js
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ class Example extends React.Component {
           partialVisibility={this.props.partialVisibility}
           offset={this.props.offset}
         >
-          <div className="sensor" />
+          {({ getRef }) => <div ref={getRef()} className="sensor" />}
         </VisibilitySensor>
         <div className="after" />
       </div>
diff --git a/tests/visibility-sensor-spec.jsx b/tests/visibility-sensor-spec.jsx
index 742dad1..6a1d9b0 100644
--- a/tests/visibility-sensor-spec.jsx
+++ b/tests/visibility-sensor-spec.jsx
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ describe("VisibilitySensor", function() {
 
     var element = (
       <VisibilitySensor onChange={onChange} intervalDelay={10}>
-        <div style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} />
+        { ({ getRef }) => <div ref={getRef()} style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} /> }
       </VisibilitySensor>
     );
 
@@ -78,9 +78,9 @@ describe("VisibilitySensor", function() {
           scrollDelay={10}
           onChange={onChange}
           intervalCheck={false}
-        >
+        >{ () => (
           <div style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} />
-        </VisibilitySensor>
+        )}</VisibilitySensor>
       </div>
     );
 
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ describe("VisibilitySensor", function() {
     function getElement(style) {
       return (
         <VisibilitySensor onChange={onChange} intervalDelay={10}>
-          <div style={style} />
+          { () => <div style={style} /> }
         </VisibilitySensor>
       );
     }
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ describe("VisibilitySensor", function() {
 
     var element = (
       <VisibilitySensor onChange={onChange}>
-        <div style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} />
+        { () => <div style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} /> }
       </VisibilitySensor>
     );
 
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ describe("VisibilitySensor", function() {
         offset={{ top: 50 }}
         intervalDelay={10}
       >
-        <div style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} />
+        { ({ getRef }) => <div ref={getRef()} style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} /> }
       </VisibilitySensor>
     );
 
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ describe("VisibilitySensor", function() {
         offset={{ direction: "top", value: 50 }}
         intervalDelay={10}
       >
-        <div style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} />
+        { () => <div style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} /> }
       </VisibilitySensor>
     );
 
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ describe("VisibilitySensor", function() {
         offset={{ top: 50 }}
         intervalDelay={10}
       >
-        <div style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} />
+        { () => <div style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} /> }
       </VisibilitySensor>
     );
 
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ describe("VisibilitySensor", function() {
         offset={{ top: -50 }}
         intervalDelay={10}
       >
-        <div style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} />
+        { () => <div style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} /> }
       </VisibilitySensor>
     );
 
@@ -340,6 +340,10 @@ describe("VisibilitySensor", function() {
         "visibilityRect" in props,
         "children should be called with visibilityRect prop"
       );
+      assert(
+        "getRef" in props,
+        "children should be called with getRef prop"
+      );
       return <div />;
     };
 
@@ -364,7 +368,7 @@ describe("VisibilitySensor", function() {
 
     var element = (
       <VisibilitySensor onChange={onChange}>
-        <div style={{ height: "0px", width: "0px" }} />
+        { () => <div style={{ height: "0px", width: "0px" }} /> }
       </VisibilitySensor>
     );
 
@@ -383,7 +387,7 @@ describe("VisibilitySensor", function() {
     var element = (
       <div style={{ display: "none" }}>
         <VisibilitySensor onChange={onChange}>
-          <div style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} />
+          { () => <div style={{ height: "10px", width: "10px" }} /> }
         </VisibilitySensor>
       </div>
     );
@@ -391,3 +395,86 @@ describe("VisibilitySensor", function() {
     ReactDOM.render(element, node);
   });
 });
+
+
+describe("VisibilitySensor with Container", function() {
+  var node;
+  var container;
+
+  beforeEach(function() {
+    node = document.createElement("div");
+    document.body.appendChild(node);
+
+    container = document.createElement('div');
+    document.body.appendChild(container);
+  });
+
+  afterEach(function() {
+    ReactDOM.unmountComponentAtNode(node);
+    document.body.removeChild(node);
+    document.body.removeChild(container);
+  });
+
+
+  it("should detect an absolutely positioned element inside the visible part of a container", function(done) {
+    var firstTime = true;
+    var onChange = function(isVisible) {
+      if (firstTime) {
+        assert.equal(isVisible, true, "Component is visible");
+        done();
+      }
+    };
+
+    container.style.width = 300
+    container.style.height = 300
+    container.style.position = 'relative'
+    container.style.overflow = 'hidden'
+
+    var element = <VisibilitySensor
+      onChange={onChange}
+      containment={container}
+      partialVisibility={true}
+    >{( { getRef } ) => (
+      <div ref={getRef()} style={{
+        position: "absolute",
+        left: "1px",
+        top: "1px",
+        height: "10px",
+        width: "10px",
+      }} />
+    )}</VisibilitySensor>
+
+    ReactDOM.render(element, node);
+  });
+
+  it("should not detect an absolutely positioned element outside the visible part of a container", function(done) {
+    var firstTime = true;
+    var onChange = function(isVisible) {
+      if (firstTime) {
+        assert.equal(isVisible, false, "Component is not visible");
+        done();
+      }
+    };
+
+    container.style.width = 300
+    container.style.height = 300
+    container.style.position = 'relative'
+    container.style.overflow = 'hidden'
+
+    var element = <VisibilitySensor
+      onChange={onChange}
+      containment={container}
+      partialVisibility={true}
+    >{( { getRef } ) => (
+      <div ref={getRef()} style={{
+        position: "absolute",
+        left: "400px",
+        top: "400px",
+        height: "10px",
+        width: "10px",
+      }} />
+    )}</VisibilitySensor>
+
+    ReactDOM.render(element, node);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/visibility-sensor.js b/visibility-sensor.js
index 067b3c4..4a346ce 100644
--- a/visibility-sensor.js
+++ b/visibility-sensor.js
@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@ export default class VisibilitySensor extends React.Component {
   constructor(props) {
     super(props);
 
+    this.node = React.createRef();
+
     this.state = {
       isVisible: null,
       visibilityRect: {}
@@ -83,7 +85,6 @@ export default class VisibilitySensor extends React.Component {
   }
 
   componentDidMount() {
-    this.node = ReactDOM.findDOMNode(this);
     if (this.props.active) {
       this.startWatching();
     }
@@ -94,9 +95,6 @@ export default class VisibilitySensor extends React.Component {
   }
 
   componentDidUpdate(prevProps) {
-    // re-register node in componentDidUpdate if children diffs [#103]
-    this.node = ReactDOM.findDOMNode(this);
-
     if (this.props.active && !prevProps.active) {
       this.setState({
         isVisible: null,
@@ -219,7 +217,7 @@ export default class VisibilitySensor extends React.Component {
    * Check if the element is within the visible viewport
    */
   check = () => {
-    const el = this.node;
+    const el = this.node && this.node.current;
     let rect;
     let containmentRect;
 
@@ -325,12 +323,35 @@ export default class VisibilitySensor extends React.Component {
   };
 
   render() {
-    if (this.props.children instanceof Function) {
-      return this.props.children({
+    const { children } = this.props;
+    const isFunction = children instanceof Function;
+
+    if (isFunction) {
+      let didAskForRef = false;
+      const getRef = () => {
+        didAskForRef = true;
+        return this.node;
+      };
+
+      const output = children({
         isVisible: this.state.isVisible,
-        visibilityRect: this.state.visibilityRect
+        visibilityRect: this.state.visibilityRect,
+        getRef: getRef
       });
+
+      // if the consumer doesn't use our getRef function, we'll wrap
+      // it in a node and apply the ref ourselves.
+      return didAskForRef ? output : <div ref={this.node}>{output}</div>;
     }
-    return React.Children.only(this.props.children);
+
+    if (!React.Children.count(children)) {
+      return <div ref={this.node} />;
+    }
+
+    console.warn(`[notice] passing children directly into the VisibilitySensor has been deprecated, and will be removed in the next major version.
+
+Please upgrade to the Child Function syntax instead: https://github.com/joshwnj/react-visibility-sensor#child-function-syntax`);
+
+    return <div ref={this.node}>{children}</div>;
   }
 }