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A $250 Weighted Blanket Won't Cure All of Your Sleep Woes

Of course, $250 is a lot of money to spend on a blanket—even a really nice one. You could approximate the sensation by sleeping beneath a pile of clean-but-not-yet-folded laundry, or the collection of Beanie Babies you thought you’d sell on eBay one day. You could even stack up a pile of regular, non-gravity blankets and lie beneath that, creating a sort of “bed lasagna.” The Gravity Blanket certainly looks lovely unfurled on a bed, but you don't need to pay $250 to refine your sleep hygiene. Bury me under all the soft things I own and I’ll sleep just fine.

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Featured

 The Best Cooling Weighted Blankets for Hot Sleepers

Enjoy the benefits of a weighted blanket without fear of sweating the bed.

Articles of Interest

The Seductive Confinement of a Weighted Blanket in an Anxious Time

There are some studies on the scientific workings of weighted blankets, although a few of them were funded by companies that produce weighted blankets. The Swedish company Somna AB underwrote a 2015 paper in the Journal of Sleep Medicine & Disorders, which found that consistent and evenly distributed sensory pressure “can reduce physiological levels of arousal”—in this context, a good thing—and that weighted blankets reduced movement during sleep.

Best Weighted Blankets: How to Find the Perfect One for You

For those dealing with anxiety, stress, or just needing a little extra heft to their covers, weighted blankets are a godsend. Warm, comforting, and such a simple idea that it’s hard to believe they’ve only recently become popular, their only issue is that there’s so many out there, it can be tough to know where to start.

Can Weighted Blankets Help Insomnia or Autism?

Products might also calm children with anxiety, attention disorders

Do the Benefits of Weighted Blankets Live Up to the Hype?

As long as the pitter-patter of thoughts in my brain pick up at bedtime, I’ll keep my weighted blanket close. It’s not a cure-all, but as Dr. Barone points out, it doesn’t hurt and may help.

Do Weighted Blankets Work for Insomnia or Anxiety?

I prepared to fall into the deepest slumber I’d ever had. This is what happened instead.

How heavy should a weighted blanket be?

Weighted blankets are generally designed to fit your body, not your bed, just you. So choose a blanket that fits you to get the best therapeutic benefits possible. They’re not meant for sharing unless you're looking for a blanket that fits two people

How Heavy Should a Weighted Blanket Be?

A general guideline when deciding on how heavy your blanket should be is to multiply the user’s body weight by 10% and add 1-2 lbs. depending on preference. For example, a 50-lb child would be given a 5-lb. weighted blanket on the low end and a 7-lb. blanket on the high end.

How to Make a DIY Weighted Blanket

Weighted blankets are a high-ticket item, and that's for good reason: they're touted as somewhat of a miracle cure for problems like sleeplessness and anxiety, and you know that if you suffer from sleeplessness and/or anxiety, you're willing to do a lot to find some relief! Unfortunately, as pricey as weighted blankets are, they're still not always made with great ingredients. Polyester fabrics and plastic pellets are crummy for the environment--seriously, we do not need more plastic (especially plastic pellets!) in our waste stream--and I'm not gonna blame you if you don't feel like sleeping every night with that nonsense draped all over your skin, either.

I Tried Sleeping Under a Weighted Blanket to Cure My Insomnia

A stressful thought alone can sabotage your sleep, so whatever reduces your stress could also reduce your sleepless nights. You probably don't need a $100 blanket.

If You Need Me, I’ll Be Under This Weighted Blanket

I’ll admit it took me a while to hop on board the weighted blanket train. Not because I doubted its powers—I know the benefits are more anecdotal than scientific, but I could clearly see the allure of burying myself beneath a very heavy, very fuzzy blanket.

I’m in Love—With a Weighted Blanket

Heavy comforters promise to alleviate stress and promote sleep. But sometimes you just need a hug. We’re getting squishy to the point of gooey, unrecognizable to prior generations made from flinty, harder stock. I know I should toughen up. But I don’t care. I’m under my weighted blankie, and nobody can bother me here.

The best $95 I ever spent: a weighted blanket for my anxiety-induced insomnia

It didn’t cure my anxiety, but it did provide a stopgap. In the medical community, weighted blankets and vests can be seen as an extension of deep touch therapy. Our bodies react naturally to firm and deliberate touch by releasing oxytocin and decreasing cortisol levels. Deep touch therapy, once consisting of placing users in “squeeze machines,” has since been developed. It can involve the use of weighted blankets and vests for children with special needs, including autism and ADHD, as well as treatment for college students and adults with anxiety and sensory processing disorders.

The Gravity Blanket promises a ‘gentle, loving embrace’ - but will it help me sleep?

Not everyone will respond in the same way to the product – you know your own legs – so it’s hard to make a blanket judgment. Which obviously makes my job awkward. But if you’re looking for an extra-soft hug, some incredibly mild BDSM, or just the thrill of undercover couscous, there’s much here to love. I’m lightly depressed, and highly impressed.

The Problem With This Year’s Most Comfortable Holiday Fad

Weighted blankets began as a coping device in the special-needs community. Now the Instagram-shopping masses can’t get enough of them.

This Weighted Blanket Is the Best Purchase I've Made Thus Far

It's the soothing embrace I need to cradle me into sleep.

We Love to Be Smushed

Heavy bedding is everywhere. Does it work?

Weighted Blankets for Sounder Sleep?

A Swedish study found that men and women with depression or other mental health ills slept better when using the popular therapeutic aids.

Weighted Blankets: Benefits, Do They Actually Work and Are They Worth The Money?

Some claim weighted blankets decrease anxiety and promote a better night's sleep, but do they hold up against studies and can you justify the price tag?

What the science actually says about weighted blankets

Studies are scarce, but experts still recommend them wholeheartedly.

Resources

10 ways to use a weighted blanket

Most people use a weighted blanket for sleep. But they are the perfect calming tool that can be used during the day when you're on the couch to unwind. Try wrapping yourself up like a burrito after a long day of work.