Do weighted blankets help you sleep better?

Weighted blankets have change into a preferred bedtime accent, praised for his or her potential to scale back nervousness and assist individuals sleep extra soundly. However do they actually work? Current analysis affords a blended image.

How weighted blankets work

Weighted blankets are designed to supply deep stress stimulation — a mild, even stress throughout the physique. The blankets are crammed with supplies corresponding to glass beads or chains so as to add weight.

That stress is thought to activate the physique’s parasympathetic nervous system, which helps us calm down. It might additionally encourage the discharge of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that influences sleep and temper, whereas reducing the stress hormone cortisol.

On a psychological stage, the feeling can create a sense of consolation and safety, which can clarify why some individuals discover them soothing.

What the analysis reveals

To this point, research on weighted blankets have produced blended outcomes, particularly on the subject of enhancing sleep.

In adults
A 2024 examine published in BMC Psychiatry discovered that adults with insomnia who used weighted blankets for one month reported considerably higher sleep high quality than these utilizing regular blankets. In addition they noticed enhancements in daytime sleepiness, stress, nervousness, fatigue and bodily ache.

One other randomized managed examine published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine discovered that weighted blankets decreased the severity of insomnia and improved daytime signs amongst adults with situations corresponding to melancholy, bipolar dysfunction, attention-deficit/hyperactivity dysfunction (ADHD), and generalized nervousness dysfunction.

A 2024 scoping review concluded that there’s extra proof to help the in a single day use of weighted blankets amongst adults in contrast with youngsters. Amongst adults, there have been reported enhancements not solely in sleep but in addition in temper, remedy use and ache.

In youngsters
The analysis is much less clear. A 2024 study of kids adopted from foster care discovered no proof that weighted blankets improved sleep. The authors famous that youngsters’s preliminary enthusiasm for the blankets might have recommended a possible placebo impact.

Nevertheless, another study discovered that youngsters with ADHD who used weighted blankets persistently for 16 weeks had fewer reported sleep issues than youngsters who didn’t persist with the intervention.

A large randomized controlled study of kids with autism spectrum dysfunction discovered no measurable enhancements in sleep length or onset, regardless that mother and father and youngsters reported preferring the weighted blankets.

Are weighted blankets secure?

For many wholesome adults, weighted blankets are thought of secure when used correctly. The principle rule: they shouldn’t be too heavy. If you happen to battle to maneuver the blanket or really feel restricted, it’s an excessive amount of weight.

Folks with sure medical situations, corresponding to respiratory points, sleep apnea or poor circulation, ought to keep away from them. Pregnant girls and anybody who feels claustrophobic below stress also needs to skip weighted blankets.

For youngsters, it’s particularly necessary to make use of a blanket made for his or her dimension and weight. It ought to be straightforward to take away, by no means cowl a toddler’s face, and by no means be used with out supervision. All the time examine with a pediatrician earlier than introducing one.

For infants, weighted blankets are unsafe — interval.
The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly warns against utilizing weighted blankets, swaddles or sleepers for infants. These merchandise pose a suffocation danger and may by no means be positioned close to a sleeping toddler.

In 2024, main retailers together with Amazon, Goal and Babylist introduced they might cease promoting weighted toddler sleep merchandise following AAP recommendations.

The underside line

Weighted blankets might assist some adults sleep higher, however they’re not a cure-all. The proof for youngsters is much less convincing, and security issues imply they need to by no means be used for infants.

If you happen to’re curious, talk about together with your doctor if it’s value attempting one. Simply make certain it’s the correct weight and used safely. Weighted blankets might assist with leisure, however good sleep nonetheless will depend on healthy habits and routines.

Medical assessment by Katherine Moawad, DO