Can not sleep at night? Seeking for a natural, non-drug treatment for insomnia, anxiety, stress, ADHD? You should consider adding a weighted blanket to your household items.
Weighted blankets were once prescribed by therapists and psychiatrists to help people with conditions such as ADHD and anxiety, but now weighted blankets have gone from a therapeutic tool for those on the spectrum to hot commodity among sleep-deprived millennials. The reason for this mass acceptance is because more and more people have realized they are great in helping overcome typical sleep issues and anxieties.
How does weighted blanket work?
Weighted blankets are specially designed to be heavier than standard blankets, varies from 5 to 25 lbs. It has compartments weighted with various types of objects such as plastic pellets or glass beads. Weighted blankets are engineered to be 10-12% of your body weight to relax the nervous system by simulating the feeling of being held or hugged, that is called Deep Touch Pressure Therapy (DTPT). The concept isn’t new, it follows along with the idea of how it feels good to receive the gentle squeeze of a hug. In the same way that swaddling a baby or holding a child tends to relax the nervous system, the pressure applied to the body through the use of a weighted blanket may work in a therapeutic manner for children and adults.
Below are the main benefits that the weighted blankets can help children and adults with:
● Reduce Anxiety. Weighted blankets can help reduce anxiety in children and adults. Weighted blankets help ground your body during sleep by pushing it down. This process, known as “grounding”; can have a profoundly calming effect.
● Reduce Depression. By providing a touch of deep pressure, weighted blankets can promote relaxation and help break this cycle (Depression). This can trigger the release of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, which are hormones that feel well produced in the brain. These hormones help fight stress, anxiety, and depression.
● Enhance sleep quality. You get a better quality of sleep, thanks to this extra weight spread throughout the blanket, our brain has a different sensory perception than usual and feels more comfortable.
● Help combat ADHD symptoms. A lot of children with ADHD use weighted blankets to calm themselves after school or during therapy sessions or to relax and fall asleep. The use of a weighted blanket in those children is based on the mechanism that has the blanket to use the pressure. The pressure of the blanket is distributed evenly throughout the body, which according to some research can provide relief of anxiety and stress to people with sleeping problems.
How to choose the best-weighted blanket
As we mentioned above, weighted blankets have a lot of benefits, but the price of weighted blankets is expensive. The celebrity-endorsed versions are well over $200. People who have tried and tested the weighted blanket only has praises except for maybe a higher price than your usual blanket. Also unlike the regular blankets, weighted blankets are made to fit the BODY and not the BED, so you have to consider a few things before you place an order for the expensive blankets. If you are puzzled what to purchase, don’t worry, here are some tips to help you to make a decent purchase.
- Choose the right weight. As a general rule of thumb, we recommend roughly 10-12% of your weight as the starting point. For example, 15 lbs blanket is suitable for 90-150 lbs individual, 20 lbs blanket is suitable for 150-200 lbs individual.
- Choose the right size. Follow the instructions provided by the sellers. For example, according to the guideline of YnM weighted blanket, 48”x72” for a twin bed, 60”x80” for a queen bed, the size 48”x72” may be too short for people tall than 5’5″ and too narrow for people like tossing and turning on the bed. A twin, queen or king-size weighted blanket is much smaller than twin, queen or king-size regular blanket.
- Choose the type of fabric. The blankets are made of different materials, which offer a different weight and thus heat. For children’s use, the weighted blanket made of fleece or Minky can bring a warm, cozy and tactile environment. Also, you can choose the weighted blanket made of breathable cotton if you like to sleep at a certain temperature.
- Consider the inner filling. Generally, weighted blankets use one of the three following fillers: Sand & Rice, Poly Pellets and Glass Beads. No doubt, glass beads is the best one. Glass beads provide the smoothest weight distribution as the weight of each individual bead is nearly identical and they don’t bunch up. Plus they are perfectly rounded and won’t damage the inner layers at all.
- Don’t forget duvet covers. Duvet Covers is that you can buy to go over your blanket. It holds the weight of the blanket without ripping the seams like a tie on would do. Having a Duvet Cover will cut down on the washing of your weighted blanket and personally I think is worth the extra cost.
- See what others say about the weighted blankets. People who have hands-on experience with the product will be able to give you the best insight into the quality of the product. You can trust the sellers with a lot of good reviews, such as YnM Weighted Blanket, who got 4.4 out of 5 stars and over 3000 customer reviews on Amazon.
There are numerous vendors selling weighted blankets on Amazon. Among them, YnM weighted blankets were rated as Top 10 by many professional sleep websites and mainstream news outlets, including Forbes, Time, WebMD and Healthline., etc.
YnM offers high-quality weighted blankets specifically made to provide a calming, soothing sensation that can help you feel more relaxed and get a restful night’s sleep.
With the following features, YnM stands out among peers:
● Unique 7-layers. These unique layers by YnM are designed to comfortably surround your body and form to your shape while you sleep. When you lie underneath the blanket you will notice that it molds incredibly well to the shape of your body. This ‘hugging’ sensation feels very calming and not only helps you get to sleep faster, but also helps you to sleep better throughout the night too.
● Premium construction. YnM Blanket is made from super-soft, 100% cotton-fabric filled with hypo-allergenic, non-toxic, odorless and premium micro glass beads. MORE glass beads & LESS fiberfill design offers better temperature control.
● No weight bunching. YnM blanket is filled with thinner than average polyfill and premium glass beads, which are evenly distributed throughout the blanket pockets. That means no bunching up of stuffing or shaking your blanket out in the morning to get it all even again.
● Come in many sizes and weight variants. YnM blanket is available in five different sizes and nine weight options from 5 to 25 pounds.
● Separately sold duvet covers available. The duvet cover is available in three materials(Cotton, Minky, Bamboo)and four colors each.
● Best price. While most weighted blankets are sold on Amazon for over $150, the price for YnM Blanket is under US$100, the best deal you can find on Amazon.
● 100% customer satisfaction. Within three years, and will provide a free mending service, even if your YnM blanket is damaged unexpectedly.
Weighted blankets are an easy, all-natural way to improve your mood, lower stress levels, and fall asleep faster. They use the same concept as swaddling, the constant pressure against the skin provides a womb-like feeling, which naturally causes the body to relax and stay relaxed. If you suffer from sensory disorder, autism, anxiety, depression, and even insomnia, the YnM Weighted Blanket may have the potential to change the way you sleep at night.