What weighted blanket?

Any recommendations would be welcome, I run hot so the cooler the better for me. Thinking 8/9kg region as I’m 80kg.

3 years ago I got my wife a weighted blanket and she still says it’s the best present she’s ever had.
sleeps under it every night,
pretty sure it was a ‘Koala weighted blanket’.

best present

Cautionary tale about gifting these things. Someone I know half lost their shit when gifted one by a close friend (not me), thinking it was a suggestion that they had mental health problems.

Someone I know half lost their shit when gifted one by a close friend (not me), thinking it was a suggestion that they had mental health problems.

Thus proving that they had mental health problems?

Chainmail. Make your own and be the envy of your friends.

Weighted Blanket

It was that chainmail post that piqued my interest initially 😂

Got my wife kuddly as above, along with kuddly hoody. Does the job but don’t have anything to compare to, not sure if there’s good and bad ones!?

bookmarked for theothermrsv’s birthday

What’s the point of these?

I posted on another thread that my watch seems to think that my stress scores are higher at night than during the day. Would sleeping under one of these help?

Also, a few people mentioned getting these for a partner. How does that work if you share a bed?

Can’t you just offer to sleep on top of her?

Also, a few people mentioned getting these for a partner. How does that work if you share a bed?

You can buy in single size, and have different weights or one and none for example. We’ve debated upgrading to two duvets previously because apparently we both steal it in the night, and that’s how many do it on the continent anyway.

Also having read a bit, a single may be a better option as well because it then acts as a snuggling blanket on the sofa of an evening (could do with a double too except there’s a lot of material and weight in a double)

What’s the point of these?

I posted on another thread that my watch seems to think that my stress scores are higher at night than during the day. Would sleeping under one of these help?

IDK – it kind of rings my sceptic alarm, but there are plenty of resource and anecdotes that report the supposed benefits. And even if it’s placebo, my current sleep problems are in my head (recurrent bad dream, I’m now convinced it’s going to happen, often doesn’t but I’m sure the belief it will is preventing me getting a good night) – not saying this would solve it but if you can get placebo in reverse, IDC if it really works or just makes you think it’s working, it’s then working.

Weighted Blanket Benefits

Thanks @theotherjonv

roverpig
Full Member

What’s the point of these?

I posted on another thread that my watch seems to think that my stress scores are higher at night than during the day. Would sleeping under one of these help?

You know how lovely it is to be really wrapped in a blanket or duvet? Like, swaddled, a human dosa? For me it’s basically just like that but easier/more convenient. I’m sure there’s a bunch of psychology involved, like feeling protected or tucked in or maybe the woo is true and it’s a “return to the womb” thing but, I think for me it’s just that it’s really pleasant, it doesn’t need any more analysis than “warm beds are lovely and warm”.

It works for single-braincelled dogs so I don’t think it needs to be complicated

You know how lovely it is to be really wrapped in a blanket or duvet? Like, swaddled, a human dosa?

Sounds like a form of torture to me 😂

I find a wool duvet in a size bigger than your bed so that it hangs down the sides has a similar effect

How heavy is a wool duvet? They’re about 3x the price of a weighted overblanket, at least, but if we were replacing duvets anyway I’d consider it.

We have a double wool duvet and it is absolutely brilliant – not too hot in summer and not too cold in summer BUT it is nowhere near the weight of my daughters single weighted blanket if that helps?

My daughter likes her weighted blanket – apparently it is ‘really snuggly’…

I’ve bought 3 of these :

I bought some as presentsd althouogh got them back as the receiver didn’t like the heavy effect.

I initially did but not so sure at the moment, still use one as a snuggler on the sofa.

Washing/drying is an issue because of the weight – don’t want to tax the washing machine and tumble dryer too much – so I wash the inner in the bath by hand, squeeze as much water out as possible, suck some more out with a George hoover, then put on a rack with a dehumidifier working it’s drying magic.

If used over a duvet at night then a wool duvet is preferable because of their heat regulation – I would imagine that a down duvet would be more uncomfortable.

A heavy wool duvet wouldn’t be the same.

I thought I’d add some numbers to this thread in case there are any other geeks out there that like to see numbers.

I commented on another thread that, since getting a new watch, I’ve been frustrated by the low sleep scores (and high overnight stress scores) that it is recording. There is a whole other debate to be had about whether these numbers are actually that useful or not, but the result of the low scores was that the training features of the watch weren’t working. It just kept telling me to rest or do very gentle exercise. Also, if I’m honest I did think my sleep was getting worse (more awake periods and harder to get back to sleep).

Based on the comments above I thought I’d give a weighted blanket a try. Trying to decide which one was a bit of a challenge as there does seem to be a lot of what I’d call pseudo-science associated with these (as well as a large variation in price). For example, lots of sites tell you that a weight around 10% of your body weight is ideal, but this never seems to mention the large variation widths. A 7Kg blanket that is 100cm wide will put a lot more pressure on your body than the same weight blanket that is 150cm wide, for example and this never seems to get mentioned, which suggests that there is very little detailed science behind this “optimum weight”.

In the end I plumped for a 100cm wide 7kg blanket from Aeyla as something narrow enough not to disturb my wife and decent enough quality to hopefully not drop beads all over the bedroom floor.

First night with it I felt it was making a bit of a difference, but nothing dramatic. It’s not as though I suddenly slept like a baby or anything, but it felt comfortable and the sleep score was a bit higher than the previous night.

I’ve now had 16 nights sleeping under the blanket, so decided to compare the sleep scores with the 16 days immediately prior to its arrival.

For the 16 days before getting the blanket I recorded an average sleep score of 51 with a standard deviation of 10

For the 16 days since getting the blanket I recorded an average sleep score of 72 also with a standard deviation of 10

I ran a quick t-test (and no, I haven’t checked that the data are normally distributed 🙂 ) and the difference is highly significant (p<0.01)

I’ve had one low sleep score since getting the blanket. That was the night after a three-hour trail run but is also the only night so far where I have woken up in the middle of the night to find I was no longer under the blanket.

Overnight stress scores that used to be mostly in the orange (medium) zone are now mostly in the blue (rest) zone and I do feel a bit more rested. The watch is also now recommending much more ambitious training sessions.

So, there you are. Take it all with a pinch of salt. It’s only one short study, I’m not sure sleep scores (or overnight stress) as recorded on a watch really mean anything and it could all still be a placebo effect. But something measurable is happening and as somebody said earlier, sleep is all in the mind anyway.

TL:DR – Weighted blanket produces 40% improvement in sleep scores (p<0.01) 🙂

Thanks roverpig,I just nodded off reading that data,so something must be working 😉😊

As a follow up I got a good discount on a YnM bamboo 8kg one from Amazon. As with roverpig, its not a silver bullet for sleep but my sleep score has definately improved and really surprisingly its cooler than the lightweight summer duvet that I use so definitely a bonus during hot summer months.

🙂

Interested in one of these for mrs r, who struggles sleeping. can you get weighted overblankets – so we can still share the duvet, but she gets the extra weight on top?

I find a wool duvet in a size bigger than your bed so that it hangs down the sides has a similar effect

+1/-1

Didn’t know anything about weighted blankets, but used to throw a woolen blanket on top of the duvet when the nights are colder and found we slept well.

@nedrapier I could be wrong but I think the idea is that you have the blanket directly on top of an individual user and then the duvet on top of it if needed for warmth. At least that’s how I’m using it and it seems to be working.