Getting a decent night sleep is a bit of a challenge for me, especially since I’ve been at university. As a kid I could only sleep if I had pressure on my head, what often resulted in me curling into a ball in the middle of my bed half suffocating myself with the covers pilled on top of me. It wasn’t until I was 15 that I got out of this habit after a particularly hot summer resulted in me not being able to cover my whole body and head with a winter duvet. But five years later I still like having weight on me as I sleep, no matter how how it is.

When the time came for me to start shopping for university I made sure a thick duvet was on my shopping list, but I struggled to find one with the weight that my old one had. This issues made me think back to the previous year when I had been researching autism and I’d came across these things called weighted blankets. At the time I loved the sound of them, but the price tag put me off and I was doing just fine with my current duvet and blanket combo, so I never got one. But after researching it a bit more in the past few months as my moving day drew closer, I decided that this was a product that I was interested in and thought would benefit me.

In my final few months at work I put money aside to save up for my weighted blanket and a month before I moved, I ordered one.

How I chose my blanket

Not going to sugar coat it for a second, these things are expensive. I like to think of mine as a long term investment instead a one off product because there is no way I buying a second one of these any time soon. Due to them being so pricey, it’s important that you get one that is suitable for you and the only way to do that is to research them.

There are several places you can get your blanket from, Amazon, Ebay, companies who specialize in sensory products, Etsy or even make on yourself. It’s important that you do your own research because they are very personal products and what worked for one person might not work for you.

In the end, I went for a UK based shop on Etsy. They had good reviews, were open to conversation about their products, were happy to help you if you had questions and you could personalize your blanket a lot more than if I’d got one off amazon. Yes, there was a two to three week turn over for the blanket so I had to make sure I ordered in advance but that was ok. It’s also worth nothing that I’ll use Etsy where ever possible as I like to support small businesses, so I didn’t mind the long turn over because I understood I was purchasing from a small business.

The review

What I like about mine.

It’s good for bad nights– If I’m feeling particularly anxious or unsettles on a night, it’s very good at grounding me. Weighted blankets are often advertised as aids for people with anxiety, ADHD, insomnia and autism and from someone with generalized anxiety, I can say that for me it helps. People often describe the blanket as a hug, and whilst I don’t think that personally I can say that the weight does help you relax.

When hot nights come along– Going back to what I told you earlier on in the post, I still need weight on me at night to sleep properly and hot nights still cause an issue with this. Weighted blankets aren’t usually that thick what works amazingly for those hot nights. I can ditch my big winter blanket and just thrown my weighted one on me and I stay cool enough whilst having the weight.

Most can be personalized– Word of advice from me, if you can’t personalize the weight of your blanket then do NOT get it. The weight of the blanket is a very personal thing and you have to be careful to get the correct one. You should be getting on that should be a maximum of 10% of your body weight (you can have lighter if you want). I personalized the weight of mine down to 0.5KG what was super helpful and I love that you could get it down to such a specific weight where I brought mine. I could also have a say in the material color, fabric and filling. I knew I’d be using mine at university so I had sure to get on that fitted in with my room color scheme.

It’s not very bulky– I don’t use my blanket ever night (I’ll explain why later in the post) and to keep it fresh I prefer to put it away instead of it being on the end of the bed. I have glass beads in mine and as a result it packs away quite nicely, it just doesn’t take up loads of room when it’s not in use.

Some negatives

The price– This is by far the biggest negative, weighted blankets are pricey and I will go into why at the end of this post. I said earlier that I view mine as an investment and that’s the best way to view your blanket. If you want your mattress on your bed to last a good eight years then you buy a good one right? Yes you know you’re going to be paying more for it, but you weigh up the price to what a good quality mattress will offer you, and that’s years of comfortable sleep. Think of your blanket like that, it’s going to help you get a good night sleep for years to come so eventually it pays for itself.

You can’t try before you buy– This links in with the price issue, you don’t know if you’re going to like your blanket. I was quite confident in my purchase at the end of my research because I knew I liked weight to sleep, but not everyone will be this confident. These blankets are pricey and you can’t try one before you buy (unless you have a friend who is willing to lend you theirs) so it’s a bit of a gamble. Very few places will except returns and refunds either as the weight, and in my case fabric chose, was personalized to you. So yes, it’s a bit of a gamble with your purchase, especially because they’re a lot of money.

Things to note

I want to quickly go over some things I’ve discovered through using mine that I would have found helpful before I brought my blanket. I didn’t come across any of this information when I was researching, but they’re important things to note. They’re neither positives or negatives, just things worth considering before you buy

Have you got any preexisting medical conditions?– I’m not bringing up this topic to deter anyone but I can’t stress how important this one is. I suffer from chronic pain from my hips down and at night my feet tend to hurt more. If I’m lying on my back my heels hurt a lot more because of the extra weight from the blanket and I can’t sleep through the pain. This isn’t a major issue for me as I tend to sleep on my side but it did get me thinking because no one warned me about this in my research. If you have a medical condition that impacts you whilst you sleep or is triggered by pressure, maybe just check with your doctor before you buy one just to make sure that extra weight is going to be ok for you. They’re pricey blankets and it’d be a shame to spend all that money only to discover you can’t use it.

Do you want to wrap it over your shoulders?– I don’t know how common this is, but I can’t really wrap mine over my shoulders. Mine is 10% of my body weight what’s fantastic when I’m sleeping with it over me, but not when it’s slumped over my shoulders. I get pressure headaches very quickly what just makes me uncomfortable. I have no idea if this is a common issue or this is just my body being hyper sensitive (what it is), but if you’re getting one to wrap around you just do a bit more research on the correct eight for you.

You don’t need a massive size– The bigger your blanket is, the more money it’ll cost you. I thought I needed a blanket that was the same size as my duvet, what did come with quite a price tag. It was only by chance that I came across a quick mention on a forum that you didn’t need one that big. My blanket is 100cm x 150cm, so it’s smaller than my duvet and is smaller than my height (168cm). This is the perfect size for me, anything bigger would have been unnecessary and would have hung off my bed at night and most likely would have fallen off due to it’s own weight.

Final thoughts

Am I happy with my purchase?

Yes

Are they worth the price?

I think they are.

I researched how much it would be to make one myself as I have a sewing machine at home because I was put off by the price at first. If you want to make a fabric one it’s still going to be pretty pricey for all the materials and you’re not really going to be saving all that much money. The beads inside come with quite a postage cost if you’re to get them online and you’re buying a couple of meters of fabric. Not to mention you’ve then got to make the thing, ensuring all the individual pockets of beads weigh the same. Yes I could have made one, but being honest with you I think it wouldn’t have got fished. It would be sitting on my unfinished sewing pile at home. This being said, if you aren’t bothered about a fabric one, you can make one out of plastic sandwich bags and ductape and there are plenty of tutorials on how to do that on Pinterest. These DIY ones are a lot cheaper, but for me personally I just wouldn’t be happy with one like that.

Do I recommend them?

I would yes, but I’d still say it’s very important to do your own research. I am going to link where I got mine from, but I’d still say to shop around. These blankets are very personal things and what works for me as someone with anxiety might not work for someone with ADHD or insomnia. Just do your own research and you’ll be fine.

Where I got my blanket from: Sensory Owl

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed today’s post, I know it’s not often I do reviews on this blog.

My weighted blanket is something that I use often and has really benefited my sleep, it’s a product I can get behind so I wanted to share it with you all. Just to be clear though, I brought my blanket with my own money and this is 100% my own opinions. Yes I’ve linked the store I got mine from but they didn’t know I was a blogger or that I would be reviewing their product on my blog. So be assured that this is all my own opinions and this is a product I truly believe in. 

If you liked this post be sure to sick around and subscribe, I’d love to welcome you into this community I have on my blog. Let me know as well if you have a weighted blanket, do you agree with my points? Have I missed anything out? Do you think your blanket is worth the money? 

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Apologies for the lower quality photos for this post and how ugly the breeze block walls are in the photos. I haven’t been at uni all that long and I’m still working out how to make the most out of the poor lighting in my room. I have a nice big wall tapestry on order to cover up that bland wall too.

Take care guys, I’ll see you all in my next post.