An Earth-Minded Weighted Blanket for Anxiety & Sleep Troubles

Post Summary: Using eco-friendly, anxiety-soothing weighted blankets in three different environments around the Cottage.

I’ve grappled with anxiety and sleep for years. In February, I unexpectedly had a breakthrough with both struggles and enjoyed a blissful month or so of healthier sleep and manageable stress. But shortly thereafter came the global and national upheavals that our society continues to navigate together (albeit disturbingly divided), and my short-lived nightly progress evaporated. (I should note here that I’m not complaining— merely sharing. There are countless front-line and essential workers who are feeling depleted, and most families are beyond the point of exhaustion as we roll through months 8-9 of this pandemic.)

I’m back to being up most of the night, wading through individual and worldly issues in my mind. But now I’m also trying to be mindful of the sleep positions recommended during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy. To keep a baby safer in the womb, it’s advised that the mother sleep on her left side as much as possible. Unfortunately, due to some long-standing injuries, I can’t quite hold that position for too long, which then sparks my concern for the wellbeing of my baby.

One soothing technique I’d never tried until recently was using a weighted blanket. Weighted blankets have been medically proven to aid naturally deeper sleep cycles, as the blanket’s evenly-dispersed weight over the body stimulates the production of serotonin, reduces cortisol, and increases melatonin. All of this can help with falling asleep, and staying asleep. (The falling asleep is no problem for me— it’s the staying asleep that’s the real hurdle.)

We try to be mindful of everything we bring into our home, so I was pleased to discover these “Nappers,” which use zero plastic in composition and packaging. They’re GOTS, BCI, OEKO-Tex 100 and Fair Trade-certified, made of organic cotton that’s naturally breathable, 100% biodegradable, and uses 85% less water than conventional farming methods, while being free from harmful chemicals, pesticides, synthetics, or artificial softeners.

The Nappers live up to their name, as they’ve certainly helped me catch up on sleep for an hour here and there throughout the day. At night, Sophee somehow manages to drag the blanket off of me so she can cocoon herself within it— an impressive feat, as it’s 15 pounds.

We’ve yet to experience any snagging or warping of the hand-knitted material, which doesn’t seem to cling to dog hair the way many other fibers do. (I’ve noticed the same thing with my clothing made of TENCEL. While it doesn’t entirely repel pet hair, it is much more forgiving.)

More photos are below.

To the readers who are wrestling with anxiety and sleep, I hope this helps!

Note: This post was not sponsored, but the two blankets pictured were gifted as part of a paid IGTV collaboration with Bearaby.

Built-In Bed Refresh

Now that West is accustomed to sleeping in his “big kid bed” (wail!), Adam and I felt like it was time for a refresh of our built-in bed. All of the linens here weather a daily storm of heavy use— in part due to the realities of life with a toddler and two pups, but also due to the small size of our home. As inches decrease, use of each and every space increases. As such, the bed takes on numerous roles throughout the day before being slept in all night, so our bedding has to be durable as well as beautiful.

Additionally, we strive to use ethically-produced and natural products as often as possible, so we also wanted to modify our bedding with this in mind.

In our search for the perfect fit for our needs and preferences, we decided to upgrade our bedding with Rough Linen.

I’ve purchased a few items from Rough Linen in the recent past. After years of using the same two traditional bath towels, Adam and I finally needed replacements, so we purchased and fell in love with Rough Linen’s waffle-weave towels.

We also got a linen runner, which fits our compact table like a full tablecloth, and a child’s apron for West.

After feeling and using these items in the kitchen, bath, and living room for a couple of months, I knew I also wanted to introduce Rough Linen to our bedroom. We started out with a lightweight, Raw Edge Linen Summer Cover, which we thought would work perfectly for our SoCal home. (And we soon discovered during a rainy day that the cover doubles splendidly as a toddler fort with the help of some oversized wooden clips.)

We added some standard pillow shams with invisible zippers, which I prefer over buttons or a typical envelope-style version. The design is so clean and minimal, which sings to me.

Lastly, we got a linen coverlet. (I’m not a fan of duvets.) The coverlet is simple but elegant, rich with texture and slightly naturally varying tones It’s dry clean only, but I expect that its high quality combined with the ease of washing the summer cover that we drape over it will make it easy to maintain.

We added some more variegated english ivy plants to the bookshelf to bring the built-in to life. I simply placed a slim porcelain plate beneath each to collect water and protect the wood.

The central plant in the Ollie Ella Hanging Book Basket on the headboard is still snug in its nursery pot, and wrapped in a waterproof liner.

I miss how West used to fall asleep with us here every night. I don’t think I would have ever been ready for that to end, but HE was ready.

He’s so happy in his big kid bed. And Adam and I are delighted with our newly upgraded bed, too.