This pandemic has managed to fuck up my sleeping habits so bad that last January I finally caved and bought myself a weighted blanket.
When the pandemic started last year, I naively thought that it would just blow over. Stupid, I know, but at the time I honestly thought that the whole covid-19 thing would be contained (like SARS), and we’d all be normal by the end of 2020. But of course, it wasn’t and then Manila went into a lockdown that lasted almost half a year. It was around this time when I noticed something…weird.
I was having odd dreams and my sleep schedule was shot. I kept waking up at odd hours although to be fair, I was also going to bed at odd hours. The dreams were weird mostly because I’ve never really been the type to wake up remembering them. And these were fucked up dreams, let me tell you. The weirdest one was of me and an officemate finding a bloody appendage on the sidewalk (I blame Bailey Sarian for that one; I was bingeing her Murder, Mystery and Make Up Mondays videos at that time).
Anyway, I tried to create a sleeping schedule and while I was going to bed at the same time (roughly) and waking up at the same time (roughly), I still had a hard time sleeping through the entire night. This lasted for months until last January when I cracked and finally checked out that weighted blanket that had been in my Lazada cart for months.
It was a leap of faith because I am a cheapskate and that thing costs 3,800PHP + shipping.
First Night
After unwrapping it and disinfecting with Lysol (because, you know, pandemic), I used it just like how I would use my regular flat sheet. I’m not going to lie; it was one of the worst nights’ sleep of my life. The weighted blanket was so heavy that it felt like I was being pinned down. It was such a pain to lift it over me when I shifted positions. I knew that I was out of shape but the fact that I was struggling to lift it at all was just embarrassing.
First Week
Because I am prideful and I refused to acknowledge defeat, I decided to give it another go the following night. Everybody on YouTube was raving about having a weighted blanket, surely, they’re not all lying?
The second night was better in that I did manage to sleep that night. The weighted blanket still felt heavy and oppressive though. I still woke up a couple of times during that night, but the quality of sleep was definitely better than normal. I usually woke up groggy but that morning I felt rested enough to actually work out.
It wasn’t until the sixth time using the weighted blanket that I actually slept through the night (props to me for perseverance LOL) and let me tell you that it probably was the best night’s sleep that I’ve had in years. For the first time in a long time and I actually felt well rested. I usually would need to hit snooze about half a dozen times before actually getting up, but this week I found it easy to jump out of bed when the alarm rang.
I felt very vindicated that my purchase wasn’t a complete fail. I knew those youtubers wouldn’t let me down!
After Four Months
I’ve been using the weighted blanket since January and here are my thoughts:
1. I still sometimes wake up in the middle of the night even though I’m using it but I find it easier to get back to sleep afterwards
2. I don’t find it heavy to lift now, lol. I guess sleeping with this weighted blanket also doubles as a workout.
3. This particular weighted blanket is made of a rayon blend that makes it cool to touch
4. I don’t use it every night though and that brings me to-
Downsides
1. I can use it during the cooler months but there’s no way that I would be able to sleep with a weighted blanket in the summer months of Manila (unless I turn on the AC)
2. While it says on the tag that the rayon material is easy to clean, I still don’t know how to wash the weighted blanket. And since it didn’t come with a cover, I had to improvise and use my flat sheet as a cover that I change weekly.
3. It’s a pain to store if you’re not using it. Right now, because it’s too hot, I just park it folded at the foot of my bed because I have no more space in my closet. If you’re thinking of buying, you should have a dedicated space for the weighted blanket when it’s not in use.
Verdict
Despite the downsides though, I would say that buying the weighted blanket from Lazada is worth it. My quality of sleep has improved greatly because of this thing and I would highly recommend it to anybody suffering from sleep disturbances.
This is the link to the weighted blanket that I bought but I think it’s sold out right now (it goes in and out of stock):
Here’s a bunch of other links of the available weighted blankets on Lazada.ph right now if you’re interested in buying one:
