The Best Weighted Blanket for Seniors

It’s hard enough to get our needs met when we’re young and active. It’s pretty hard to get needs met as mature adults. Weighted blankets use “pressure therapy” to calm anxiety and impart a feeling of well-being.

The best weighted blanket for seniors is the Mosaic Navy Minky Weighted Blanket in either the “throw” or the “twin” size.  Mosaic is a superior blanket brand, and this blanket is especially soft to the touch. The exterior is super soft and comforting to the touch. The individual weighted squares sewn inside give you the feeling of being hugged.

Why I Like Mosaic Weighted Blankets

Mosaic’s founder Laura LeMond has a sensory processing disorder that makes it difficult for her to experience the sense of touch. She hasn’t lost the need for touch that all humans have.

It’s just that she has an adverse reaction to it. Needing but not being able to get touched led her to invent her Mosaic Weighted Blanket.

The science behind weighted blankets is overwhelming. These are blankets that calm us when we’re stressed, and help us sleep when we’re lying awake at night. The magic comes from the combination of a soft blanket exterior and an evenly-spaced weighting system inside.

The heaviness of the blanket tells the body “you’re being hugged.” Feeling hugged under the Mosaic blanket produces the same endorphins we experience during an actual hug. The blanket is especially useful for stressed seniors and seniors with insomnia. Using the blanket creates a calmness that lowers anxiety and helps us to fall asleep.

The weighted blanket really helps with sun downing, and the 5-8pm crying period some elders experience. “My mom says that she feels like someone is always touching her.”

— Laura Lemond, Mosaic Weighted Blankets

How to Choose a Weighted Blanket for a Senior

Anyone from a child to a senior can use a weighted blanket, but seniors should take into account a few rules when choosing their weighted blanket. Pay attention to  these three features to make sure the blank is right for you (or your mom or dad):

1. the blanket size
2. the blanket weight
3. incontinence protection

Just in general for the whole population, the general rule for the weighted blanket is buying one that is 10% of the user’s body weight. If you weight 150 lb., get a 15 lb. blanket. But if there are strength issues, it’s OK to choose a lighter weight blanket. You still get the benefits,

The maximum blanket size should be the width and length of the bed. It should not drape over the sites. That extra blanket doesn’t help the user, and adds weight overall. Another option is a “throw blanket” size. Large enough to cuddle under, but smaller than the bed for couch it’s on.

Many people with king size beds will get a twin size weighted blanket to cover just the person, not the whole bed. A smaller blanket works well in a chair or on the couch, too. Finally, think about washing the blanket in the case of accidents. The Mosaic “Hospital Grade” weight blanket protects the washable cover from accidents.