Why should I get a weighted toy?
If you or someone you love suffers with a learning disability, autism, mental health problems, bereavement, anxiety, loneliness, grievance, sensory processing disorder, mental health disabilities like bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder or other conditions, then weighted toys can help. Read on to learn about the benefits of weighted cuddly toys!
How do weighted toys help?
Weighted toys help with a lot of different health benefits. Weighted toys help the proprioceptive input, creating calm and providing comfort. Think of it as a firm, reassuring hug that helps you feel grounded and safe during a period of overwhelm. Having a weighted toy can give you a constant sense of companionship and reassurance.
The general theory behind weighted toys is the added weight can offer deep pressure touch, which is thought to calm the nervous system and trigger the release of dopamine and serotonin. The deep pressure stimulated by the additional weight of the toy triggers a neurological response, activating your child’s network of nerves that helps relax the body. This helps ease the body, slowing down the heart rate, relaxing tense muscles, and prompting an array of chemical reactions in the body that bring about a sense of calm and comfort.
Weighted toys produce a firm, gentle pressure that is applied to the body that relaxes the nervous system. The additional weight of the toy triggers a neurological response, activating the network of nerves that relaxes your body after periods of stress. Weighted toys are fluffy companions that can be a source of warmth that can help them feel better and heal faster.
Thanks to this, the weighted toy has a calming effect, helping your attention span. They can help with reducing the negative effects of overwhelming stimuli within your child’s environment and reducing excessive fidgeting and are ideal for use in the classroom, at reading time, at the dinner table or in the car. Weighted toys are a perfect companion for both children who settle down after a reassuring cuddle or are sensitive to other people’s touch.
Weighted toys are also portable. You can carry them around with you! They’re the appropriate size for children for them to carry around during class or during a short drive to the store. Alongside the benefit of weight, there is also the extra sensory input of the fabric as well as the fact they are just regular looking soft toys.
Can weighted toys help with stress?
When cuddling something soft and comforting, levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) are greatly lowered by physical contact. The comfort of hugging the toy releases oxytocin. Oxytocin contributes to relaxation, trust, psychological stability, and reduction of stress responses, including anxiety. Weighted stuffed animals do the same thing!
For children, stuffed animals can relieve stress by entertaining them. Stuffed animals provide a distraction. Hugging a teddy bear is good for you!
Many studies have shown that a comfort object like a teddy bear increases emotional wellbeing, coping skills, resilience, self-esteem and sleep because the object triggers self-soothing behaviour.
Can they help with sleep issues?
For children, transitional objects such as weighted toys can provide comfort as they transition from dependence to independence at night. Toys provide a sense of comfort and safety for those who use them.
Studies have shown that the use of a weighted toy helps decrease the amount of time taken for ADHD sufferers to fall asleep at night.
Will they help calm me down?
When you or your child are holding or playing with a weighted toy, they are receiving the benefits of deep touch pressure therapy through their tactile senses.
The sensory response triggers the brain to release dopamine, helping to regulate your child’s mood. Dopamine will bring about a sense of calm while also providing feelings of motivation, reward and happiness. If you or your child struggles with ADHD, low moods, lack of motivation, autism, mental health issues like depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, weighted toys can help keep you grounded and provide a calm, comfortable feeling.
Weighted toys can help with grounding. Grounding is a wonderful technique that can help with many issues. Grounding techniques are really beneficial for people with the mentioned struggles.
Should I get a weighted toy if I’m an adult?
Yes, yes, yes!
You should not be ashamed to have a stuffed toy as a source of comfort. As an adult myself, I absolutely love having plush toys. Around 44% of adults still have their childhood toys and as many as 34% of adults still sleep with a cuddly toy every night!
So yes! Life can be hard, having something for comfort is so important. Weighted toys provide emotional comfort, they help with negative feelings, and they give us a sense of security.
Can weighted toys help heal from trauma?
Yes! For adults, a weighted toy can help heal past trauma. They can help with “re-parenting” (when an adult works to meet their own emotional or physical needs that went unmet in their childhood.)
Weighted toys can allow children to practice emotional regulations without being afraid that they will be punished or suppressed. They also assist children in learning to be independent and cope with separation anxiety.
Weighted toys also help children with trauma by giving them the comfort they may need. The child can learn to love and care for the toy unconditionally and, in turn, themselves. The teddy bear will provide them with an outlet for expressing loving emotions and boost their low self-esteem. Stuffed animals can provide a distraction, whether a child's stress emanates from fear, an identified illness, loss or pain.
Cuddling an object can help release feel-good chemicals in the brain, which produces comfort. It releases dopamine and serotonin, otherwise known as happy hormones. The result of this is our heart rate slows down and our breathing becomes steady, which makes us feel calmer and less anxious. This can be hugely beneficial in the case of trauma or grief.
Any transition is difficult, especially if it’s related to trauma. Weighted toys and other items that children use as transitional objects help them self-regulate in many ways
Do weighted toys help with anxiety?
Indeed, they do! Weighted toys can be used as a therapeutic tool in reducing anxiety. They won't cure anxiety, but they can help with the physical symptoms of anxiety, like muscle aches and tension, rapid breathing, increased heart rate and trembling.
Weighted toys provide a deep pressure touch stimulation on the skin that releases both serotonin and dopamine, substances that can help improve mood and sleep, reduce anxiety and stress, and promote a feeling of calmness. A weighted toy helps ground you and feeds the proprioceptive input and disrupts the behaviour, creating calm and providing comfort.
They can help ease anxiety symptoms. Weighted stuffed animals work the same way a hug does; it settles and calms the nervous system with deep pressure stimulation. When you use them, your brain releases serotonin and dopamine. Not only is dopamine great at reducing anxiety in children, but when coupled with the release of serotonin, it can also increase attention span and improve overall cognitive function.