TikTokers have gone wild for a new sleep hygeine trend that involves wrapping yourself up in a cloth before bedtime, akin to how you might swaddle a baby.
According to advocates, sleeping this way boasts a number of health benefits, including easing anxiety, improving posture and more restful sleep.
Dubbed ‘adult swaddling’ it involves being wrapped from head to toe, lying in the foetal position and being gently rocked or rolled around.
Fans of the trend say it works to relax you by stimulating touch receptors in the deep layers of the skin.
Activation of these specific nerve cells is known to promote feelings of calm.
TikTok has gone wild for the new sleep craze of ‘adult swaddling’, which involves wrapping yourself in a cloth for bedtime
Experts say while there is little scientific proof it works to help improve sleep, it could stimulate the relaxation-inducing receptors under the skin.
On TikTok, hundreds of clips show young women hugging themselves with stretchy cloth before tucking themselves into bed.
In one video a user claims her swaddle blanket has been ‘the solution to years of sleeping issues and insomnia’.
Swaddling is said to be beneficial due to the principles of deep touch pressure (DTP).
This supposedly induces a calming feeling through gentle compression, rather than sheer weight alone.
‘The link between touch and arousal is well established,’ Dr Stacey Reynolds, an expert on DTP at the Virginia Commonwealth University told the New York Times.
‘There are receptors in our skin and body around our muscles and joints that respond to either light touch or deeper touch.
‘Light touch, like a tickle or the sensation of a bug crawling across your skin, tends to be more alerting and arousing, whereas deep touch receptors tend to elicit more of an overall calming effect.’
It’s thought that adult swaddling takes its inspiration from the traditional Japanese practice of Otonamaki, which involves being tied up in a large cloth in aid of improving posture.
Otonamaki, meaning ‘adult wrapping’ is thought to be where the trend originated
However she warned that there is not yet scientific evidence for the technique.
‘Whether they can actually help you to sleep better at night has yet to be fully confirmed by science,’ said Dr Reynolds.
However, there is some evidence from small studies that weighted blankets — blankets with extra-dense filling — may help towards a more relaxing night’s sleep.
A 2020 research review found some, abeit limited, evidence that using a weighted blanket could ease anxiety.
While lying under a heavy blanket isn’t quite the same as being wrapped tightly in swaddling sheets, the inability to move while being swaddled could yield a similar sense of relaxation.
The trend took off after the Hugsleep Swaddle Blanket appeared on Shark Tank – the American version of Dragons Den – and has now exploded in the UK.
Many of the videos circulating on TikTok show fans of the Hugsleep product demonstratings its use.
However, the idea is thought to have originated in Japan, as part of the traditional theraputic practice of Otonamaki.
Otonamaki, which directly translates to ‘adult wrapping’, sees people wrapped up, often head to toe, in a large swath of cloth.
The practice is said to help with stiffness and improve flexibility.
