Swaddling for adults: New Tiktok trend for better sleep

You count sheep, stop drinking coffee eight hours before going to bed and let yourself be intoxicated by white noise at night – there are numerous hacks for falling asleep. Another is currently causing a stir online.

In order to give the nightly carousel of thoughts a break, many Tiktokers rely on swaddling for adults. If you can’t understand the term, you may have heard of the German translation: swaddling. The swaddling technique, in which babies are wrapped tightly in a cloth, is widespread.

While swaddling is used in babies, among other things, because of reflexive twitching of the arms and legs, the so-called Moro reflex, swaddling in adults, according to Tiktok, is intended to use gentle pressure to relieve anxiety, improve posture and ensure a restful sleep.

Looks absurd, but sounds promising. If you want to try swaddling, wrap yourself from head to toe in a stretchy cloth, such as a fitted sheet, and lie down in bed in the fetal position. Do you want to go one step further? Then let a person of your choice gently rock you or roll you back and forth. Swaddling fans claim that swaddling has a calming effect due to the deep pressure stimulation. But what’s the point?

Deep pressure stimulation, or DPTS for short, is a method in which targeted pressure is exerted on the body. “The connection between touch and arousal or relaxation is well established,” says Dr. Stacey Reynolds, an American expert on DPTS, told the New York Times.

According to the expert, there are receptors in the skin and body around muscles and joints that respond to either light or deeper touch. “While a light touch like a tickle is more likely to be alarming or arousing, deep touch is more likely to have a calming effect,” says Reynolds. However, it has not been scientifically proven that the technology can contribute to better sleep.

However, there is evidence that weighted blankets – blankets weighted with a weight filling – can help you sleep more restfully. A research review found some, although limited, evidence that using a weighted blanket could reduce anxiety.

Although lying under a heavy blanket isn’t the same as being tightly wrapped in swaddles, the limited freedom of movement could produce a similar feeling of relaxation. However, many of these studies are not of high quality.

Incidentally, swaddling is said to have its origins in Otonamaki – a traditional method from Japanese therapeutic practice. Otonamaki, which directly translates to “adult wrapping,” wraps people from head to toe in large lengths of fabric. According to the BBC, this is said to loosen muscles and improve posture.