More melatonin under a weighted blanket? What measuring one night showed (2023)
Does your body produce more melatonin under a weighted blanket? Swedish researchers measured this in a sleep lab with 26 healthy young adults. In this article, you’ll read what they found and why measuring for just one night doesn’t yet mean you sleep better.
Through:Koen Dolron -
- Reading time: 5 min
Published: 13-10-2026 - 2026-10-13T09:14:25Z
Updated: 13-10-20262026-10-13T10:58:14Z
You are looking for a blanket that makes you feel calmer in the evening. On an online store, you read that a weighted blanket “causes your body to produce melatonin.” You know melatonin from the pills sold at pharmacies, so it sounds logical. Still, you want to know whether it is true.
Melatonin is often called the sleep hormone. In a joint advisory on melatonin, Dutch sleep experts write that this is incorrect: melatonin is the hormone of darkness. It plays a role in regulating sleep, but it is not a sleeping pill. According to Swedish researchers, it was often claimed that a weighted blanket works through melatonin or oxytocin, even though no one had tested this in an experiment.
The researchers from Uppsala did so themselves in 2023. They had 26 healthy young adults sleep one night in a sleep lab under a weighted blanket weighing approximately 12% of their body weight and one night under a light blanket weighing approximately 2.4%. During the hour before sleep, melatonin in their saliva increased about 32% more under the heavy blanket than under the light one. They found no difference in oxytocin, the stress hormone cortisol, a measure of stress in the nervous system, sleepiness, or sleep duration.
It involved one night per blanket, healthy young people, and a small difference. Whether it helps you sleep better is unknown. Below, you can read what was measured and why “a weighted blanket increases your melatonin” goes beyond what this study shows.
Why this was studied
In earlier research, people with insomnia and a psychiatric disorder had fewer complaints with a weighted blanket. No one knew why. The idea behind the blanket is called deep pressure stimulation: firm, even pressure, somewhat like a hug. It was often said that this pressure releases oxytocin and melatonin. Oxytocin is associated with calmness and less stress, while melatonin is associated with the time at which you sleep.
How the study worked
The 15 men and 11 women were 24 years old on average. People who slept poorly, were ill, regularly used medication, or had previously used a weighted blanket did not participate. All the women took the contraceptive pill so that their cycle would not affect the measurements.
It was a cross-over study: everyone slept under both blankets, in an order determined by random allocation. After a few nights of adjustment, two measurement nights followed. From 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., the participants lay on their backs in dim light under the blanket and provided some saliva every 20 minutes. A smart ring measured how long they slept. The heavy blanket was filled with glass beads and weighed an average of 12.2% of body weight.
What the researchers found
Melatonin. During that hour, melatonin increased on average under both blankets. Under the heavy blanket, the average increase was 6.6 picograms per milliliter of saliva, compared with 5.0 under the light blanket (a picogram is one trillionth of a gram). This difference of approximately 32% was statistically significant: probably not due to chance.
Oxytocin. The levels fluctuated greatly and did not differ between the blankets. Oxytocin is difficult to measure reliably, and the pill may increase it, the researchers write.
Stress. Cortisol decreased slightly before sleep, by the same amount under both blankets. Alpha-amylase, an enzyme in saliva that says something about the part of the nervous system involved in the stress response, also did not differ.
Sleep. The participants felt equally sleepy in the evening and the following morning, and slept approximately 6.8 hours under both blankets.
According to the researchers, their study suggests that a weighted blanket may lead to more melatonin. Whether this has any implications for insomnia or anxiety remains to be seen.
What this study does not say
One night per blanket: whether the difference recurs after weeks or months of use was not investigated.
The participants were young, healthy, and slept well. The study says nothing about older people or people with sleep problems or a psychiatric disorder.
What was measured was how much melatonin increased during that one hour. That is different from “having more melatonin.”
The participants did not sleep longer under the heavy blanket. However, sleep data were missing for a quarter of the nights because of problems with the ring.
The study does not show how the difference occurs. The researchers suggest that pressure on the skin may affect the brain through the nerves, but that is an idea, not a measurement.
The blankets and rings came from a Swedish company that sells weighted blankets. An employee of the company helped devise the study and is one of the authors. According to the article, the funders had no role in the study’s execution or analysis.
How this fits with other research
As far as we know, this is the only study that measures melatonin with a weighted blanket. In a small Turkish study (Benbir Şenel and Karadeniz, 2024), 26 people with insomnia slept at home under a weighted blanket for 10 nights. Their heart rate variability, a measure of how relaxed the nervous system is, did not change. They did experience breathing pauses in their sleep more often; see the safety page.
Two other studies did find a calmer nervous system, but not with a blanket alone. In Taiwan (Chen and colleagues, 2025), healthy adults wore a weighted vest in the waiting room before having a wisdom tooth extracted, followed by a weighted blanket. It is not possible to say which of the two helped. In an American study (Reynolds and colleagues, 2015) involving 50 healthy adults, only a vest was used.
Do you read that a weighted blanket produces serotonin, dopamine, or endorphins? None of the studies we found measured this.
Researchers: Elisa Meth, Christian Benedict, and colleagues (Uppsala University)
Year and journal: 2023, Journal of Sleep Research
Country: Sweden
Study type: cross-over laboratory study (everyone slept under both blankets, with the order determined by random allocation)
Participants: 26 healthy young adults, 24 years old on average
Duration: one measurement night per blanket
Blanket: glass beads, an average of 12.2% of body weight; light blanket 2.4%
Correction: in 2023, it was corrected that melatonin had been measured using a different laboratory technique than stated. Nothing was changed in the results.
If you choose a weighted blanket, do so because you find the weight comfortable. This study does not show that it permanently increases your melatonin or that it helps you sleep better.
Have you been sleeping poorly for a while, or are you considering taking melatonin? Talk to your doctor first. According to Dutch sleep experts, taking melatonin at the wrong time or in the wrong dose can actually make sleep problems worse. You can read more about weight (the rule of thumb is approximately 10% of your body weight) in the article about choosing the right weight.
Source
Meth, E. M. S., Brandão, L. E. M., van Egmond, L. T., Xue, P., Grip, A., Wu, J., Adan, A., Andersson, F., Pacheco, A. P., Uvnäs-Moberg, K., Cedernaes, J., & Benedict, C. (2023). A weighted blanket increases pre-sleep salivary concentrations of melatonin in young, healthy adults. Journal of Sleep Research, 32(2), e13743. DOI Checked on 2026-10-12.
Written by Koen Dolron, owner of Novaline. Koen is not a doctor, and Novaline does not provide medical advice: this page is intended as information. The summary is based on the original publication, which you can read yourself via the link above. Are you unsure whether a weighted blanket is suitable for you or your child, for example because of a medical condition or medication? Consult your doctor or healthcare provider first.
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