Children with ADHD fell asleep faster under a weighted blanket (Danish study, 2011)
In 2011, Danish researchers investigated whether children with ADHD fell asleep faster under a weighted blanket. In this article, you’ll learn how they measured this in 21 children, what they found, and what the study does not say.
Through:Koen Dolron -
- Reading time: 5 min
Published: 13-10-2026 - 2026-10-13T09:14:24Z
Updated: 13-10-20262026-10-13T10:53:32Z
You’ve put your child to bed, read the bedtime story and turned off the light. Half an hour later, your child is downstairs again because they can’t sleep. You take them back upstairs, tuck them in again and sit down once more. A little later, you hear footsteps on the stairs again.
This is often how it goes for children with ADHD. According to a review article in the Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie, 25 to 50% of children with ADHD have a disrupted sleep pattern, especially difficulty falling asleep. A weighted blanket is one of the things parents may try. In Sweden, children with ADHD were even prescribed such a blanket.
A 2011 Danish study examined what such a blanket does for falling asleep. The researchers followed 21 children with ADHD aged 8 to 13 for 28 nights, and during 14 of those nights the children slept under a weighted blanket. Without a blanket, they took longer to fall asleep than 21 children without ADHD: on almost one in five nights (19%), they were awake for more than 30 minutes. With the blanket, they fell asleep about as quickly as the children without ADHD, and the proportion of those long nights fell from 19% to 0%. Teachers also noticed a difference at school: an improvement of about 10% in attention and activity level.
That is a promising result, but it was a small study. A larger Swedish study later found no effect on the time it took to fall asleep. Below, you can read exactly what was measured and what conclusions you can and cannot draw from it.
Why this was studied
The study concerns sleep problems in children with ADHD and what a weighted blanket might mean for them. The researchers looked at how long children needed to fall asleep, how often they woke up and how long they slept in total. They also asked parents and teachers whether the child’s ADHD symptoms changed.
How the study worked
The children with ADHD were followed for 28 nights. An actigraph, a small device worn on the wrist that measures movement, showed when a child was asleep and when they were not. Parents also kept a sleep diary. During 14 of those 28 nights, the child slept under the weighted blanket. Parents and teachers also assessed the child’s ADHD symptoms.
The researchers call the blanket a Ball Blanket. This is a weighted blanket filled with small plastic balls instead of small glass beads. The idea is the same: the weight applies pressure to the body, also known as deep pressure stimulation.
The 21 children without ADHD served as a comparison group. This made it possible to compare whether the time it took to fall asleep under the blanket approached that of children without ADHD.
What the researchers found
The time children needed to fall asleep became shorter with the weighted blanket. It then reached the same level as in the children without ADHD.
The number of nights on which a child with ADHD needed more than 30 minutes to fall asleep fell from 19% to 0%. The authors call this a significant decrease.
According to the authors, the night-to-night variation and the number of times children woke up also improved to the level of the comparison group.
After the blanket was used, teachers saw an improvement of about 10% in activity level and attention.
The researchers themselves draw a strong conclusion: they call the blanket a relevant and effective method for shortening the time it takes to fall asleep. Read this alongside the limitations below.
What this study does not say
There were only 21 children with ADHD. That is too few to say something about all children with ADHD.
As far as is known, the researchers did not use randomisation or a sham blanket, a blanket that looks the same but is not heavy. The children and parents therefore probably knew which nights involved the blanket, and this may have influenced the outcome. Teachers’ assessments are also subjective.
The figures concern children aged 8 to 13 with an ADHD diagnosis. This study says nothing about younger or older children, children without ADHD or adults.
We do not know how heavy the blanket was in this study.
The measurements covered 14 nights with the blanket. We cannot tell from this what happens after months of use.
How this fits with other research
A later, larger study presents a more mixed picture. In the Swedish randomised study by Lönn and colleagues (2023), involving 94 children with ADHD, the weighted blanket had no effect on the time it took to fall asleep compared with a lighter blanket. However, the researchers did see small improvements in total sleep time and staying asleep. You can read more about that study in the summary of Lönn’s Swedish study. The Danish finding concerning falling asleep is therefore an indication, not an established fact.
Research is still ongoing. A large trial (NCT06194162) is also underway in Denmark involving children with ADHD aged 5 to 12, with 340 participants and a sham blanket for comparison. Primary completion is scheduled for 31 March 2027. We therefore expect results after that date. Because of the sham blanket, such a study can show more clearly what the blanket itself does.
Does your child have ADHD and find it difficult to fall asleep? First, discuss it with your GP or healthcare provider. A blanket is not a substitute for treatment. Would you like to try one afterwards? Then this article about calming the mind with ADHD contains practical tips for the evening. You can find a blanket for a child in the collection of weighted blankets for children.
A weighted blanket is not suitable for babies or children under 3 years old. For older children, the rule of thumb is approximately 10% of their body weight. This is a practical guideline and not a result of this study. The child must be able to push the blanket away themselves. You can read more about weight and safety on the safety page.
Source
Hvolby, A., & Bilenberg, N. (2011). Use of Ball Blanket in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder sleeping problems. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 65(2), 89-94. 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 for informational purposes. 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? Discuss it with your GP or healthcare provider first.
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