Welcome to Weighted Buddies!

Experience the Soothing Power of Therapeutic Weighted Soft Toys: Your Solution for Anxiety, Trauma, and Sleep Challenges

Our Weighted Buddies are handmade to support both adults and children dealing with trauma, anxiety, and depression. These calming toys offer relief for those with ADHD, sensory integration disorder (SID), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through soothing deep-pressure stimulation.

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WHAT IS A WEIGHTED BUDDY?

Weighted Buddies are therapeutic tools that promote relaxation and calm through deep pressure stimulation. Suitable for all ages, these tools are plush animals or lap pads filled with weighted materials, providing gentle pressure that can have a soothing effect on the body and mind.

For children, Weighted Buddies can serve as comforting companions, helping to reduce anxiety and stress. The gentle pressure can mimic the sensation of a hug, providing reassurance and emotional support. This can be particularly beneficial for children who experience sensory processing challenges or have difficulty calming down at bedtime or during stressful situations.

Teenagers and adults can benefit from Weighted Buddies to alleviate stress and promote relaxation. The deep pressure stimulation can help reduce cortisol levels, the body’s stress hormone, and increase serotonin and dopamine, neurotransmitters associated with well-being and happiness. These benefits can make Weighted Buddies a valuable tool for managing anxiety, improving focus, and enhancing sleep quality.

Weighted Buddies can offer comfort and support, particularly for older adults who may experience loneliness or anxiety. The soothing pressure can help ease muscle tension and promote a sense of calm, making it easier to relax and unwind.

Overall, Weighted Buddies are versatile therapeutic tools that cater to individuals’ emotional and sensory needs across all age groups. Providing a simple yet effective means of self-soothing can enhance emotional regulation and contribute to a greater sense of well-being.

Why Choose a Weighted Buddy?

  • Handcrafted Sensory Delights: Each Buddy is handmade with care, ensuring uniqueness and top-notch quality.
  • Hypoallergenic Comfort: Safe for even the most sensitive individuals.
  • Calming Weight and Texture: Designed to reduce anxiety and promote relaxation.
  • Sensory Soothing: Provides self-soothing sensory input, ideal for those with sensory processing challenges.
  • Versatile Usage: Perfect for home, classroom, or therapy settings.
  • Easy Maintenance: Machine washable for hassle-free cleaning.
  • Diverse Choice: Available in various shapes and sizes to suit your needs.

How Can a Weighted Buddy Help?

  • Improve sleep quality and ease sleep challenges.
  • Reduce anxiety and foster calmness.
  • Support trauma recovery.
  • Enhance focus and concentration, especially for those with ADHD.
  • Ease travel-related anxiety.
  • Aid individuals with SID and ASD.
  • Provide support for depression and stress relief.

Choosing the Right Weighted Buddy

Consider these factors to find your perfect match:

  • Weight: Ideally, 10–15% of the individual’s body weight.
  • Age: Suitable for all ages, with weight being the key consideration.
  • Sensory Needs: Choose the texture that best suits the individual’s preferences.
  • Size: Tailor the Buddy’s size to fit personal preferences and body size.
  • Colour: Select soothing or stimulating colours based on sensory needs.

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BENEFITS OF WEIGHTED BUDDIES

Sleep Aid

Promotes restful sleep by calming the nervous system

Weighted Buddies are a fantastic way to alleviate sleep problems. They promote the calming and regulation of your nervous system through deep-pressure stimulation. The gentle pressure they apply to your body activates the parasympathetic nervous system, lowering your heart rate during stressful times.


Moreover, the firm and controlled pressure caused by Weighted Buddies prompts the brain to release dopamine and oxytocin. These two hormones elevate mood. At the same time, cortisol, a hormone linked to stress, is reduced. Additionally, serotonin and melatonin levels, hormones that aid in sleep, are increased. This comprehensive approach helps users sleep more peacefully and soundly, improving overall sleep quality.


Therapeutic value

Ideal for therapists to help reduce anxiety and sensory overload

If you’re a psychologist, play therapist or occupational therapist, you must consider the benefits of Weighted Buddies in your practice. Deep-touch pressure can significantly reduce anxiety levels and help regulate the physiological symptoms of individuals who experience sensory overstimulation.


Each person has unique sensory preferences and needs. Considering weight, texture, size, and colour factors is crucial. Also, consider the animal type when selecting a Buddy for your practice. With a Weighted Buddy, you can be confident that your patients or clients get self-regulation assistance. The environment is safe, calming, and grounding without any side effects.

Focus and Concentration

Enhances attention span and reduces distractions

By increasing dopamine in the brain, a Weighted Buddy helps individuals to focus. It prevents distraction by other sensory stimuli coming from their surroundings. This can help people with ADHD improve their attention span, focus, and concentration. It helps them stay on task, sit, and be less fidgety.

Emotional Support

Eases meltdowns, anxiety, and depression

People with neurodiversity, like those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often suffer from anxiety and high stress levels. This makes functioning in school, the workplace, and other public places harder. An overactive sympathetic nervous system can lead to anxiety, hyperactivity, a rapid heart rate, and shortness of breath.


A Weighted Buddy reduces stress and anxiety. It stimulates the touch receptors, creating a calm, secure feeling. It is a self-soothing tool that eases emotional dysregulation, anxiety, and depression. Feeling the weight and pressure of the Weighted Buddy will calm the fight-or-flight response. It activates the relaxing parasympathetic nervous system, causing a calming effect.

Comfort Value

Provides security and comfort, especially for those with medical trauma

Weighted Buddies are ideal for individuals exposed to medical trauma. This group includes those who are often hospitalised, have undergone operations, or are cancer patients. Weighted Buddies is ideal for those who are fearful of visiting the doctor or dentist. With increased feelings of security, a Weighted Buddy can help in other areas of life, including overall improvements in mood. This is because the pressure of a Weighted Buddy increases the production of the feel-good hormones dopamine and oxytocin. A decrease in cortisol (the stress hormone) can significantly impact a person’s state of mind.

Diversity of Weighted Buddies

Having a Weighted Buddy at Home

  • A Weighted Buddy on a child’s lap can be comforting. It is helpful in the car and provides calm after a long day at school.
  • A Buddy lying on a child’s lap can help improve their focus and concentration while studying or doing homework.
  • Snuggling up with a Weighted Buddy is one way to help children relax and doze off quickly.

Taking a Weighted Buddy to School

  • Deep-pressure stimulation with a Weighted Buddy helps a child relax after a break.
  • It can also help contain a child with difficulty sitting still in class.
  • In high-stakes situations like tests, maintaining focus is crucial. Tasks that provoke anxiety can make concentration challenging. A Weighted Buddy can be an invaluable tool in class to help with this.
  • A Weighted Buddy can help children focus during lessons, especially for children sensitive to noise or touch.

Using a Weighted Buddy in Public

  • Children who experience anxiety and fear linked to going to the dentist, doctor, or even the mall face challenges. Using a Weighted Buddy can help them. It can help calm and regulate their nervous system and be a self-soothing tool.

Testimonies

Transforming Our Nights

“As a parent of children with autism and ADHD, Weighted Buddies have been a game-changer. They help our children sleep better and provide comfort during stressful times.”
— Joha-Maine Andrianatos, Mother ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Invaluable in Practice

“Incorporating Weighted Buddies into therapy has significantly reduced anxiety and improved client engagement.”
— Dr. Belinda de Villiers, Forensic and Educational Psychologist ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Positively Impacting Children

“As an Educational Psychologist, I find weighted buddies invaluable, positively impacting children’s moods and performance.”
— Larise Kühn, Educational Psychologist ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

An Essential Co-therapist

“My Weighted Buddy, Teddy, is an essential co-therapist, providing emotional regulation and comfort to children and adults. He makes it easier to address childhood trauma and is recommended for kids of all ages.”
— Hylma van Rooyen, Clinical Psychologist ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Grooming for Your Weighted Buddy

Restore your Buddy’s charm with our specialised grooming service.

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Please help a child in welfare receive a Weighted Buddy

We are writing to invite you to participate in a meaningful initiative to enhance the well-being of children living in a local welfare home. We aim to provide these children with Weighted Buddies, specially designed companions that offer emotional support and a sense of security.

Weighted Buddies have been shown to provide therapeutic benefits, such as reducing anxiety and promoting relaxation, making them an invaluable resource for children facing challenging circumstances.

We kindly ask for your support in sponsoring a child to receive a Weighted Buddy. Your contribution can significantly impact a child’s life, offering them comfort and companionship when needed.

To become a sponsor and help us bring a smile to a child’s face, please follow the link below:

backabuddy-campaign-for-kids-in-welfare-homes

Thank you for considering this opportunity to make a positive impact. Your generosity and compassion are greatly appreciated.

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