About Weighted Buddies
Comfort That Cares
Every Weighted Buddy begins with a simple purpose: to bring comfort, calm, and reassurance when it is needed most.
Our Story
Weighted Buddies was born from compassion and a desire to help children feel safe.
My wife, Dr Belinda de Villiers, a forensic and educational psychologist, works with children who have experienced significant trauma. She wanted a gentle, non-verbal way to help young clients feel calm and secure during therapy.
Through her work, she discovered the powerful effects of deep pressure stimulation, the calming sensation created by steady, comforting weight. This gentle sensory input helps regulate the nervous system, reduce anxiety, and create a greater sense of safety.
Inspired by what she had learnt, I handcrafted the very first Weighted Buddy for use in her therapy sessions.
The results were remarkable.
Children relaxed more quickly, felt comforted by their Buddy, and often engaged more openly during therapy. Seeing the difference one handmade Buddy could make inspired something much bigger.
What began as a way to support my wife’s clients has grown into a mission to bring comfort, emotional support, and calm to children, teens, and adults throughout South Africa.
Today, every Buddy is still lovingly handcrafted with the same care and purpose that inspired the very first one.
Our Mission
Our mission is simple:
To create beautifully handcrafted weighted companions that help people feel calm, safe, supported, and understood.
Every Weighted Buddy is handmade in South Africa from carefully selected hypoallergenic materials and thoughtfully calculated weights to provide comforting deep-pressure stimulation.
Whether used at home, in schools, in therapy rooms, in hospitals, or during everyday life, our Buddies are designed to make moments of calm more accessible.
What We Create
Weighted Buddies
Soft therapeutic companions that provide comforting deep pressure stimulation to promote relaxation, emotional regulation, and improved focus.
Weighted Lap Pads
Designed for classrooms, therapy sessions, travel, and home use to encourage concentration and reduce restlessness.
Smart Buddy (Coming Soon)
Our next innovation combines gentle vibration therapy with Bluetooth app control to provide personalised calming support.
Our Commitment
Everything we create is guided by three simple promises:
❤️ Every Buddy is handmade with care and attention to detail.
🌿 We use quality, hypoallergenic materials for safety and durability.
🤝 We are committed to supporting families, therapists, educators, and individuals with products they can trust.
We believe in ethical craftsmanship, excellent customer service, and continuous innovation.
Our Philosophy
“Calm soothes the nerves.”
Those four words guide everything we do.
Meet the Founder
Herman Engelbrecht
Founder & Maker
“After seeing how one small idea helped my wife’s clients, I realised the power of comfort. Today, I have the privilege of creating Buddies that bring calm, reassurance, and hope to people of all ages.”
THANK YOU
Thank you for visiting Weighted Buddies.
Whether you’re a parent looking to support your child, a therapist seeking helpful tools for your practice, an educator supporting learners, or an adult searching for comfort and calm, we’re honoured to be part of your journey.
Every Buddy is made with care, purpose, and the hope that it brings a little more peace into someone’s life.