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Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

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Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#51

Post by perl4ever »

I don't. Currently I have really effective heating and cooling in my apartment, that I am not billed separately for, so the temperature is pretty close to 70F (21C) all the time (the apartment management has even exhorted people to keep the heat turned up in the winter so pipes don't freeze).

I don't feel comfortable (and sometimes feel cold) unless I am under a flat sheet, but I haven't used a blanket in years.

The only way I would ever use a blanket is if the room temperature was significantly below 68F (20C) but even if I preferred that, it's not allowed due to the risk of causing a flood.

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#52

Post by icebraining »

uranusjr wrote: post #20

Standard Western bigotry. Here in he middle part of the earth (ie near the equator) it’s super common for people to sleep without any cover. It’s still considered more “proper” to use blanks because that’s how westerners do it, but it needs to be learned. People don’t do it automatically, and kids kicking off their blankets is a common theme between parents. Your hottest nights are just not hot enough.

They specifically mention having looked into areas near the equator, like Papua New Guinea and Kenya. They may be wrong, but it's not like they only looked at the West and assumed the rest of the world was the same.

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#53

Post by cimmanom »

barsonme wrote: post #4

I guess I'm one of those weirdos that doesn't. I get hot really easily, so unless the sheets are really light cotton, I roast. Oddly enough, though, I love heated mattress pads. I can crank it up to 10 and sleep without sheets just fine. Something relevant: does anybody have suggestions for weighted blankets? My SO is into big, heavy comforters and other bed coverings (no idea what they're called) and she'd probably…

Look for crocheted "afghans". They're very heavy relative to their warmth.

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#54

Post by cimmanom »

mrhappyunhappy wrote: post #47
seizethecheese wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't a common myth and was addressed in tr article: "I’m very suspicious of anyone who implies that this goes back to the feeling of being in the womb,” she says. “I think that’s very far-fetched.”

Human behavior is part biologically programmed so to say that this is far fetched is to ignore evolution.

What does the concept of "retreating to the womb" have to do with evolutionary pressures?

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#55

Post by strawcomb »

xchip wrote: post #50

TL;DR: These are the reasons 1) Various studies have indicated that sleeping with a weighted blanket can trigger an uptick in the brain’s production of serotonin 2)The other element that might explain our need for blankets is what Hoagland refers to as “pure conditioning.”

> a weighted blanket can trigger an uptick in the brain’s production of serotonin

Surely that could be a result of conditioning.

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#56

Post by aninhumer »

mrhappyunhappy wrote: post #47
seizethecheese wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't a common myth and was addressed in tr article: "I’m very suspicious of anyone who implies that this goes back to the feeling of being in the womb,” she says. “I think that’s very far-fetched.”

Human behavior is part biologically programmed so to say that this is far fetched is to ignore evolution.

There's a difference between the argument that people have an evolved biological preference for warmth and pressure, and the argument that this is because it evokes conditions in the womb.

Without elaboration, the latter sounds like Freudian psychobabble to me.

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#58

Post by woliveirajr »

forgotmypw wrote: post #6

If it's too hot, I use a sheet. I think the explanation is pretty simple: crawly things that may come and bite us.

Blankets and sheets also protect from ghost, witches, monsters from under the bed... ask any child, if you're under something that hides you (or that you cant't look at), automatically you won't be found. Things that you can't look at can't look at you, too.

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#59

Post by Accacin »

5_minutes wrote: post #3

It’s an interesting question, and could have imagined people sharing their beds with pets, but with livestock? Is funny. I personally have sleeping problems in rooms that are too warm, and warm blankets don't help. It's not when going to bed but a few hours in - around REM time? I wake up panicking as if I'm suffocating. That's why I always sleep with the window open, also when it freezes on the winter. My SO is not…

I love having a nice thick blanket, and a cold bedroom. If I get warm I stick my leg out :D

Re: Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

#60

Post by minikites »

mrhappyunhappy wrote: post #46

I didn’t read th article but from what I understand the need for cover comes from the time we are infants, where swaddling and being covered feels secure and comforting. I think the need for a cover is carried all the way through adulthood as an ingrained means of protection of outside elements.

Perhaps you should have read the article:

> If you Google around for this question, you’ll end up with a bunch of theories about blankets simulating the warm, enclosed feeling we had in the womb. There could be some element of theoretical protection or security imbued by the blanket, which might be another bit of conditioning, but Hoagland thinks the womb comparison is pretty unlikely. “I’m very suspicious of anyone who implies that this goes back to the feeling of being in the womb,” she says. “I think that’s very far-fetched.”

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