You’re exhausted and feeling run down, but STILL can’t sleep. In this article, we share the best safe and natural ways to sleep better while you’re pregnant. As always, you’ll want to check with your doctor before you make changes to your lifestyle or diet.
When you’re pregnant, you feel so tired during the day it’s like you’re sleepwalking. But, when your face finally hits the pillow, you’re not able to fall asleep.
In your first trimester, nausea (aka morning sickness) can hit you at any time of the day or night. So that it doesn’t wake you up, keep your upper body elevated. That will keep your blood circulation on point. Put a wedge pillow under your regular pillow to make a gradual slant.
You might also be getting up a lot to pee. Avoid too many potty breaks during the night by cutting out soda and artificially sweetened drinks. And, when you do get up to pee, don’t check the time on your phone: the screen’s blue glow can make you wake up more.
In your second trimester, you’ll start to feel your baby move around. (And she may like to perform what feels like a tap dance in there at 2 am!) To help slow her down, we suggest having a relaxing bedtime routine and start it an hour before bed. A short walk works well, because rocking lulls babies to sleep. Stop eating anything that spicy or sugary at 4pm-ish. They can encourage baby to kick more.
If your limbs feel antsy during the night, it could be that you’re not getting enough iron. Ask your doctor if you can take another supplement, in addition to your regular prenatal vitamins. Something with extra folate or iron and vitamin C added in to help you absorb it works well. You can also ask your doctor about taking extra magnesium for some relief for your restless legs.
In your third trimester, you might find that your thoughts are keeping you up at night, feeling worried and anxious. Avoid the temptation to read baby advice blogs and books to try and end your worry. What will help though is to talk through your concerns at a pregnant mom-to-be class. Also, you can join a class that teaches relaxing prenatal exercises, or browse for techniques on YouTube. But if you just can’t stop worrying, don’t fight it. Get out of bed and read a non-pregnancy or parenting book and drink some tea to relax.
Many pregnant women share that they have a sore back, feet, (and what feels like everything else) in their last trimester. Lie on the left-hand side of your body with a pillow between your knees, so your hips are in line. You might also try a hot water bottle on aching areas – just keep the warmth away from your belly.
We hope that these tips on achieving better sleep during pregnancy will give you relief soon. Sweet dreams!