Sleeping positions when pregnant?

[EmilyH]

Hi everyone

I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant and am having a lot of trouble sleeping at night. I know the advice is that you should sleep on your left hand side from 16 weeks due to the increasing weight from the baby and also because its the best position to ensure the optimum blood supply to the baby. Howver i am finding it so hard to get comfortable as i am used to sleeping on my back and now that i am sleeping on my side, i am finding i am constantly tossing and turning and wake up not feeling very rested and with back ache.

Has anyone found the same and did you take any advice on it? If so, what did advice did you get?

Thanks

Emily

[becs2013]

i use to b the same, i slept on my back then i slept on my right side n found it impossible to get comfy on my left. My physio gave me the advice to sleep on whichever side ya can get comfortable but support your bump with a pillow and put a pillow between ya knees to keep legs level with ya hip. Never sleep on your back, lay on your back for a few minutes by all means but dont stay there too long as it encourages baby to turn n lay wrong way. I now sleep on my left side with a pillow under my bump n between my knees but sometimes i just get the quilt snuggled under my bump which is sometimes comfier. Once u get it right its so comfy. But as u get further in your pregnancy sleep will become harder. Cant remember the last time i had a good nights sleep lol. Hope this helps anyways. Good luck x x

[Hidden]

It's a nitemare isn't it! I can't believe how much I toss and turn, I wake up on my back which makes me worry and now this heat is here getting soooo hot I'm going to try the pillow thing I just need to be comfy, I am used to sleeping on my side but more on my tummy so def have to change that!

[becs2013]

yeah the heat is horrendous! Last nite i was in a sweat all night, found it so hard to get comfy with the pillows as they provided more heat :/ but reali the pillow thing works or as i say snuggle the quilt underneath your bump, works a treat especially if u ever manage to get the bed to yourself x x

[Hidden]

try getting a fan if ur hot at night. I put the duvet between my legs and under my bump. I sleep on either side as I usually fall asleep on my left but usually wake up on the right but what happens when I am asleep there isn't too much I can do about but I do desperately miss sleeping on my front as tht was my favourite position x

[Hidden]

I always used to lie on my front and I really miss stretching out my tummy & hips in that way.

I can sleep on my left side but Sometimes wake up on my back - but I agree, there's not much I can do about that. If I've had a long day of being bent forward, perhaps seated and desperately feel like i need to stretch out the front of my body, I find it's such a release to use my elbows to prop my upper body up on 3 or 4 cushions, so my hips are on the bed (a firm mattress is best), with my bump fitting neatly in the gap between the bed and the cushions - so there's no weight on the bump itself if course - bliss! Obviously i can't sleep in that position, but it's quite nice to do this before turning over to side to sleep. I'm 24 weeks with a relatively small bump though, so I'm not sure how much longer I'll get away with it for..!

[laurah123]

i miss sleeping on my belly. can never get comfy now. if i lay on my sides after a while the tops of my legs go dead and numb. they feel like burning!! so toss and turn all night trying to keep it from getting to bad. i sleep on my back though. it cant be helped i suppose x

[seh303]

I keep finding myself lying on my side but kind of on my belly too...woorying now that I am hurting the baby! Hope not! I am only 18 weeks so not sure whats going to happen when I get even more huge! xx