How to sleep through the night during pregnancy?

I'm about 4.5 months pregnant too and have been waking up ALL THE TIME either to pee, roll over, or just because. I don't really have any suggestions, as I haven't tried anything... but just thought I'd let you know that you're not alone! :)

Hi L.,

I had the same problem sleeping when I was pregnant and my son is four and I still have trouble sleeping...I am not really big into taking meds unless I really have to. I use tea. A chamomile or sleepy time tea seems to help a lot. Another thing that really works is lavender. Try taking a shower and use a lavender oil on your skin or you can get a sachet and put it under your pillow. The scent relaxes you and helps increase deep sleep.

Good luck

Hi L.,

my advice is a body pillow! I have the "snoogle" which you can get at Babies R US. It is a godsend, I can't sleep without it. My husband is a bit sad because it is huge and creates a wall between us but is is so worth it. It is a c shape and provides support to your back, neck and legs and you can also put part of it under your belly too. I can usually get comfortable with it and sleep for three or four hours before I have to flip to the other side. I have a real challenge sleeping on my side, normally I sleep on my back or belly. I'm four and a half months along too.

Good luck!

E.

Have you tried Melatonin?? It's all natural and helped me so much when i was PG.

I don't know if it will work for you, but when I am having a hard time sleeping, green tea usually helps. Then again, I also can't drink any of the energy drinks cuz it's in it and it puts me to sleep. From what I understand, this is an unusual reaction. Regular coffee also puts me to sleep. Good luck!

Check with your dr. first, but valerian root or chamomile are both great natural sleep aids. Worked for me!

L.,

Try stretching your legs, your back your sides. You can look up yoga posess to do this. Also in the baby sleep books I have read things like cereal, cheese and crackers and fruit are supposed to help sleep. Another yoga technique is to relax your eyes. You envision a clock infront of you while your eyes are closed. Keeping your head still, relax and breath, look up at 12 (stretching your eye muscles is the key here) and then down to 6. The center of the clock is 'center'. Return to center. Now look all the way to 3 and then to 9, back to center. Then up diagonally between 2 and 3 and down between 7 and 8. Repeat the in the other direction. Now go up to 12 again and rotate your eyes around the clock as the hands do. Go around a couple of times and then go backwards around. All the times breathing slowly. The slower you move your eyes and the more you breath the more benefit you will get from this. This should help clear your mind as well - I think that is really the key to sleep - clear your mind.

Happy sleeping,
L. M

I recommend Natural Calm - it's a powdered magnesium that is great for stress and calming - you make a hot drink with it. It doesn't taste fantastic but it's much better than subjecting your baby to tylenol every night!

Also might look into whether or not Valerian Root is safe for you - it's an herb, so you would have to check, but very relaxing.

Have you tried any teas, like chamomile?

hi L., im 4 months along with my second, so i know the feeling!! i sleep great at night. i avoid sleeping on my back or stomach (its bad for the baby and can make you VERY uncomfortable after only a short while)and sleep only on my sides. if you need help staying on your side, put a pillow behind you and in front of you so you cant roll onto your belly or back. it doesnt take long to get used to and is VERY comfy. put a pillow between your legs too, to keep your hips straight and avoid back pain. if this sounds like too many pillows for you, try a "pregnancy pillow" that wraps around you and does the job of ALL those pillows with just one pillow made just for helping pregnant women sleep more comfortably. also, try sleeping slightly propped up.

C.

I am due in two weeks and have had trouble sleeping for the past 4 months. What helps me is chamomile tea with honey before bed and a hot shower, knocks me out pretty well and helps with my restless legs as well. There is also a natural non-habit forming sleep aid, Hyland's Calms Forte tablets. Here they are at drugstore.com (you can read reviews by others there), they are cheaper on e-bay though.

http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=33135&...

Hi L.- I'm 36 weeks preggo w/ my second so I definitely know how you feel!! ugh! I actually posted the same question several weeks ago- so you may want to check out the responses I got for some more feedback...

I have found chamomile tea to help- you need to be careful w/ some of those other herbs- do some reseaarch first- I took Valerian once when I wasn't pregnant and woke up feeling spacey and drugged...

also, I didn't invest in one of those big pregnancy pillows but bought a small one called a "wedge" (babies r us has them)- it tucks under your tummy and has really helped me along w/ a pillow between my legs-

the last thing I would say is that before you go the tylenol pm route- try just one or two regular tylenol (300-600 mg) when you need it. It's safer than the pm and does the trick relaxing my achy muscles when things get really bad-

Well I don't have any natural solutions that worked for me. I tried some like tea and warm bath bit it just didn't do it. My midwife also said I should not take valarian root while prego. She too suggested tylenol pm and it worked really well for me. You might want to try taking just one to start with. I now have two kids (under 2!) and they are just perfect so I don't think taking it had any negative effect on them. If this is your first baby, get all the sleep you can now because it will soon be in short supply! :) good luck to you!

Valerian. It's a very stinky herb, but you can get it in tablet form at health food stores. Works great for me!

calcium & magnesium help extremely well, take as a formula with vit D and take at dinner or before bedtime. Also yoga and meditation are key to practice before bed, yoga is also good to start practicing to ready for birth, and meditation can also be utilized during those waking hours at night. I have also used Rescue Remedy Sleep (a flower essence that is completely safe during pregnancy, available at any health food store)and Calms Forte (homeopathic, also extremely safe). Thee have personally helped me tremendously, good luck

Try to find a relaxing routine, if your mind or your body is keeping you up, try to soothe before you go to sleep, when you get bigger, peeing and acid reflux may be more of an issue. My doctor also suggested the Tylenol PM and just went with it, it really eases the aches and allows you to get some sleep. Nat