Sleeping Positions

I'm in a bit of a pickle with my sleeping position at the moment. For some reason I have these terrible aching legs in the night and the only way I can get comfortable is if I sleep on my back. I read that you shouldn't sleep on your back as it cuts off blood supply to the baby? I know sleeping on your left side is best and I try to manage this for most of the night but in the end I just have to roll over....and then the aching continues until I end up on my back.

I wake up feeling tired and worried that I am hurting my baby. I'll mention it to my midwife when I see her next week but just wondered what everyone elses thoughts were on this. Does anyone else have aching legs?

I think sleeping on your back at this stage is okay... I'm still sleeping on my tummy - although I keep thinking I've squished the baby....

I think you only need a 20 degree angle on your back... so that is the equivilent of putting a pillow under your right side so you are leaning left a little and that should take the risk out...

Although with the weight, you probably wouldn't be able to sleep on your back when you get a bigger belly (my friend couldn't)....

I think all the uncomfortable sleeping positions, and the broken sleep is our body's way of preparing us for a newborn

I asked my midwife about this last pregnancy, she said to avoid it when possible, but don't get too stressed out about it, you can't control how you end up when your actually asleep. She said that you would wake up if there were any problems with bloodflow etc anyway.

I have only just started to sleep properly in the last week (12 weeks this weekend). I tried alsorts of pillows and no matter what I couldn't get comfortable. In the end (I never sleep on my back) I had a pillow under my back so I was turned only slightly to the side and then had a pillow under that side too. Most nights I was playing with lots of pillows in different shapes and sizes to find out the best position. None of them really worked in the end though.

I believe sleeping on your back is fine till almost the final trimester. It is only when baby is quite big it can cut off the blood flow.

Hmm well on this topic, with my first basically from the word go I couldn't sleep on my back and the bigger I got the harder it was and I gave up pretty quick.

But this time round I could still sleep on my back right up till 24-28weeks (though would often roll over later in the night) quite comfortably, as others have said if its still comfy and you're not getting light headed then there isn't really an issue with the blood supply.

Hope that helps.

Yeah, I was told 3rd trimester isn't good for bubs I'm sleeping on my back for part of the night at the mo, but found like someone said that just tilting slightly to left with pillow under left side works for me too when sick of lying on left side. Have a little co-sleeper on my right in between DH and myself so sometimes have to face that way to give her a cuddle back to sleep. So basically a bit squeezy in bed at the mo and getting squeezier!. Will change sleeping arrangements soon so DD gets her own bed. I agree about the 'man' pillow, its a great invention.

My problem is I love sleeping on my tummy but because my chest is so much bigger I can't. But when I sleep on my side, quite often my arm goes numb because of the weight of my chest lol.

I find I'm waking up in the night worrying more about which side i'm sleeping on than anything else.. I have had really bad cramp in my legs some nights - where i feel like my leg will snap if I move it.. I put that down to my worrying about how to sleep, so I'm probably quite tense through the night? I have also been waking up to every minor thing in the night too so that doesn't help!

Cramps are really usual in pregnancy, babybeans - I imagine it's more likely just that you're pregnant rather than that you're worrying. I used to get them lots last time, they're horrible!

last night I couldn't sleep at all gggrrrr!!!
On my tummy chest hurt, on my back I simply DON'T sleep and on my side BOTH arms went numb this time and had alot of pain between my shoulder blades which is still annoying this morning. So now I am at work Shattered with a sore back. Think I might have to wear a bra over night