As you enter the third trimester, you may notice that certain discomforts have heightened. You may have to make various changes in different activities, including sleep. Knowing some effective sleeping tips during the third trimester of pregnancy can help you get a sound sleep. Difficulty in walking, standing up or sitting down, and sleeping is normal towards the end of pregnancy due to the growing size of your belly. While other problems can be taken care of with some support, you may not sleep comfortably despite the continuous change of positions. This can be due to other additional reasons besides the big stomach. Read on to know more about it, including the importance of sleep position, common interferences, and tips to sleep comfortably during the third trimester.
Understanding Best Sleeping Positions During Third Trimester
It is believed that throughout your pregnancy, sleeping on your left side is probably the best. It allows the perfect passage of blood and nutrients to your baby (1). At the same time, this position also keeps you from feeling all the undesirable symptoms of pregnancy (2).
Sleeping on your back tends to cause nausea and morning sickness (3), and also affects the supply of blood and nutrients to your baby.
While sleeping on your front… well, that’s not exactly going to be possible now, is it (2)!
If you are not comfortable sleeping on your left side, it’s always better to start the habit while you are trying to conceive so as to avoid the uneasiness later.
Common Sleep Disturbances
Obviously, the most common sleep issue concern during the third trimester is your baby bump, which is probably too big to allow you to sleep comfortably. Plus, just like your early pregnancy days, you will now need to rush to the loo several times, since your growing baby’s putting some pressure on your bladder, decreasing its capacity (4). Kimberly Langdon, MD, ob/gyn and CEO of Physician Integrative Laboratories, says, “Sleep may be difficult to achieve during the third trimester of pregnancy. Multiple factors contribute to this, such as finding a comfortable sleeping position, the urge to urinate throughout the night, acid reflux issues, and the typical lower back pain in pregnancy.” Apart from these issues, other “nightly” niggles that may get in the way of good sleep during the third trimester includes (5):
Leg cramps Vivid dreams Snoring Backache Restless leg syndrome Itching Heartburn Movements of your baby
Important Sleeping Tips During Third Trimester
While the above-mentioned symptoms are temporary and will nag you only for the last trimester of your pregnancy, you can still tackle most of them by yourself and get a good night’s sleep. Follow these simple tips to avoid bad sleeping positions during pregnancy third trimester (5) (6) (7).
