Sleep can be pretty uncomfortable when you are pregnant – your body temperature increases, your baby moves, you can experience heartburn and you might be prone to back ache.
To ensure you get the best sleep possible, follow these tips:
Invest in a pregnancy pillow
A pregnancy pillow is great for supporting your back and bump, ensuring you are comfortable throughout the night.
Avoid spicy food
Avoid consuming spicy food before bed. This can aggravate heartburn and make you feel nauseous when you lie down.
Don’t eat too late
Try not to eat anything too heavy or acidic three hours before you go to bed. This will help to prevent heartburn, indigestion or feelings of being bloated.
Stay clear of stress
Being stressed or worried, whether it’s over impending motherhood, pressures at work or money can keep you awake at night. Try to leave these issues outside the bedroom by writing them down in a notebook and dealing with them the following day.
Make your bedroom inviting
It can be hard to relax when your bedroom is cluttered and messy. Make sure it looks inviting by de-cluttering, cleaning up and arranging a few candles or subtle lighting around the room. Invest in fluffy pillows and a welcoming bedspread.
Don’t watch telly in bed
If you have a television in your bedroom, either unplug it or take it out of the room. Instead opt for a book or a magazine as a way to help you relax into sleep.
Light covers
Pregnancy causes your body temperature to increase and being too hot can keep you awake, so invest in lightweight covers and blankets.
Avoid long naps
You won’t be able to sleep if you are napping too much during the day. While it is ok to have a quick siesta, try to keep it to 30 minutes or less and avoid having one too close to bedtime.
Don’t drink too much
Try to avoid drinking too much before going to bed. While you will need to go to the toilet a lot more than you normally would, doing this will help to minimise the number of times you are woken up in the night by the urge to pee.
Have a warm glass of milk
A warm glass of milk will help prevent heartburn and the comfort from the heat will soothe you too sleep.
