10 Ways to Get Better Sleep in Your Third Trimester

The third trimester can be tough in a lot of ways: you feel huge, you constantly have to pee, you’re all too ready to meet your new little one and you can’t get any sleep. Seriously. You toss and turn for hours and wake up as exhausted as when you went to bed. Is it even possible to get a good night’s sleep while in your third trimester? We’ve got 10 tips to give it your best shot.

1. Hundreds of pillows. But really, use a pillow to support one leg to avoid symptoms of your pelvis softening. Use a pillow behind your back to keep you from rolling backwards. Wedge a pillow under your bump to avoid that weird, muscle-pulling feeling and to keep you from rolling too far the other way. Use all of the pillows.
2. Cut back on fluid intake. This might seem obvious, but part of what keeps a pregnant mama up all night is that incessant need to pee. Try to limit your water/juice/fluid intake in the evening so that there’s less to expel at night.
3. Eat smaller portions and chew slower. What? How does how much and how I eat affect my sleep? When you’re in your third trimester, you can suffer from an insatiable hunger that causes you to eat quickly and in large quantities. This can cause very painful heartburn that keeps you awake. By cutting back a little on the portion size and taking a little longer to chew, you can keep that heartburn at bay.
4. Take a bath before bed. Make sure your water isn’t too hot, but taking a warm bath can relieve muscle aches and cramps, while also lulling you into relaxation.
5. Turn off the electronics. This one is great for those not pregnant as well! The blue light that comes from electronics like phones, laptops, tablets and televisions causes your brain to wake up, not get ready for sleep. Try turning it off one to two hours before bed. Read a book or take that warm bath.
6. Take a walk. If you’ve been tossing and turning for too long, it’s best to just get up, take a walk around the house, read a little and then try to get back into bed and fall asleep. Sometimes you just need an outlet for that stress you’re holding.
7. Have a chat or journal to get rid of some pent up stress. A lot of times, if you’re having trouble falling asleep, your mind can be running a mile a minute. If able, have a chat before bed with your partner. Discuss what’s worrying you, talk about how any upcoming issues can be solved, anything. No partner? No worries! Try journaling.  Sometimes just getting it out of your head and onto paper can ease your mind.
8. Sleep on your left side. There’s a lot of science that goes into this one, but the position you lay in greatly affects your blood flow. This will keep things moving correctly and in the right direction.
9. Run a humidifier in your room. Pregnancy can cause some back up in your nasal passages, which can lead to trouble breathing, dry mouth and other assorted uncomfortable maladies. Running a humidifier can help to clear this up.
10. Wear comfortable clothes. This one might be obvious, but make sure you’re wearing only the most comfortable clothing to bed. Try to steer towards loose, flowing clothing, so as not to cling tightly to your bump, which can be very uncomfortable.

And there you have it! We can’t promise perfect nights of sleep, but we can assure you that these tips will help get you to sleep on those rougher nights.  Just take some time to relax, which can help you more than anything.