Sleeping Positions?

JamieK1882

How are you sleeping at night (i.e position--not talking about the constant peeing, etc)

I know I was told with my first pregnancy to avoid sleeping on back or stomach, but for some reason I keep rolling to my back at night. Even with my pregnancy pillow or other pillows stacked around me, I end up on my back every single time.

Just wondering what others do, or if this is truly that bad?

mothernorth

Half side, half stomach, pillow propped under the side. I would love to be able to say it works everytime, but it doesn't. Mostly just tossing and turning, just like I did with my last two. I've never had much luck getting comfortable but I hope you do and I'd  love to hear some sleeping tips as well.

celette482

I bought a king-size pillow (note: I am under 5 feet so this is a body pillow) and I've been hugging it like a koala at night to keep my joints lined up and on my side. It works really well so far. I had been in pain every night from sleeping on my sides.

emmaaa

I have always been a back sleep, so switching to my side is a battle. I can only sleep on my left side because of surgery I had on my right shoulder makes it uncomfortable. Every time I wake up to pee, I'm on my back. I was using my Snoogle when my hips and back were sore, now that they aren't as much, I alternate, but that didn't even help. I'm hoping I can train myself early before the baby is bigger.

FWIW, I made DH switch sides of the bed with me (so weird feeling) because he's closer to the door and it makes it easier to pee. Now, I have to get used to laying on his right side instead of his left, on top of learning to sleep on my back,

Piperella

I toss and turn, but I usually like sleeping on my side/stomach. I know this is okay, until it doesn't feel good anymore.  I'm dreading that day.  I have been having more nights of restless sleep where I toss and turn.  I bought a body pillow, and it's great for in between my legs/hips.  I just hate wrestling it under the covers.  Doesn't help that two of my cats vie for sleeping rights next to my stomach.

CopperBoom86

I've been a stomach sleeper all my life and I know it's going to be super difficult to break that habit so I've already started trying. I start out on my sides but every time I wake up to pee, I'm on my stomach. Supposedly, it's safe to sleep on your stomach or back in the first tri, so I'm not too terribly worried about it just yet. I'll probably have to get a side sleeper pillow before too long, though. 

blaf322

I was going to post this too but wanted to try my question on the symptoms board first...
Anyone with shoulder tendonitis? I have it in my left shoulder already and pregnancy is causing flair ups... twice this months now and it's SUPER painful..... like wakes me up at night and keeps me up all night. I'm worried about developing it in my right shoulder if I always sleep on that side because of the left shoulder tendonitis. Any suggestions to help or alternative sleeping positions/pillow positions? Thanks!

LauraPCOS

I've always been a side sleeper which is bonus, but more and more lately my lower back has been hurting (I think we have a bad mattress and I also like to throw my top leg out over my bottom which pulls the lower back).  I was thinking of getting one of the horse show pregnancy pillows since I toss and turn so much, this way I won't have to fight with the pillow under the covers.  Will the pillow help with my lower back pain or no?

CopperBoom86

bnsmith85 said:

I was going to post this too but wanted to try my question on the symptoms board first...
Anyone with shoulder tendonitis? I have it in my left shoulder already and pregnancy is causing flair ups... twice this months now and it's SUPER painful..... like wakes me up at night and keeps me up all night. I'm worried about developing it in my right shoulder if I always sleep on that side because of the left shoulder tendonitis. Any suggestions to help or alternative sleeping positions/pillow positions? Thanks!

I'm pretty much in the same boat. I have a partially torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder and bursitis in my left shoulder. Forcing myself to sleep on either side is already causing me pain in the mornings. We might just have to suffer through it 

blaf322

CopperBoom86 said:

I'm pretty much in the same boat. I have a partially torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder and bursitis in my left shoulder. Forcing myself to sleep on either side is already causing me pain in the mornings. We might just have to suffer through it 

I can't attest to the validity of this, but was chatting with one of my employees today who suggested soaking my feet in an epsom salt bath. She said something about magnesium and reducing swelling across the body. I'm not a huge believer in that kind of stuff, but I'm willing to try it when I feel some swelling coming on

JamieK1882

@LauraPCOS I have one of the horse-shoe shaped pillows. I think it's meant to have your head on the rounded part, but I actually use it in the shape of a U, along with a regular pillow for my head. (I normally start out sleeping on my side like you described with the top leg thrown over). It does seem to help the back pain some, but unfortunately I still somehow push the U apart and end up on my back in the middle.

missteacherlady16

Im still sleeping on my stomach...should I not be? I'm 11w1d but I just assumed my body/belly would let me know when I need to modify my sleeping position. Is that a wrong assumption? 

owlcup

I will sleep on my belly until I physically cannot. I sleep terribly in any other position. I'm not looking forward to the day I cannot belly sleep anymore.

MRSCORKER

missteacherlady16 said:

Im still sleeping on my stomach...should I not be? I'm 11w1d but I just assumed my body/belly would let me know when I need to modify my sleeping position. Is that a wrong assumption? 

I googled this last week because I'm a belly sleeper as well. Everything I read said when it starts to feel uncomfortable, you'll know it's time to find another position. 

missteacherlady16

MRSCORKER said:

missteacherlady16 said:

Im still sleeping on my stomach...should I not be? I'm 11w1d but I just assumed my body/belly would let me know when I need to modify my sleeping position. Is that a wrong assumption? 

I googled this last week because I'm a belly sleeper as well. Everything I read said when it starts to feel uncomfortable, you'll know it's time to find another position. 

Ahh okay, good. That's what I thought.

I'm trying to enjoy every night of belly sleeping as much as possible. 

kmtz89

I've been sleeping terribly/tossing and turning but I find I am half side/half stomach sleeper, even before pregnant. I got a body pillow which is helping a lot between my knees but sometimes I end up on my back anyway.

krzyriver

@missteacherlady16 You can sleep on your stomach as long as it's comfortable. I'm a stomach sleeper too but I had to give it up because of nausea. 

@JamieK1882 I was doing that with my horseshoe shaped pillow too, but it's not as tight around me and I kept rolling on my back too. I gave up on it for now, but I'll start using it soon. 

Has anyone been told that sleeping on your back is fine? I was always told to stop around 18-20 weeks but then I read somewhere that that's a myth. But I can't find where I read that now....

booksandicecream

I am a side sleeper, sometimes half side/half stomach. I asked my OB/GYN when I need to stop putting pressure on my stomach while sleeping and she told me not to worry about it because it will become uncomfortable long before it's a problem and your body will automatically self-correct to avoid the discomfort. 

von1976

I sleep on right and left sides and sometimes my back. I'm 13 weeks. You really won't have to worry about this until 15-20 weeks. The problem with sleeping on the right side and back is that the weight of the baby can compress the veins and arteries (yours, not the baby's). You'll know if you have a problem--if you wake up on your back you may wake up breathless, for example. So just change position. Don't freak out about it, but try to get used to sleeping on your left side.

simcal18

Another stomach sleeper checking in here.  It's already been a problem for me because my boobs have been too sore to sleep on my stomach.  :-(  So I've mostly been doing this 1/2 side 1/2 stomach thing.  Sometimes when DH is home I will big spoon him and that helps, but often he makes me too hot or needs to change position before I can actually fall asleep that way.  It's really frustrating, and I may have to bite the bullet and get myself a snoogle sooner rather than later.

clb1984

I'm a stomach sleeper too, I'm not worrying about it yet, but thinking I should look into a body pillow/pregnancy pillow for the future.  Any particular brands that anyone has used and liked, or tips for choosing a good one?

I was having pretty bad shoulder pain from the way I sleep, because my shoulder is kinda twisted underneath me (I tried to stop it but keep waking up that way), and between that and swimming I was getting tendonitis. I went to physio and that wasn't helping, then I tried sleeping on a softer bed and it made a HUGE difference.  We got a mattress topper from Costco and my shoulder hasn't hurt at all since the first week of using it!

vanessa11411

I'm a side sleeper but for the past few weeks, I just toss and turn all night long. I bought a pregnancy pillow and I sometimes end up chucking it to the floor because it's just not helping

annabenanna

I've switched sides of the bed with SO so I can train myself to sleep on my left... I'm a side sleeper and sleep on both sides, but have been trying to be good about keeping the sleeping on my right to a minimum.  

OrangeEv

missteacherlady16 said:

Im still sleeping on my stomach...should I not be? I'm 11w1d but I just assumed my body/belly would let me know when I need to modify my sleeping position. Is that a wrong assumption? 

When your baby/uterus is heavy enough to push down on your vena cava when on your back, that's when it's time to change. I think it's probably different for everybody, but middle of 2nd tri and on is probably the general time. I heard you can kind of feel it (dizzy, heart rate changes). 

UponAStar16

I'm always a stomach sleeper but have been trying to train myself to sleep on my left side for weeks now, and it's been hard to rearrange the pillows to keep myself in that position without making my arm go numb. My boobs and stomach are getting uncomfortable to sleep on so, glad my Snoogle arrived today and I will let you girls know how it works!

ignoscemihi

krzyriver said:

@missteacherlady16 You can sleep on your stomach as long as it's comfortable. I'm a stomach sleeper too but I had to give it up because of nausea. 

@JamieK1882 I was doing that with my horseshoe shaped pillow too, but it's not as tight around me and I kept rolling on my back too. I gave up on it for now, but I'll start using it soon. 

Has anyone been told that sleeping on your back is fine? I was always told to stop around 18-20 weeks but then I read somewhere that that's a myth. But I can't find where I read that now....

From what I've read, it's best to sleep on your side after your fifth month (WebMD, What to Expect), but I heard an interview with an OBGYN who said to start out on your side (after the fifth month), but don't worry if you wake up on your back.  Your body will alert you if there's a problem.

runningmama14

I go between side and back. With my first, it never got uncomfortable to be on my back. Both my MW and my high risk doctor said not to worry about it if I woke up on my back. 

When I was hospitalized at 36 weeks, there was a resident caring for me (that I hated). She came in to speak to me in the morning and I rolled from my side to my back to look at her. She about had a coronary that I was laying on my back and kept trying to adjust my bed to sit me up.  It was so ridiculous. 

TurtleMomma

I spend half the night on each side, depending on where DS is sleeping. 

sjo_thetwins

Snoogle for the win! First night with it last night and I successfully stayed on my left side all night with no hip or back pain. My SO is out of town so it was easy to just snuggle up with it and pretend it wasn't a pillow. 

mrszoess

well I'll be ordering that today. even tho the baby is the size of a ferrero rocher my belly feels so heavy and weighed down if that makes any sense. I keep turning inward lol

UponAStar16

Snoogle worked so well here too! It was the most comfortable side sleep I've gotten! At one point I did wake up almost on my back but I think it'll keep me even more in place when it fits more snugly. Cheers, fellow Snooglers