How to Cope with Pregnancy Insomnia
Tiredness and fatigue, particularly during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, are common. What’s more, later on in pregnancy, it’s no surprise we feel exhausted, with the physical change to our bodies and extra weight we are carrying every day.
While Instagram may show us that other women are blossoming, glowing and full of energy, this simply isn’t always the case! From hormonal changes to the emotional load of pregnancy, if you’re experiencing insomnia during this special time, the first thing to remember is that we all have different sleep needs and that during pregnancy it’s really common to find sleep patterns change or are disturbed.
Rather than fighting the feeling of tiredness during pregnancy, it’s important to try and view tiredness as part of the process. Remember, we are designed to cope with sleep loss, your body will cope and poor sleep during pregnancy won’t impact on the health of your baby.
However, I understand that despite poor sleep and fatigue during pregnancy being completely normal, pregnancy insomnia can be stressful, and make you feel low. So, there are positive steps you can take to improve your sleep and energy levels, helping to make your pregnancy more enjoyable.
My top tips for improving your sleep during pregnancy.
1. Don’t rely on sleep alone – If you’re feeling exhausted, putting pressure on yourself to sleep well might be contributing to the problem. If you can’t sleep well at the moment, look for other ways to get back some energy. For example, exercising (as advised by your doctor) and eating well can both help to boost your energy, even if your sleep isn’t what it once was!
2. Calm your mind – If you are feeling anxious or stressed, this is an exhausting state to be in, so even if you tackle your poor sleep, you’ll still feel tired. Take some time each day to focus on calming your mind. Learn to view your negative thoughts as exactly that, thoughts, rather than facts. For example, you may think that your poor sleep is harming your baby, but that’s simply not true. If you’re thinking negative thoughts, write them down. Allocate a small amount of time each day to write out your negative thoughts, putting pen to paper and taking them out of your head and onto the page. Then let them go.
3. Don’t go to bed too early – If you’re pregnant and tired, it can be very tempting to go to bed really early. However, this will eventually diminish your appetite for sleep, causing you to sleep more poorly down the line. So, instead try to stay up a little later, doing something you enjoy like watching TV or going out for dinner. Sticking to your pre-pregnancy bedtime, which is the one your body clock is used to, is the best way to keep your sleep consistent.
4. Set an alarm – This one may be a little tricky if you’re feeling tired, but if you can set an alarm and get up even if you’ve slept badly, you’ll have a better chance at sleeping well the following night.
5. Get up if you can’t sleep – It may sound counterintuitive, but if you really can’t sleep during the night, get up! Enjoy some time with peace and quiet and try to think of it as an opportunity to indulge yourself and do something you love, alone, before the baby arrives.
Remember, the most important thing to improve your experience around pregnancy and insomnia is framing how you think about things. What you think is how you feel, so if you convince yourself that not sleeping is going to be bad for your baby and that you won’t cope, you will only make yourself feel more anxious and stressed and more poor sleep will follow.
If you can adapt your attitude, thinking what will be will be, and remembering that you are designed to cope with less sleep and pregnancy, you will start to feel less pressure to sleep well, which will naturally increase your ability to sleep.
Remember there are women out there who have had 10 children and have been sleep deprived for years, and they are still happy and healthy. Of course, sleep should always be prioritised where possible, but it’s important to be aware of when it’s becoming something you’re too focussed on, as this is when problems will arise.
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