Can't stop sleeping on my back

[wolfQ]

At my last appointment a week ago (20 weeks) the dr. said I need to stop sleeping on my back. I read it's because it can put pressure on your vein that returns blood to your heart and it can effect the flow of blood and nutrients to your baby. Well I was always a side sleeper, now that I'm not supposed to lay on my back it seems my body doesn't want to sleep on the side anymore. Ugh, my back is hurting me and it seems like my back doesn't hurt as bad laying on it instead of my side, so I keep ending up turning onto my back. I wake up during the night and I'm on my back again. I have a body pillow and I've been putting a pillow behind my back but it doesn't seem to stop me. How concerned should I be about this? I've never felt dizzy or anything after laying on my back. Any tips for keeping myself sleeping on my side?

 

[winkthehousee]

I'd love to know this too. I've also always been a side sleeper until the bump started growing. I have noticed I wake up less on my back the last two weeks. The only thing I've done differently is get a gym ball. I spend anywhere from 15 min to an hour lightly bouncing and stretching my back. Even if it isn't affecting the way I sleep it has majorly helped my back ache/pain/strain.

 

[flashy09]

Putting a body pillow next to you and swinging a leg over it can help anchor you. But honestly at this stage of pregnancy I wake up on my back all the time and did with my first as well. When you get really big during the last weeks, which is really when the baby weighs enough to put real pressure on the vena cava, changing positions is a huge ordeal and you wake up a lot easier and can correct the back sleeping. I really wouldn't worry too much right now.

 

[Paperhearts]

It's kind of one of those things you can't do much about except for trying pillows. If you wake up on your back just turn to your left side. I'm a back sleeper too and battle this every night!

 

[Lyndzo]

I was talking about this with my friends from another forum today. A bunch of their doctors told them just to sleep however they are most comfortable. If the baby is uncomfortable your body will tell you, wake you up and you will move. I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[JessPape]

Sleep how you are comfortable, your body well sense you to move if you need too... Trust u body, I slept on my back my whole pregnancy with my daughter, it was the only way I was comfortable.

 

[Srrme]

I have never been told not to sleep on my back, and neither has my mother (who has 8 children).

 

[Hope115]

I just talked to my doc about this the other day and she told me to sleep how i can sleep best n my body will tell me what to do. Im usually a side sleeper too but lately my hips have been hurting and i sometimes wake up on my back- so i do my best to sleep on my sides.... My doc said there will come a time if i lay on my back i could get nausous or uncomfortable and my body wont want to be in that position anymore and to just listen to my body- but till then just get some sleep

 

[SwissMiss]

Your body will definitely tell you when you shouldn't be on your back anymore. I'm just starting to get the dizzy/nausea again now, just like with my other two; and this in my sleep! I really do wake up b/c of it and immediately am dying to turn onto my side. It sounds crazy but I really do believe in trusting your body
Don't worry too much hon

 

[Kirstymum005]

I'm past 25 weeks and I am still sleeping on my back. Sometimes when i lie on my side my hips get sore. My ob said to listen to my body, when it gets uncomfortable I will switch position.

 

[BabyLuv88]

same here I've been sleeping on my back but when I wake up.. I get this weird pain in my stomach after few minutes it goes away.

 

[GAgirl]

I usually sleep on my back too, it's how I'm most comfortable. I personally don't believe that it's dangerous. How could we as a species have evolved if something as innocuous as sleeping on our backs posed mortal danger to our unborn children? For a lot of us, this is something our bodies do unconsciously even if we do manage to fall asleep on our sides.

 

[TicToc]

I am a slide sleeper too but have been getting hip pains on either side so I keep waking up on my back since for whatever reason my hips don't hurt then. I never heard of the no back sleeping until recently but DD was fine and I did a lot of back sleeping with her especially in the third trimester. I do try to stay on my sides but also try not to worry if I wake up on my back. I have noticed though that if I sort of half sit half lay on the couch with my fit out in front of me in a certain way that I get numb in the legs so i definitiley do avoid that position and think it has something to do with the vein pressure thing associated with warnings against back sleeping. So I agree with previous posters that the body will let you know if you are indeed applying pressure somewhere you shouldn't be.

 

[luckyG]

I sometimes put a pillow just under my right side so I'm on my back but slightly tilted to left. If I'm feeling like I have to sleep on my back then this seems to help!

 

[Twag]

I have always been a side sleeper or on my front (out of the question now ) so I have my body pillow but the last few days I have woken up throughout the night having started on my side to be on my back and then I get woken up by my back & bump telling me it is not happy - but then I go to sleep on my side again and then low and behold back on my back argghhhhhh

Hope this little phase passes soon

 

[WantsALittle1]

I agree with all the previous posters who said to sleep however is comfortable. I just talked with my OB about this yesterday, because I can't sleep on my sides (sciatica). She said it's totally fine to sleep on my back as long as it's comfortable. She said one day it won't be comfortable anymore, though But as soon as my body doesn't like it, it will tell me--I'll get dizzy or feel otherwise bad. She said as long as I feel good doing it, do it! I brought up the vein issue and she just shook her head. She said if vein compression were happening, my body would tell me

 

[Shandelion]

How funny...just this morning I made the comment to my husband that I must be the weirdest pregnant woman ever. I heard that during pregnancy it hurts to sleep on your back, I have always hated sleeping on my back and now it's comfy for the first time in my life. After reading this thread, looks like I'm not so weird

 

[zanDark]

Your body will let you know when it's time to stop sleeping on your back

I used to wake up on my back all the time, but a few weeks ago I found that I couldn't even lay on my back to read a book or watch TV...I felt out of breath and queasy! Once that started, I noticed that I'd wake up the same way I fell asleep.

Don't worry, your body will do what it needs to do to protect both you and the baby

 

[Magsy]

Your body will let you know when you can't sleep on your back anymore. Trust me, once you get into the third trimester, you won't accidently wake up in any position!

 

[xjesx]

Im either still on my stomach with a wedge pillow or on my back. I feel its more important to get sleep than to waste sleep time trying to get comfortable on my side.