Natural Remedies for Pregnancy Insomnia – Workable Solutions for Expecting Women
Pregnancy is probably one of the most beautiful moments that a mother will experience. It is a hype-filled period when a mother expects the birth of her child (or children, in case of twins). But pregnancy is quite demanding and mothers undergo several hardships or sacrifices for the unborn child. One among these is sleep. This article is specially created to help you know all that you need to know about ‘Pregnancy Insomnia’.
What is Pregnancy Insomnia
Before we get to know about pregnancy insomnia, first let’s find out what insomnia is. Insomnia refers to a pattern of poor sleep duration and quality. In other words, a person with insomnia would find it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep, hence ending up awake earlier and feeling unrested. Sleep is one of the most important aspects of life and to not get proper sleep can drastically affect one’s daily functioning, health and overall quality of life. Pregnancy insomnia refers to when a pregnant mother experiences patterns of poor sleep quality and duration due to hormonal changes. The hormonal changes cause women to frequently wake up earlier at night (and once again make it difficult to go to sleep again), thus affecting their sleep.
Natural Remedies for Pregnancy Insomnia
Pregnancy insomnia greatly affects the health of not only the pregnant mother but also her unborn child/children. Hence they opt for allopathic medication, but this is not advisable as it may cause side effects or result in a dependency behaviour. Pregnant mothers with pregnancy insomnia have nothing to fear anymore. Here are 5 natural remedies for pregnancy insomnia:
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Food rich in melatonin
Consuming melatonin rich food can help promote sleep. Foods rich in melatonin include milk, roasted nuts, cherry juice and pistachios. These can help to promote sleepiness naturally. What’s more? They are safe for the baby and provide strength and nutrition to both the mother and unborn child as well.
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Room lighting and gadgets
Blue lighting is known to prevent sleep. This is because blue lighting stimulates cortisol levels which promote wakefulness. Blue light can even come from gadgets and that is why use of gadgets postpones sleep. It is good to stop usage of gadgets 1 hours before going to bed. One can also wear Arc glasses while using gadgets to prevent blue light. Instead of using overhead lights, using night lamps can be useful.
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Exercise
Performing exercise is a great way to promote sleep. The goal is to make yourself more physically tired so that you can fall asleep easily at night. What’s more? Exercising can be very beneficial to pregnant mothers as it makes labour easier and, according to studies, can make the child smarter.
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Relaxation techniques
Light stretching and breathing exercises are an amazing way to relax both the body and mind, and to prepare oneself for sleep. Practicing relaxation techniques before going to bed can help promote sleep and fight pregnancy insomnia. Another great way to deal with pregnancy insomnia is meditation.
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Adjusting the room temperature
Adjusting the room temperature can help to promote sleep. It would be advisable to make the room cool and reduce humidity. This can be solved by turning down the air conditioning or by turning on the fan.
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Reducing bathroom trips at night
The main reason for sleep insomnia is bathroom trips at night. This can be reduced by limiting fluid consumption to 2 hours prior to going to bed. That way, the pregnant mother can use the restroom before she goes to bed and won’t have to wake up at night.
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Changing your mattress
A major reason for sleep insomnia could be the mattress that the pregnant mother is sleeping on. So it might be an ideal time to chuck out the old mattress and purchase a new, more comfortable one.
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Changing your diet
Making some changes to diet can help promote sleep and combat sleep insomnia. Pregnant mothers should consume meat, fish, fruits and vegetables. They should quit caffeine and chocolate products as it can affect sleep.
Pregnancy insomnia is manageable and hence pregnant mothers should not worry about it, and risk adopting risky practices. It is important that pregnant mothers try natural remedies, not only for their well-being but also for their child’s.
Wonderful post – the last term is the most testing one because we can’t sleep!
Yes pregnancy is a sensitive phase of women’s life and many women suffer from insomnia during this time. it is always better to take help of natural methods to manage it. you post give plenty of wonderful options of natural solutions. indeed a helpful post.
This is such an informative post and I’m definitely sure that it is going to help a lot women who are pregnant. Thanks for the tips you have shared which are really useful.
Recently, I had a conversation with sleep disorder speciality on my podcast. Your post reminds me all the pointers she mentioned. Insomnia during pregnancy can be challenging but following the tips that yo ave mentioned in this post can help her in controlling it naturally.
Pregnancy is a trying phase for most women and Insomnia at such a time can tire the to-be Mom out completely. These natural remedies are sure to be a great help.
Insomnia can be baffling in pregnancy I remember it really troubled me a lot and I had office early morn, glad you chose to write on this
I wish I had this post during my pregnancy period. I honestly didn’t know the term but I definitely had pregnancy insomnia.
I suffered from insomnia during pregnancy too and exercise and controlled worked well for me. Relaxation techniques are good to handle it too.
Very nice post. It will help all the ladies pregnant. This is true it’s difficult to get sound sleep
Pregnancy insomnia is a common issue and most often brought on by stress. These are some really effective and natural remedies that will help in the mitigation of this issue.
I can relate to this, as Kavya would get active only towards the night. My whole nights were so irritated due to the uneasiness. Wish I had someone telling this back then 🙂
Insomnia is a common sleep problem in pregnant women. Pregnancy insomnia greatly affects the health . Great thoughts.
Pregnancy insomnia is the most common symptom in pregnant women. I had been through those sleepless nights and still remember those lethargic feelings in the morning. Thanks for sharing significant remedies; beneficial for pregnant women.
That’s very helpful tips for improving sleep loss in pregnant women. Change of matters and moderate physical activity does help a lot
I have suffered from pregnancy insomnia a lot in both pregnancies. I totally agree with the suggestions you have given out here. I used to keep less lights and soothing music on to sleep well.
This will be a helpful post for many preggo-moms out there 🙂 In my first pregnancy I too faced this trouble however, in my second one, I sleep like a log.
Ah now isn’t this such a dreadful phase that we go through during pregnancy? The tips that you have shared are very important to know for all.
I think practising light exercises and breathing ones can help a lot to address sleep disorders during pregnancy. Also eating right food can further help in it.
Hema, you have very well explained the factors that cause insomnia in pregnancy. Considering change in food and reduce intake of water at night even helped me to copeup with this situation.
These are the great tips for expecting mothers. I am definitely sharing it with my sis in law who is 5 months pregnant.
Sleeping during pregnancy is anyways troublesome due to big stomach and the frequent bathroom visits. But yes with a little care and making things more comfortable around, you can manage to get a good sleep.