[ColoradoKat]

I have been really having a hard time sleeping since my massage therapist and MW told me it is best to sleep on your left side. I have a really bad left shoulder and wake up ALL night with a numb arm and other pains when on that side. All I want to do is sleep on my right side or back. Help!! What do I do? I have tried all sorts of pillow and nothing seems to help.

 

[Hayes]

nope<br>
It is BEST to sleep on your left side. It is not dangerous to sleep on your right side. I am still sleeping mostly on my tummy slightly rolled back to allow room for my belly. I also often sleep on my backw ith a pillow just along one side to prop me up a bit.

 

[AppleOrangePear]

UGH! This pregnancy all I find my self comfy is when sleeping on my back.<br><br>
michele

 

[littleteapot]

No you don't. You can sleep flat on your back, too.<br>
You'll move before you get too uncomfortable (or baby gets too uncomfortable).<br>
The only thing is if you spend a LOT of time on your back toward the very end you may end up with a posterior baby, but really that's the only "risk".

 

[Attached Mama]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Hayes</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">nope<br>
It is BEST to sleep on your left side. It is not dangerous to sleep on your right side. I am still sleeping mostly on my tummy slightly rolled back to allow room for my belly. I also often sleep on my backw ith a pillow just along one side to prop me up a bit.</div>
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tha'ts exactly how i was when i was pregnant!!! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"> slept however was comfy and you described it!

 

[Twice as nice]

<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/truedat.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Truedat"> Im exactly the same way. I try laying on my left side as much as I can, but can never fall asleep that way... I usually end up on my stomach with one my legs bent to the side and propped up on a pillow to allow room for the belly

 

[annethcz]

I sleep how I am comfy. The big concern with sleeping on your back is that the baby will compress the vena cava. This is most likely to happen when the baby is bigger. But if the baby is indeed compressing your vena cava, you will be uncomfortable and move before your blood circulation is severely compromised.

 

[Momof3Girlz]

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<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Hayes</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">nope<br>
I also often sleep on my backw ith a pillow just along one side to prop me up a bit.</div>
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I often sleep this way too. Of course I often wake up to find myself on my back and then freak out a bit. It's good to know there's no harm done.<br><br>
I find that later on down in the pregnancy, when I'm huge, being on my back is very uncomfy, it's sooo hard to breathe that way.

 

[ColoradoKat]

Wow! I love this board, it is so nice to be able to ask other women questions like this. Espically women who are not "fear based" but ones that educate themselves then decide for themselves! I am grateful you are all here as we figure this all out together!

 

[RosesToys]

I'm only 10 weeks pregnant now, but I am still sleeping however I want to. With my dd I had read that you can't sleep on your stomach or on your back. So I was freaked out about sleeping in those positions and switched to sleeping on my side, usually the left side, long before I needed to.<br><br>
Boy was that a mistake! By the end of my pregnancy I was so tired of sleeping on my side. We went to the beach one day and I scooped a hole in the sand for my belly and laid on my tummy for a while! lol<br><br>
I have a bad back, so I sleep with more pillows than most non-preggo women do. What I do when I sleep on my stomach is to put a pillow under me, from my below my breasts (so my boobs hang down to the bed and don't get squished lol) to my hips. This is actually better for your back than to just lay on your tummy which curves your spine excessively. With the pillow under your belly you can probably sleep on your stomach a little bit longer than you could without it I would guess.<br><br>
Personally, I would highly recommend that you sleep however you want to while you are able to. My OB told me with my dd that I would know when I was not able to sleep on my stomach or my back. I wish I hadn't been too nervous to listen to her!

 

[leurMaman]

I got a pregnancy pillow last pregnancy that is curved like a "C" and fits around me and under my shoulders. It seems to help. You don't have to sleep on your left - like PP said, it is just best. As far as I have read, it is not dangerous to be flat on your back until the end of the pregnancy and only for very long amounts of time. THis is because the main artery feeding blood to the baby is underneath the uterus, and if the heavy little baby is sitting right ontop of that for extended periods of time it reduces the blood flow to it. Again, for this to happen, the baby has to be heavy and towards the end of your pregnancy. By that time you'll be so uncomfortable that you'll find it hard to sleep in any ONE position for long to begin with! Just try to relax and get a good night's sleep<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile">

 

[greeniegreen]

For the most part I already sleep on my left side out of preference but I sleep on my back sometimes. It's getting a little uncomfortable though to be on my tummy or on my back though because on my tummy everything feels like a hard rock and on my back I can feel my pulse really strongly.

 

[faithhopelove]

I can't sleep on my left side. I always have to face that way. I sleep sort of on my ride side/ belly. I will prob start using my body pillow soon. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"><br><br>
Crystal

 

[BCmamaof6]

I'm sleeping in whatever position I can fall asleep in. I'm a stomach sleeper non-pregnant...but that became uncomfortable when my boobs got more sensitive at about 7 weeks or something.<br>
Mostly now I fall asleep on my left side cuddling DD with a pillow between my knees up to my belly...I usually wake up a few hours later with numbness in my arm & switch to my right side...wake a few hours later same thing & switch to my back...this goes on all night. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol">