Pregnancy Sleep Tips: How to Get Better Rest

Last updated: September 2026

The best pregnancy sleep tip is also the simplest: sleep on your side with your knees bent, a pillow between your knees and another under your belly, which is exactly what the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends for later pregnancy. Everything else comes down to making that position comfortable enough to stay in, and to handling the bathroom trips, heartburn, restless legs and 3 a.m. wakefulness that get in the way.

Sleep problems are the norm rather than the exception: the Sleep Foundation reports that at least 50 percent of pregnant women experience insomnia. This guide covers why sleep gets harder trimester by trimester, the sleeping position that protects you and the baby, how to set up your pillows, a bedtime routine that works, fixes for the four most common disruptions, and the products worth buying, starting with the full-length body pillow that makes side sleeping something your hips can tolerate all night.

Why Sleep Gets Harder During Pregnancy

Pregnancy sleep is disrupted by physical changes, not by anything you are doing wrong. The Sleep Foundation lists the usual culprits: nausea, breast tenderness, a faster heart rate, shortness of breath, higher body temperature, frequent nighttime urination, and leg cramps, with back pain, kicking, vivid dreams and anxiety about labor joining in later.

In the first trimester, exhaustion is the headline; the Office on Women's Health notes that many women feel tired even after a lot of sleep, and that this is the body asking for more rest. Nausea and bathroom trips fragment the night. In the second trimester, energy usually returns and sleep improves, though leg cramps and congestion can still wake you. In the third trimester, exhaustion often sets in again; as the Office on Women's Health puts it, the baby's movements, bathroom runs, a faster metabolism and leg cramping all interrupt sleep, and simply getting comfortable becomes harder as you get larger.

Best Sleeping Position During Pregnancy

Side sleeping is best later in pregnancy, according to ACOG, with one or both knees bent, a pillow between the knees and another under the belly, or a full-length body pillow doing both jobs. The Sleep Foundation calls the left side with legs slightly curled the best position because it aids blood flow to the heart, kidneys and uterus, and says the right side is also acceptable; the goal is side, not a perfect side.

The reason to avoid lying flat on your back for long stretches comes from ACOG's exercise guidance: when you lie on your back, the uterus presses on a large vein that returns blood to the heart, which can lower your blood pressure. That is why back sleeping tends to feel dizzy or breathless later in pregnancy, and why your body usually wakes you to move. If you wake up on your back, roll to your side and go back to sleep; the brief time spent repositioning is not something to lose sleep over.

How to Set Up Pillows for Side Sleeping

The Office on Women's Health suggests pillows behind your back, tucked between your knees, and under your tummy; ACOG adds one or both knees bent and mentions the full-length body pillow as an option. That is three support points, and every pillow shape on the market is a way of covering them with fewer pieces.

Whatever you buy, check that the cover is removable and washable, and that the fill can be adjusted or replaced, because a pillow you sleep against every night for months will need laundering. Our pregnancy pillows collection carries the shapes above.

A Pregnancy Sleep Routine That Works

The Sleep Foundation's sleep hygiene list for pregnancy is worth adopting wholesale: keep the bedroom cool, dark and quiet; go to bed and get up at the same time each day; nap earlier in the day so naps do not steal from the night; wind down with a book, a bath or another calming activity; use a nightlight so bathroom trips do not fully wake you; avoid caffeine, spicy food and heavy meals close to bedtime; keep screens out of the bedroom and off for the last hour; exercise earlier in the day; and drink plenty of water through the day but less in the last hours before bed.

Two additions from daily life: eat a small snack with protein and complex carbohydrates before bed, such as toast with nut butter, so hunger does not wake you, and keep the wind-down to the same order each night. A predictable sequence tells the body sleep is next even when the mind is running through the nursery list.

What you wear matters more than it did before pregnancy, because a higher body temperature is one of the disruptions the Sleep Foundation names. Lightweight, breathable sleepwear that you can also nurse in later is the practical buy: a loose bamboo or cotton pajama set or a button-front sleep shirt keeps you cooler than a fitted nightgown and works for the hospital and the newborn weeks.

Insomnia, Restless Legs, Heartburn, and Leg Cramps

Insomnia

If you cannot fall asleep, get out of bed and do something quiet in low light until you feel sleepy, then return; the Sleep Foundation includes this in its pregnancy sleep hygiene advice, and lying awake watching the clock trains the bed to be a place of frustration. Writing down the thoughts that are keeping you up, or talking them through with your partner or a childbirth class, is also on its list.

Restless legs syndrome

Restless legs syndrome is one of the most common sleep disorders in pregnancy, according to the Sleep Foundation, which notes that the cause of RLS and leg cramps in pregnancy remains unclear and that suggested therapies include vitamin supplementation, heat and massage without consensus on which works best. Ask your provider to check your iron and other levels before adding any supplement, and try stretching and a warm bath before bed as low-risk first steps.

Heartburn and acid reflux

ACOG's digestive health guidance says acid reflux is common and usually not serious, and advises avoiding the foods and drinks that trigger it and avoiding lying on your back right after eating. Eat dinner early, keep the last snack small, and prop your upper body with a wedge; ACOG notes antacids and other over-the-counter medications can help, so ask your provider which ones are appropriate in pregnancy before buying.

Leg cramps and swollen legs

Leg cramping interferes with sleep for many pregnant women, per the Office on Women's Health. When a cramp hits, flex your foot by pulling your toes toward your shin rather than pointing it, and stretch your calves before bed. Legs that are heavy and swollen by evening often sleep better after a day in maternity compression socks and an hour with your feet up before bed.

Products That Help You Sleep While Pregnant

Pregnancy pillows are the purchase most people say made the biggest difference, because they turn the ACOG side-sleeping setup into one piece instead of three. A wedge is the budget version and doubles as heartburn support under the head of the mattress.

White noise masks the sounds that wake a light sleeper, and the Sleep Foundation's advice to keep the bedroom quiet is easier to follow with a machine than with earplugs you will lose. The same machine moves to the nursery after the birth, so it is not a pregnancy-only expense.

Cooling bedding such as breathable cotton or bamboo sheets and a lighter blanket addresses the higher body temperature directly, and a small bedside nightlight covers the Sleep Foundation's tip for getting back to sleep after bathroom trips without turning on the overhead light.

Shop all pregnancy pillows at EasyTot →

When to Talk to Your Provider About Sleep

The Sleep Foundation names obstructive sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome and reflux as the most common sleep disorders in pregnancy, and notes that sleep disorders can be linked to problems for mother or baby, so symptoms are worth raising with your doctor rather than enduring. Loud snoring, gasping or pauses in breathing, legs that will not stay still most nights, or insomnia that leaves you unable to function during the day all belong in a prenatal appointment.

Ask before taking anything for sleep. The Sleep Foundation's advice is that pregnant women should consult their doctor before taking any medication or herbal remedy to help with sleep, and that includes melatonin, magnesium and "natural" sleep teas. Our prenatal vitamins guide covers what is already in your daily supplement before you add more.

Related Pregnancy Guides

Regular prenatal exercise earlier in the day is one of the sleep hygiene steps above, and that guide covers what is safe in each trimester. If nausea is what keeps you up, morning sickness remedies has the bedtime snack strategy in more detail. For the weeks when sleep is hardest, the third trimester guide covers what else is changing, and the maternity clothes guide includes sleepwear that carries through to nursing.

Frequently Asked Questions