hip pain and headaches from sleeping on side

[Hedgehead]

I am on week 14, so not far along enough to be experiencing proper sleep problems, but I am having some serious pain in the night.

Ob told me to begin to sleep on my side at this point and if I find myself on my back, to roll over.

Trouble is I wake in the night with really horrible pain in my hips from sleeping on my side, and I wake in the morning with a headache, which I think is caused by neck/back/hips being unaligned.

I have a connective tissue where my joints occasionally hyper-extend, so I can't work out if this is because of that or whether it is a common problem in pregnancy?

Is it essential to sleep on my side at this point?

I am currently in week 9 of second pregnancy, in my last pregnancy I didn't get hip pain until weeks 20ish but this time I have woken up with pain in my hips every day I was previously in a car accident and had my hips damaged so it's because of this. I find it helps if you have a very soft pillow under your hips and then a pillow imbeteeen your knees

I think it's from 20 weeks that they recommend left-side sleeping?

My yoga teacher recommended getting a thick memory foam mattress topper, or an extra slumberdown underneath or something, as hard beds are the pregnant woman's nightmare..

i only got the hip pain from 32 weeks. now 37, and it's horrid. Takes a good 10 mins in the shower each morning to loosen out!

Thank you - I will try with a pillow below my hip and a pillow between my legs. I think the problem is that the hip stays rooted, but the rest of my body overextends forward and pulls at the hip joint for hours. Then I wake up stiff and in so much pain! I feel like I need to be enclosed on all sides so as not to move in the night, or to have all my weight being supported...

I've been getting the hip pain since around 20 weeks. I have the Dream Genii pillow (which sort of tucks between the thighs) and I feel that helps a bit.

I don't think you need to be side sleeping yet. I tend to anyway, but I think the UK advice is from around 20 weeks.

I'm 16 weeks and still sleeping on both sides and my front. I figure I'll wait until it gets uncomfortable to change. Maybe your ob just thinks it's best to get used to side sleeping ASAP, but I'll get used to it just as well later on and have had better sleep in the mean time!

I'm 28 weeks and have joint pains , I put a pillow behind my back so I kind of roll back but not all the way . I've found it's the most comfy :-)

I get hip pain - both sides (I side sleep anyway). Mothercare do a "wedge" pillow for £10 which Ive found helps immensely.

I slept on my tummy up until 19wks as it started to become unfomfortable and our lil man is perfect :) just growing and putting on a lot of wight lol hes gonna be an elephant child by the time im done cooking him! I remember feeling like this at your stage if i stayed on my sides during the night. Nirmally its only from about 18-19 weeks they advise you not to sleep on your back anymore as babys big enough to put pressure on tour main organs. I dunno why they have to,d you that tbh i posted on here ayges ago for advice on sleeping positions what was safe and what wasnt :)

You should check out maternity slide sheets, I have one called Snoozle .. they're great for moving around in bed at night. These + pillows between the legs are a lifesaver for me. Also, acupuncture :)

So i heard it was from 20 weeks too but then my yoga teacher said essentially you would be ok on your back up to 28 weeks.

The thing about being on your back is about the baby putting pressure on your arteries, so it wouldn't harm baby, but obviously is not good for you. My understanding is that if you were on your back, asleep, and it was putting unnecessary pressure on you, you would wake up anyway and move. I'm 29+2 and occasionally roll onto my back just for a while as i'm finding it uncomfortable on my sides too.

If you think you have misalignment, a lot of people in my pregnancy yoga class were recommending seeing an osteopath for things like that. One girl went a couple of times and her problems disappeared altogether! I'm sure your GP could refer you, but of course paying for it privately would probably get you seen quicker (if that's an option for you)!

Im 24+2 and have had hip/bum pain for weeks. We've added a memory foam topper to the mattress and I have pillows. Last night I tried a different tack and it did help. I lay on my back and then wedged 2 pillows under one side of my back so I was tilted to one side but not actually lying on my side. I slept for about 3 1/2 hours with no hip pain at all but then moved onto side when I woke (only because I felt guilty lol!). Im not sure if it will work in the later stages but I felt fine so couldnt have been doing myself any harm. Am certainly still being kicked!

I suffer from the horrific hip pain. Am using 4 pillows...2 on each side to keep me in 'position' ie on my left side. A maternity pillow between my knees (thick enough to maintain 2-3 inches between my legs). If I manage to sleep most if the night this way then no pain. If the leg pillow slips or I turn over & no pillow then the pain is intense enough to wake me!

Was just asking about this elsewhere. I'm only 13+4 but thought I'd start giving side sleeping a go last night. Before getting pregnant I was a side sleeper anyway so never thought it'd be an issue. But I've woken up today (and at various times throughout the night) with my hips, knees, back, ribs, shoulder, elbow and neck all aching!

Will try pillow between knees thing. Or just go back to lying on my back for a few more weeks