Observations

Pregnancy problems: how to eat well to avoid sleepless nights!

Being pregnant and getting a good night’s sleep are two things which don’t tend to go hand in hand!

Getting comfortable with an ever-growing bump, sleeping through those increasingly sharp kicks and punches, and trying not to nip to the loo every hour combines to create a pretty difficult sleeping environment.

To make life even harder, it’s worth remembering that herbal sleep remedies like valerian tea are not safe in pregnancy.

Luckily, though, there are some foods pregnant women can introduce to their diets that make sleeping during pregnancy that little bit easier. Here are a few examples:

Foods rich in protein like peanut butter can make you sleepy and encourage a restful night. A slice of wholemeal toast with peanut butter not only contains tryptophan, which makes you feel tired, but the carbs from the toast will help to transport the protein to your brain. High-protein snacks like these can also ward off night time sweats, which can occur during pregnancy due to low blood sugar levels.

Drinking a glass of warm milk before you nod off can help bring on sleep. If you combine a glass of warm milk with a banana, you could be on to a winning combo; they may not be a traditional evening snack, but bananas release natural chemicals into the body which aid relaxation.

If you’re waking up at night feeling sick, with nausea a really common symptom of the third trimester as well as the first trimester of pregnancy, make sure you have some bland, inoffensive snacks at your bedside (nothing discourages a good night’s sleep like having to pad downstairs to get a snack from the kitchen cupboard). Good snacks include crackers, rice cakes, and plain biscuits.

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