Night sweats, it’s actually a thing!

Thank goodness to be honest, as I thought I was the only one but it appears that many women suffer from them. I say suffer because they’re not the nicest things to endure. I mean who wants to wake up in the middle of the night to feed their baby only to find that they’re soaking wet – including pyjamas, sheets and anything else they might be wearing – and then start shivering with cold? It’s a sorry story and a pretty horrible experience that keeps repeating itself nightly.

I had to do a quick blog post on the subject because I received so many messages when I mentioned it on my Instagram stories. It got me thinking and I wanted to reassure other new mums out there who maybe Googling the very thing I Googled ‘hot sweats in the night’ to let you know that you’re not on your own and you’re not a freak, haha.

The only time I had heard women discuss night sweats is from those going through the menopause. I never knew it was something that could happen to pre and postnatal women of all ages because of hormones around your period.

I do find it funny really that when you have a baby you’re never warned about all the other stuff you have to go through after giving birth. I guess mums don’t want to scare other mums but at the same time I felt totally unprepared the first time and didn’t know if it was all normal, what with contractions of my uterus shrinking when I breastfed, healing of the stitches down there, cracked nipples, being up every couple of hours in the night to enduring night sweats… it’s definitely not always a bed of roses when you’ve just had a baby.

It’s hard work on your body physically and mentally but of course, the euphoric feeling you have when you first meet your baby completely trumps everything else you may have to go through.

By the way not all women suffer with all of the above like I did 🙂 Don’t worry all you pregnant ladies out there… if you’re reading this, becoming a mother is the best thing in the world hands down and you really don’t mind being up with them in the night because it means extra snuggles! I have written another blog post all about what I went through after birth in more detail here.

Causes of Night Sweats

The most common causes of night sweats are all linked to hormones and hormone imbalances but they can also be linked to more serious illnesses like thyroid problems for example. If you’re ever worried then I’d advise to pop to your doctors and ask for a blood test. It’s always best to get properly checked out even if just to put your mind at ease, never suffer in silence! I ended up going to the doctors actually as I became a little anxious about it but my blood tests came back normal and they said it was just down to a hormone imbalance and that was that.

What is strange is that after a few weeks after having Hugo my night sweats stopped altogether but with Remy like clockwork I now get them every month when I’m due on my period. So lovely!

Let’s look at one of the positives though, having nights sweats just after you’ve had a baby is one way that your body tries to get rid of all the excess fluid you retained whilst pregnant. I retained A LOT and so when I thought about it, I was quite glad my body was getting rid of it all again… is that clutching at straws a little? Ha.

Ok… things to help with night sweats:

Just a little note, please look into each of these yourself before trying as they may not be for everyone.

Evening Primrose Oil – my friend recommended this to me so I’ve just bought some… fingers crossed it’ll start working its magic for me too. You can read more about what it does here but in a nutshell it’s supposed to help stabilise hormonal imbalances.

Tumeric – I read an interesting article by The Independent here which explains how turmeric is fantastic for balancing hormones. Worth a try?! You can get them in capsule form too.

Black Cohosh – again great for balancing hormones… can read more about its interesting facts here.

Red clover – can get this is tea form too and mostly used for balancing hormones. Link here to read up on it in more detail.

Also, be mindful of what bedclothes you’re wearing and what type of duvet cover you’re using…. sounds like I’m stating the obvious but it might be worth switching to lighter covers etc – hard when it’s happening in the middle of winter though right?!

Other things I’ve read about that could help are reducing sugar, healthy diet and exercise which for me was quite hard especially in those first few months after having Remy when all I seemed to want was sugar, oops! I did also read that reducing gluten in your diet could help which I already do because I’m coeliac so at least I’ve got that one boxed off.

I am glad they’ve calmed down a lot now and I know when to expect them. Fingers crossed with the aid of some of the above I’ll hopefully be able to reduce the few days I’m currently still getting them. That would be amazing not just for me but for Ayman too haha.

Please share other remedies you’ve found that have worked or giving a whirl – let’s share the love people!

Have a great day my lovelies and thanks again for stopping by!

Love Sally

xxx