One of the great injustices of pregnancy – and there are many – is the impact that little human has on your ability to sleep, even before they’re waking you up for night feedings. Pregnancy makes most women tired, particularly in the first and third trimesters, but it also brings with it insomnia in various forms.

Some women just find themselves wide awake as soon as they hit the pillow, others feel compelled to nap during the day and toss and turn at night; most, however, are kept up by the physical discomforts of pregnancy: heartburn, back pain and trying to find a position that doesn’t feel like you’ve got a bowling ball strapped to the front of you. And then there’s the “it’s coming soon” insomnia that so many get a week to a few days before they go into labor.

I tend to think of it as nature’s cruel way of preparing you for sleep deprivation, but that hasn’t kept me from trying to fix it. If you’re desperately in need of a night’s sleep, I hope one of these strategies will help.

Get a pregnancy pillow

I’ve mentioned this before in my quest to alleviate back pain. I’ve tried a few and wound up hating the Snoogle, which got too soft and lumpy over time for my taste, and loving the Physical Therapy Body Pillow from the Curvy Pillow Company. It’s fairly firm, and stays that way, and is filled with kapok, a soft tree fiber. Some Amazon reviewers have complained about it smelling oddly, but I did not find this to be true, even with my super-sharp pregnancy nose. The pillow helps take the pressure off my hips or lower back and get into a position where sleep might be possible.

A stretch and a hot shower

If you can get to a prenatal yoga class, do it, but if not there are a few poses you can do at home to help loosen up your joints before bed. Namely, child’s pose, pigeon pose, and alternating cat and cow. Stretch for a good 15 minutes, then take a warm to hot shower to up your chances of a good night’s sleep.

Ban electronics from your room

This is tough, but it tends to really help. Leave your phone out of your room, and try not to sit up in bed watching TV, reading your Kindle, or playing games on your iPad. On top of the fact that loads of research backs up that having these items in our bedrooms tends to wreak havoc on sleep, I can personally attest to the fact that banning them can really help with pregnancy insomnia.

Go to bed as soon as you’re tired

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve nearly passed out at 7:30pm, roused myself to get through another couple of hours, and then spent the entire night kicking myself for not going to bed in my optimum sleep window. Insomnia is a twisted bedfellow. Don’t pass up a chance to go to bed when it presents itself!

Get outside in morning light, and keep your bedroom dark

This may sound new age-y, but really it’s just getting back to human sleep basics. Our sleep cycles are run by our circadian rhythms, which are set by a tiny receptor in the retina that is highly sensitive to light and darkness. Getting out in morning light, and going to bed in as close to total darkness as possible helps to set and maintain that rhythm. And as an added bonus, this routine can help settle your newborn into a regular sleep pattern eventually, too. People thought I was crazy when I’d bundle my son up at one week old and cart him around in the morning sun for 20 minutes a day, but I largely credit that practice with setting his days and nights by the age of two weeks and getting him sleeping for six to seven-hour stretches by about two months.