Sleeping during your period can be challenging. The pain, discomfort and fear of leakage make it hard to sleep peacefully. If you are wondering how to sleep well on your period, here are some simple things you can follow for a better night’s sleep.

How to Sleep on Your Period

1.      Keep Your Bedroom Cool

Having a comfortable room temperature is necessary for peaceful sleep. During your period, the core body temperature increases a little bit due to hormones, and this can be a reason for disturbed sleep. Keeping the room temperature around 60 to 70°F can decrease your body temperature and improve the sleep quality.

2.      Move to Boost Mood

Mood swings, depression and anxiety are very commonly experienced during that time of the month. The best way to fight these period blues is being physically active. Exercise, yoga and meditation are excellent ways to boost your energy and mood. Keep yourself active during the day and you will sleep peacefully at night.

3.      Eat Properly

You can feel bloated and nauseous during your period. Indigestion and diarrhea are also commonly experienced. The best way to avoid these is to stay away from oily and spicy foods. Try to have a light meal before going to bed to avoid waking up in the middle of night with an aching tummy.

4.      Get Comfortable

Muscle cramps and pains can disrupt sleep while you are menstruating. Try to change your usual sleeping position and make yourself comfortable with the help of pillows or cushions.

How to sleep on your period? Try sleeping in fetal position. When you lie on your side and keep your legs curled up, the muscles in your abdomen will relax, which can reduce the aches and pains associated with muscle tension. Another benefit of squeezed legs is reduced chances of leakage. 

5.      Keep Fixed Sleep Routines

Try to go to bed at the same time everyday including the weekends. Your body gets into a regular pattern in this way, so it will be easy for you to fall asleep on your period. When you wake up and go to sleep at a constant time, your sleep during your period will be less likely to be disturbed.

6.      Prevent Leaks

The worst nightmare during periods is to wake up and find a huge stain on your clothes or the sheets. It is stressful and disturbing. The fear of a leaking pad or soiled clothes will not let you sleep peacefully. To avoid this, you can try the following:

• Overnight pads: Use thicker and longer pads at night time. Specifically designed night pads are also available which offer extra absorbance and protection against any leakage.
• Protect the sheets: If you have heavy periods and are concerned that your pad might leak at night, you can have a towel under your body to protect your bed sheets from getting stains.

7.      Relax

If you are worrying too much about how to sleep on your period and have a lot of anxiety about getting stains, you will not be able to get sound sleep. Proper rest and sound sleep are necessary for your health. Try to keep yourself relaxed and don’t get stressed about stains. If you take all the precautions, it is very unlikely that you will have any leakage. Even if you do have it, you can wash the stains easily. 

8.      Pay Attention to Safety

Safety is very important during your sleep. It is very tempting to use a tempon at night, but the best thing is to take the tempon out before going to bed, as the tempon should be changed every 4 hours, or it can lead to toxic shock syndrome which can be dangerous. You can use a menstrual cup instead at night but don’t forget to take it out in the morning.

9.      Some Other Tips for a Better Sleep During Period

Here are some more tips on how to sleep on your periods:

• Yoga, meditation and breathing exercises can be very relaxing. You can try them before going to bed. They will reduce your stress and anxiety, and will help you to go to sleep easily.

• If you have cramps or aches and pains, a pain killer can help. Ibuprofen is very effective to relieve menstrual cramps but do not take it on empty stomach. Follow the directions on the pack regarding the dose.

• Avoid taking any caffeinated drinks like coffee or tea in the late evening.

• Contraceptive pills offer an additional benefit of promoting better sleep. If you are on the pill you are less likely to experience the hormonal fluctuations responsible for sleep disturbance.