There’s nothing better than getting a good night’s sleep, but add in a period and getting a solid eight hours becomes a bit more of a challenge. In addition to the painful cramps that might be keeping your teen awake, they also have to worry about the possibility of leaking blood overnight.

First of all, period leaks at night are common and totally normal. Pretty much everyone who gets a period has woken up to find a miniature crime scene on their bedsheets–if that hasn’t happened to your teen yet, consider yourself lucky.

Read on for tips on how to prevent period leaks while sleeping -- or take the shortcut and shop Kt's super leakproof sleepover short for teens. Bye-bye stained sheets!

When your teen asks: Why do I leak at night?

Though their period flow remains the same throughout the day and night, there are a number of reasons why their period might seem heavier at night. It could be that if they're sleeping eight hours or longer, they're going a very long time without changing their period product, or that their preferred form of menstrual protection isn’t quite prepared to handle all that flow.

They could also be a restless sleeper who tosses and turns a lot in the night. All that extra movement might mean they find yourself in sleeping positions where you end up leaking off your pad.

Others may notice that they leak less at night, because lying down horizontally can temporarily prevent gravity from pulling the uterine lining downwards. But that doesn’t mean their period flow stops while sleeping, and they may notice that as soon as they stand up, a more significant amount of blood comes rushing out.

How can they avoid leaking at night?

1. Change their sleeping position

According to experts, the best position to sleep in whe on your period is the fetal position. Sleeping on their side with their legs squeezed together is optimal for avoiding period leaks because it decreases the chance of blood leaking out. The only position to avoid is sleeping on your stomach. “Being on your stomach can actually squeeze your uterus so that more blood comes out, increasing your chances of overnight leaks,” says gynecologist Dr. Jennifer Wider.

2. Refresh their protection right before bed

Always make sure your teen is wearing a fresh pad, tampon, menstrual cup, or pair of period underwear right before you head to bed. This will ensure that whatever form of period protection they are wearing is at its maximum absorbency potential.

3. Make sure they're wearing overnight protection

If they prefer pads, choose an overnight pad with a wider surface area so it’s more likely to catch all the blood. Kt offers reusable overnight pads that come in an array of fun patterns and can hold the equivalent of 20 pads or tampons. 

4. Wear period underwear

Kt has a range of leakproof underwear styles that are specifically designed to keep teens leak-free overnight. The Super Leakproof Sleepover Short offers full coverage and was designed with a longer gusset to account for any nighttime overflow. 

There’s also the Super Leakproof Full-Gusset Bikini, which features the widest built-in liner we’ve ever designed. The absorbent gusset reaches all the way from front to back and can absorb up to eight pads or tampons worth of blood. It’s even wider than an overnight pad and will be sure to absorb any extra leaks caused by restless sleeping.

5. Double up on protection

If they're finding that a single pad or pair of period underwear isn’t quite enough to tide them over night, it might be time to try both. They can try wearing a menstrual cup as well as a pair of period underwear so they have extra protection to fight against leaks. Experiment with different combinations such as tampon and period underwear, or menstrual cup and pad until they figure out what works best for their body. 

Learning how to sleep on their period without leaking can be a tricky yet overall rewarding process. Fingers crossed this helpful guide will help your teen stay leak-free and dry overnight far into the future!