As you enter the world of reusable pads and sustainable period products, you may be wondering about what to use overnight to manage your menstrual cycle. Can reusable pads work overnight? You betcha. While reusable pads are our favourite sustainable overnight solution, they are not the only one. You actually have several options.
We asked the members of our Amie Reusable Pads Community Facebook group what they used overnight and they shared several great options. What you choose will depend on several factors, including what your flow is like overnight.
Overnight Reusable Pads:
- Reusable Postpartum Pads: These are for those of you who need the big guns overnight! Designed for extremely heavy, gushy flow, postpartum pads have very wide coverage, including extra-wide at the back, which is great for back sleepers, bamboo velour fabric on top to catch gushes quickly and super-absorbency (which is 50% more absorbent than our heavy pads). The downside to these is that they are so absorbent they can take a long time to dry.
- Heavy Absorbency Reusable Pads: For the first couple of days of a cycle when flow can be very heavy, most women find that a long or an extra-long heavy pad does the trick.
- Light or Moderate Absorbency Reusable Pads: Some women don't actually experience much, if any, flow when laying down and, therefore, are just looking for something to offer a little backup protection. If this is you (lucky duck!!), you may find that your usual daytime pad works just fine for you overnight.
- Reusable Pad with Interlabial Pad: Sometimes the quantity of menstrual flow is not the issue, but it is the direction that can be difficult to manage. If you are someone who sleeps on your back and find that (ahem), your backside tends to be a virtual aqueduct for your flow directly onto your sheets, we can assure you that you are not alone! Many women find that using an interlabial pad, along with their regular pad solves this issue entirely. An interlabial pad is a small pad worn externally, but placed between the labia at the vaginal opening. It serves to slow down and direct flow to the centre of the pad and can be a real game-changer!
Other Overnight Options:
- Menstrual Cup: While you should not wear a tampon overnight because of the risk of toxic shock syndrome, you can safely sleep with a menstrual cup inserted, according to Diva Cup (whom we love!). So, if you are a cup user, sleep soundly! You may wish to use a light pad as backup, in case your cup migrates a bit overnight (particularly when you stand up).
- Period Underwear: Use with or without a pad, these offer excellent coverage and are a favourite overnight option of a number of our customers. We don't currently manufacture these, but there are a number of good made in Canada brands available.
- Menstrual Cup or Reusable Pad with Mattress Protector: Sometimes no matter what you try, periods are a hassle overnight and it can be simpler just to have the reassurance of protection to catch whatever gets past your first line of defence. We love the Lifesaver XL Mats over at Lil' Helper Diapers. (And we love Lil' Helper diapers, too!)
- Free Bleeding: This is a super-interesting trend which is really more of a philosophy than a just way to manage periods. Essentially, for overnight, you'd just plunk down that mattress protector and bleed away.
Thank-you for being the kind of person to care about sustainability! If you have any questions about using reusable pads overnight or overnight menstrual care in general, please reach out to us anytime using the contact form at the bottom of every page.