A period isn’t fun at the best of times, but a period that starts during the school run or during the workday is even harder to manage. For those with unpredictable periods, this is a constant battle. It could arrive at the worst possible moment, which is not only stressful and embarrassing, but also potentially painful too, especially if you’re not prepared.

However, your period needn’t stop you from doing the things you love. There are plenty of things you can do to control the bleeding and reduce the pain. You might be used to feeling worn out and upset on your period as you try to deal with everything, but here are some ways to change that:

Use Period Underwear that Let you Stay Active

Pads and liners can slip throughout the day and tampons can be uncomfortable, especially during physical activity. Luckily, you can use period underwear to go about your daily activities without having to worry about staining. Period pants come in every size, so if you’re particularly slim or curvy, they’ll still work for you. Plus Size Period Underwear, for example, is made for women who need more coverage than what a pad or liner can offer them. They allow for free range of movement, meaning you can still make the mad dash around the house before school and work and you can still go for an evening walk or run without having to worry.

Keep Hydrated

It’s easy to forget to drink as you go about your day running around after everyone. It’s important to remember, however, that you’re potentially losing a lot of blood on your period. Without frequent water, it will leave you dehydrated and feeling even worse. An easy way to combat this is to carry a water bottle around with you all day and set alarms on your phone to remind you to take a sip. Drinking water also helps to reduce bloating as it encourages your body to flush out excess water.

Eat Breakfast

After bleeding all night, you’re going to wake up feeling pretty groggy. You may have lost a lot of blood, which means you’ll also have lost a lot of iron. If you’re not careful, you could end up anemic, so a nutritious breakfast will help to replace the vitamins and minerals you’ve lost. If you don’t have time in the morning as you rush around trying to get yourself and everyone else ready, throw a few things in your bag to eat once you get to work. Fruit, nuts, and dark chocolate make good snacks you can turn into a light meal, and you can put them in your bag the evening before if you have time. Dark chocolate is especially good as it contains a high level of iron and also releases serotonin, giving you a double-whammy of health-boosting goodness.

Use a Hot Water Bottle

This tried and tested trick is cheap and easy and can even be implemented at work. Sitting can make period cramps worse, so if you work at a desk all day, you might be experiencing a lot of pain. Luckily, a hot water bottle is discreet and can be tucked under a jumper, and all you need to do to reheat it is fill it with more hot water from the office kettle. If you work in a job that requires a lot of standing, your cramps may be a little less painful, but particularly heavy periods can still cause bad cramping, even standing up. It might be inconvenient to hold a hot water bottle against your stomach during work, so use a belt to strap it on under a big jumper.

Get as much sleep as you can

This is easier said than done as a busy mum, especially if you have very young kids, but it only needs to be for a couple of days whilst you’re recovering. Get your partner to take charge of everything in the evenings so that you can get to bed as early as possible. If your partner is working late nights or you’re a single parent, consider asking a friend or your own parents to come round so that they can help you in return for free dinner. The earlier you can get to bed, the better.

In Conclusion

A busy lifestyle and periods do not mix particularly well, but there are things you can do to help make it easier to manage. Following these tips should give you some relief and will hopefully help you to recover much faster than normal!

Best Ways to Deal with a Period as a Busy Mum