There are many things your body is going through postpartum, and while some of them we've come to expect (postpartum bleeding, broken sleep), the postpartum night sweats often come without warning. And boy, does it suck to wake up soaked through your shirt and your sheets. If this is you right now, take a breath: postpartum night sweats are incredibly common, and for most people they're a temporary part of how the body recovers after birth.

Here's why night sweats happen in the weeks after delivery, roughly how long they tend to stick around, what can make you more comfortable tonight, and the signs worth a call to your provider.

Night sweats after birth usually come down to one big shift: your hormones recalibrating. A few overlapping factors are at play.

If you're nursing, prolactin, the hormone behind milk production, stays elevated and keeps estrogen lower for longer. That can mean sweats last a little longer for people who breastfeed, chestfeed, or pump than for those who don't, since regular milk removal helps keep prolactin up.

During pregnancy, your blood and plasma volume rise substantially, by roughly 40 to 50%, to keep you and your baby well supplied, according to research on pregnancy physiology. After birth, your body no longer needs all that extra fluid, so it offloads it. Sweating, along with more frequent trips to the bathroom, is one of the main ways it does that.

There's no single timeline here (like most things postpartum), but there is a rough pattern.

For many, sweating is heaviest in the earliest weeks postpartum and settles as hormones get back to pre-pregnancy levels. This could be a couple of weeks to a couple of months, and if you’re lactating, it may take longer (sometimes until you wean). Everyone's timeline is a little different, and that's typical.

You can make the nights more bearable. A few things tend to help.

Breathable cotton or linen pajamas and sheets, a fan or a cracked window, and a lighter duvet can all take the edge off. You can also lay a towel over your fitted sheet so that if you wake up soaked in the middle of the night, you just toss the towel to the side and go back to sleep on your dry sheets without having to strip the bed (at least until the morning).

Keep water by the bed and sip through the day, especially if you're nursing. Postpartum is also a demanding stretch for your nutrient stores, and a formula built for this season, like the Postpartum Pack, supplies Iron, Choline, and DHA to support your recovery. It won't stop the sweats, but replenishing what birth and breastfeeding demand in higher amounts supports how you feel overall.

A racing nervous system can add to overnight sweating, so gentle wind-down habits help: dim lights, slow breathing, a warm shower. Magnesium plays a role in the body's stress response and sleep, which is part of why the Calcium + Magnesium + Vitamin D Boost pairs Magnesium with Vitamin D for postpartum support. You'll find both alongside the Postpartum Pack in the Postpartum Recovery Bundle. (And we know finding a gentle bedtime routine postpartum is tough and sometimes impossible. Do your best, and if you can't manage a wind-down, at least be gentle with yourself as you handle newborn sleep.)

Night sweats on their own are usually nothing to worry about. A few situations, though, are worth a call to your doctor or midwife:

• A fever, chills, or body aches alongside the sweats, which can signal an infection.
• Sweats that persist or get worse after the early weeks, rather than gradually easing.
• Night sweats paired with a racing heart, unexplained weight loss, or feeling very unwell.

When something feels off, it's always okay to ask. You know your body.

Postpartum night sweats are one of those unglamorous, rarely-discussed parts of recovery that can still catch you off guard in the middle of the night. In most cases, they're a sign your body is doing exactly what it should: recalibrating after 9 months of enormous change, and they tend to pass on their own.

In the meantime, be gentle with yourself, stay cool and hydrated, and lean on support where you can. If you're not sure which supplement fits this stage of recovery, our quick quiz can point you toward a match for the fourth trimester. For more on what to expect, our guides to postpartum recovery and coping with postpartum fatigue walk through the wider picture.