Having trouble staying awake while nursing your baby? You aren’t alone! Here are 50+ ways to keep your eyes open while breastfeeding.
I absolutely love newborns.
Minus the sleep deprivation and frequent middle of the night feedings.
With Oliver, I felt like I was able to handle them a lot better than I did with Jack…but with Andrew, I REALLY struggled to keep my eyes awake during the early months of his life.
It felt like every time I close my eyes, it was time to wake up again.
As he’s gotten older, it’s gotten easier. But man, those newborn months were rough. And it was a little scary a few times to realize I had dozed off while I was trying to nurse him.
So I know I’m not the only mom to ask this.
“How can I stay awake while breastfeeding?!
I decided to pose this question in our breastfeeding support group on Facebook, and I got a lot of great responses.
I would love for you to share your ideas, too!
How to Stay Awake While Breastfeeding
Here are 50 ideas!
- Sing lullabies or other songs to your baby
- Sip on a cold glass of water
- Focus specifically on your baby’s eyes, nose, mouth, etc.
- Sit up straight in your chair or in your bed
- Watch a favorite TV show that you are only allowed to watch while breastfeeding
- Play Candy Crush on your phone
- Scroll Facebook, Instagram or TikTok – I especially find TikTok entertaining in the wee hours of the night.
- Online shop
- Take a breastfeeding course – shameless plug for our free breastfeeding course!
- Browse Amazon (though maybe turn off the 1-click buy setting…trust me. I have a few middle of the night purchases I don’t remember!)
- Read a book
- Read an Ebook
- Listen to an audiobook (I’m a big fan of Scribd)
- Keep snacks close by to munch on – here is a great list of snacks for breastfeeding moms
- Go to the bathroom before feeding to wake yourself up
- Ask your spouse to stay up and chat with you
- Sit on the floor to avoid getting too comfortable
- Play Clash of Clans on your phone
- Do a Sudoku
- Watch Netflix or Hulu on your phone – here is a list of my favorite binge-worthy TV shows
- Download the 1SE app on your phone and start a compilation of your baby’s first year
- Play a game of Solitaire on your phone
- Move to a different space to give yourself room to move around
- Turn on a lamp
- Meal plan for the week
- Skim mommy chat boards or groups online
- Turn on a movie
- Browse Pinterest
- Find new recipes to try
- Crossword app
- Journal – I love the Day One app for journaling
- Write your grocery list on your phone
- Look at pictures on your phone
- Edit photos
- Clean out your contact list of names you don’t need anymore
- Delete accounts you don’t want to follow anymore on Instagram
- Watch movie trailers for upcoming movies
- Read Reddit – there are tons of threads. I particularly like to read threads on TV shows I watch.
What would you add?
Don’t forget to signup for our FREE breastfeeding basics class! It’s available 24/7 online.
Katie Clark is a Certified Lactation Educator, Certified Breastfeeding Specialist, and IBCLC student. She has helped thousands of mothers and families around the globe navigate breastfeeding challenges and questions since 2015. She has a passion for creating research-based, helpful breastfeeding education and helping parents find a way to make breastfeeding work for them. Katie is a mom of three little boys and lives in the great state of Colorado. She also has a degree in Communications with an emphasis in print journalism.
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