50+ Ways to Stay Awake While Breastfeeding (From Experienced Moms)

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.

Similar Posts

One Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *