The stress of motherhood is incomparable. Every mother is a warrior and a silent martyr in their homes.
Most times, as a mom we can lose yourself while carrying out their motherly duties. This is normal because we all are human beings.
But as a mom, you must keep in mind that when it comes to night feeds, you have to be aware of night feed do’s and don’ts — falling asleep while breastfeeding your little one can pose a serious threat to your baby.
If you’re thinking about easy ways on how to stay awake while breastfeeding a baby, well this article is for you. Read On…
Is It Dangerous To Fall Asleep While Breastfeeding A Baby?
Research of more than 2,000 breastfeeding moms was carried out. The result shows that about 72% of moms who nursed in bed fell sound asleep with their babies, while 44% fell asleep while nursing on a sofa or recliner.
That is not a good outcome because a lot of babies suffocate when sleeping in their parent’s bed and it is even riskier when a mom sleeps on a sofa or chair!
If you’re a nursing mom and you insist on sharing the bed with your baby there are ways to reduce the risk. But we recommend not to bed share with your baby for the first 9 to 12 months.
Research has shown that most first-time parents are sleep deprived, and as human beings when you’re exhausted you have the same poor judgment and inattention as a drunk person.
Read Also: Newborn Night Feeding Tips For First Time Moms
Why Do I Feel Sleepy While Breastfeeding?
Along with the relaxing feeling of having your baby’s mouth on your nipple, breastfeeding also releases the hormone Oxytocin in your brain. The release of this hormone brings about relaxation and a sleepy feeling.
How To Stay Awake While Breastfeeding A Baby
Here are easy tricks you can use to stay awake while breastfeeding your baby.
1. Sing Lullabies or Other Songs For Your Baby
In other to be alert while breastfeeding your baby at night, try singing to your baby. When you do this your brain is alert, the muscles are being exercised, and lots of reactions taking place in your system, and the aftereffect is that you stay awake till you are done with the breastfeeding session.
Sometimes singing of lullaby could hasten the feeding session as your baby is rocked back to sleep by the sonorous voice of the mother.
Remember that there is a bond between a mother and her baby and this bond is felt and is stronger at the early stage of a baby’s life where even the voice of the mother has effects on the baby.
So while you are at the singing exercise, you are helping yourself and your baby. You can’t fall asleep because your body is alert and your baby is rocked back to sleep so that you too can go back to your sleep.
2. Get Out Of The Bed
A simple act of getting out of bed and walking into another room can be very effective in keeping you awake for an extended time during night feeds. Try and develop a habit of moving from place to place every 20 minutes depending on how tired you are.
3. Scroll Facebook, Instagram, Or Tick Tok
There are lots of benefits that can be gotten from the positive use of social media and they can also be leveraged upon.
Using social media apps to keep busy and stay awake while breastfeeding is one of the benefits you can leverage upon.
While using your phone, the photocells of the eyes are alerted and the pictures you see or the writings on your screen are transmitted to an electrical impulse and sent from the optic nerve as an electrical impulse to the brain.
The brain interprets it and tells you what you have seen, so while you are at it, sleep tends to become from far you.
The internet is filled with comic relief, so while you are laughing at the funny videos or the comedies online, your whole system is charged up, and at the same time sleep becomes alien to you.
So when you next you are battling with sleep while breastfeeding, do not worry much, just pick up your phone and help yourself out of your predicament by leveraging the benefits of social media.
4. Play Candy Crush or Your Favorite Game
This is another great way of leveraging the tremendous advantage of science and technology.
We live in a jet age and the age is filled with lots of technological advances that are aimed at improving the standard of living and lifestyle.
So when next you wake up to breastfeed your baby at night, while you are at it, you can start playing games on your phone or gadgets.
As you do such, your brain becomes alert because you need to solve each puzzle or complete any assignment given to you at that particular stage of the game.
5. Drink a Cup of Cold Water
Drinking a cup or glass of cold water is also helpful when dealing with sleep during breastfeeding, this is because the cold water helps keep one alert and be agile
Research has shown that the consumption of cold water is essential for the activation of sensors under our skin and this causes an increase in the heart rate and stimulates an adrenaline rush that keeps the body alert.
Research has proven that apart from caffeine, drinking ice cold water helps the body to stay attentive and to be more focused. Also, the adrenaline rush makes one alert and keeps sleep far away especially during night feeds.
Interestingly, drinking cold water can uplift the mind, increase your body’s tendency to bear the pain, make quicker decisions, and improves decision-making skills.
When next you feel sleepy while breastfeeding your baby and you want to stay awake, all you have to do is to take a cup of cold water and sleep becomes a thing of the past.
Read Also: How Much Caffeine Can I Consume While Breastfeeding?
6. Watch Movie Trailer for Upcoming Movies
Watching movie trailers for upcoming movies can help you keep awake and alert and avoid falling asleep while breastfeeding your baby.
When you watch an upcoming movie’s trailer like on Netflix, your mind will be alert as you would want to pick up all the information the trailer offers in other to decipher if the movie is interesting or not.
So, if you’re still wondering how to stay awake while breastfeeding a baby, this trick will help you stay alert during nursing time.
7. Chat with Your Spouse
This technique will depend on your spouse and how good the communication skill between the both of you is.
If you find it a difficult sustaining discussion with your spouse then this technique may not be useful to you. The aim here is to keep you busy and your brain alert as you converse with your spouse so that the sleep urge can be conquered.
If you have a spouse who is unwilling to stay up with you, then you don’t have to try this technique because you will end up being disappointed.
8. Edit Photos
We, women, love snapping lots of photos every day especially each time we step out, but sometimes we may not ever have the time to edit them for Instagram and Facebook due to a lot of reasons.
Well, night feeds may be the perfect time to edit those pictures, try taking the time to scroll through your pictures and edit them to help you stay awake.
Read Also: Breastfeeding Tips For First Time Mothers
Other Things You Could Do To Stay Awake While Breastfeeding
- Take a breastfeeding course
- Read an Ebook
- Listen to an audiobook
- Keep your snacks close by to munch on
- Use the bathroom before nursing to wake yourself up
- Plan a meal for the week
- Shop online
- Browse Pinterest
- Write down your grocery essentials on your phone
- Find new recipes to try
- Read Reddit – there are lots of threads to keep you busy. I like reading threads on TV shows I watch.
- You can also keep your mind busy by deleting Instagram or Facebook accounts you don’t want to follow anymore.
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- Breastfeeding in Public (11 Helpful Tips)
- How To Lose 10kg While Breastfeeding
- What To Eat When Breastfeeding A Sick Baby (3 Best Foods)
- Breastfeeding Positions For Large Breast (7 Best Positions)
- What Happens If I Drink Prune Juice While Breastfeeding
We hope your question on how to stay awake while breastfeeding a baby has been answered and practicing any of the tricks or steps highlighted above, sleeping while breastfeeding your baby will become a thing of the past. What would you like to add more? Feel free to let us.