It's 3am and the monitor lights up. She's awake. G sleeps very well in my book and I can't really complain, especially because C was a hot mess and I know how lucky we are this time around. Regardless, every night around 3am, she wakes up to eat.
Fortunately, when G wakes up she stirs, grunts, and lets out a little groan. It's only if we don't hear her that she starts wailing. This is appreciated by everyone in the house. Since I'm breastfeeding her, I pull night duty. Woo. You know when you are woken up in the middle of a deep sleep and you literally can't open your eyes? And when you do it feels like your eyelids are sandpaper? Yeah...I'm a mess when I'm woken up at this hour. My saving grace is that when you breastfeed, food is always ready! Who knows what would happen if I needed to do math and make a bottle in that state of being.
After picking her up (and forgetting to turn off the Angel Care monitor half the time), I change her diaper, and we settle into the glider for a midnight snack. The hard part? Staying awake. If you didn't know, breastfeeding and the hormones it releases creates a nice calming effect for Mom and baby. This makes staying awake at 3am especially hard.
All I have to say is thank goodness for my iPad. When C was an infant, I had an iPod Touch, which worked the same, but if you're going to be up late nursing a baby I highly recommend some kind of back lit entertainment device. You don't want any other lights on in the room, so reading a book isn't really possible and watching TV can be too stimulating. A Kindle, Nook, iPad, smart phone, however? Perfect.
I read baby related articles, peruse The Bump, play Candy Crush, check various Tumblr sites, read my favorite blogs, surf Pinterest, and the occasional list on Buzz Feed. To help G settle back into sleep, I play the Lullaby Theme station on Pandora as I look at other things. Love that multi-app capability! It can take between 20 and 60 minutes to get G fed and back to bed, depending on how cooperative she is feeling.
So far, I've been successful at staying awake while I feed her - its safer for her and insures that I am awake when she falls asleep so I can get back in my comfy bed ASAP!
What do/did you do to stay awake for night feedings?
I did nothing. I didn't want any lights or sounds to distract her from doing what she needed to do and go back to bed. I would sometimes catch myself falling asleep- you know, the head bob- maybe next time ill bring in the iPad.
ReplyDeleteYou are good! I would pass out in a hot second! I just keep the brightness low and since she's facing the other way, it doesn't seem to distract her. Thank goodness!
DeleteI fall asleep ALL the time, even when I'm trying to stay awake with my iPhone. In fact I've accidentally dropped the phone on the baby while falling asleep a time or two, and then she's definitely awake. The middle of the night is an interesting time, isn't it?? :)
ReplyDelete