15 TIPS TO SURVIVE NIGHTTIME BREASTFEEDING WITHOUT GOING INSANE

Nighttime breastfeeding is one of the hardest things for nursing moms to do. Hopefully, these tips and tricks can help make your nighttime breastfeeding journey easier.

As a nursing mom, you will mostly find yourself either pumping or breastfeeding your little one all the time. Your brand-new baby has a small stomach and so will need to be fed in small quantities throughout the day.

This brings us to nighttime breastfeeding sessions which is probably one of the hardest times to feed your little one. As a new mom, you are tired, exhausted and sleep-deprived and then trying to wake up multiple times in the middle of the night to breastfeed, that sounds exhausting. I remember my time breastfeeding my daughter in those early few weeks. It was tough, even being able to sleep for an hour at a stretch of time felt so wonderful.

But this situation will not last forever. As your baby grows, they will start to sleep longer, and you will be able to drop the nighttime feeding once and for all. Also, in my case after a few early months especially when I went back to work, I switched from breastfeeding to pumping a freshly expressed milk bottle. This way my husband stepped in to feed my daughter in the night and I could get a longer sleep.

In this blog post, I will go over some tips and tricks that were extremely helpful for me to survive nighttime breastfeeding sessions without losing my sanity.

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Before going forward into the post, I would like to introduce you all to the Ultimate breastfeeding course by Milkology. I had personally taken this course at the start of my breastfeeding journey and had found it extremely useful. You can take this course from the comfort of your home as it’s online and it is packed with the necessary and all the required information that you would require to get started on your breastfeeding journey. And the best part is that it’s only for $19.

Keep the crib in your room

In those early few months, when your baby is waking up multiple times in the night, it is recommended that you keep your baby's crib in the same room as you sleep. This way you can reach your baby quickly when they wake up for the feed in the middle of the night. Also, many times it can get really tough to move the crib from the baby nursery to your room so in that case, you can opt-in for a bassinet which is great for co-sleeping with your baby. Co-sleeping with your baby, while they are in a bassinet, is considered a safe way to sleep with your baby in the night and also, it’s easier to pick up your baby as they wake up for the nighttime breastfeeding sessions.

Create a comfortable position to breastfeed

Although some moms prefer to breastfeed on the bed with a nursing pillow around them, in my case I preferred to sit on a rocking chair to feed. I had my daughter via a c-section and hence trying to sit up straight was very difficult initially. Hence, I found it extremely comfortable to sit on a rocking chair while feeding and it also helped me to stay awake while I was feeding my daughter.

Dress as comfortably as possible

This is so important and can help you breastfeed hassle-free in the night. Investing in a few good nursing tops or nursing night suits can prevent you from getting topless in the night to feed your baby in which way you can catch a cold and fall sick. As a new mom taking care of your brand-new baby will be your topmost priority, so falling sick should be the last thing on your mind as you will always be needed by your baby no matter what. Also, I really like this two-shirt top for nursing which has two shirts one on the outside and one on the inside. When you are breastfeeding, you just need to pull the top shirt up and the bottom shirt will still cover your tummy. Great for those public breastfeeding sessions!

Create a breastfeeding station at home

Having a fixed place to keep all your feeding and pumping items can help you a lot in enjoying a stress-free breastfeeding session with your little one. Some great ideas to organize your nursing supplies at home is to use an easy to carry caddy organizer as this one or you can also use a three-stack roller organizer to organize all your stuff. You can read more about how you set up a breastfeeding station at home here.

Get family support

Although initially before the baby you would feel like you have it all together, but from my own personal experience, I have realized that the more help you can get is always better for new moms. Small help like your family members or friends bringing in some homemade meals or during nighttime having a buddy who can hand you a glass of water or bring you a blanket can be really helpful. It will make you feel less frustrated as you will have a partner to share this with during nighttime and also you don’t have to get up every single time to get something you need.

Use breast clips to mark the last used breast to feed

When you are absolutely sleep deprived as a new mom, it is very common to forget which was the last breast that you fed your baby with. If you end up feeding the baby with the same breast as last time, your baby might not feed to full, which in turn will make him restless and he might wake up more often from hunger. During my time, I really liked using these breast clips that could get easily clipped on to my nursing top. I would clip it on the nursing top covering the breast that was used last so that when I would wake up in the middle of the night half asleep, I didn’t have to try hard to remember as to which side I should feed mine daughter with.

Try cluster feeding

This is another great way to help your baby sleep longer. Cluster feeding is when your baby feeds multiple times in a short interval of time. If you try and cluster feed your baby before bedtime, there is a possibility that they will sleep longer at night. A basic example of cluster feeding is if your baby sleeps at 8 PM in the night, then you can feed your little one at 6 PM, 7 PM and then at 8 PM. Also, you do need to keep up with your diet to make sure that you are producing enough milk to feed your baby to full.

Listen to music

Listening to music on my phone during nighttime helped me calm down and feel less frustrated by waking up multiple times in the night. I would keep my earphones and some music on my phone on my bedside table and listen to it while feeding my daughter. Also listening to music in the night can help you stay awake while you are feeding your baby. So important!

Hide the clock

Somehow hiding the clock so that you are unaware of what time you are waking up in the middle of the night can seem to affect your mind in a positive way. Instead of looking at the time and feeling stressed about waking up at that hour, not knowing puts you in a better mood and you can deal with your baby in a more patient way.

Use absorbent towels from getting wet from the milk leaks

I found using these absorbent towels very handy. During breastfeeding my milk would often leak underneath my breast wetting my daughter’s clothes as well as mine. I used to roll these absorbent towels and keep them underneath my breastfeeding boob thus making sure that all the extra leaked milk gets absorbed. A big save from trying to change shirts in the middle of the night.

Use breast pads or Milksavers to save yourself from unexpected leaks

One of the most common breastfeeding issues that you would have heard of is the breast engorgement or leaking of the milk. It’s so common and I had gone through this many times including at my workplace when within a few seconds my breasts would engorge, and my shirt would get completely wet. Well no worries about that, there are a couple of things that you can do that can help you with this. First of all, you can use these disposable or washable nursing pads that can absorb all the extra milk and hence save you the embarrassment of your shirt getting wet.

But why let perfectly good breast milk go to waste? In that case, you can either opt for the milk savers (perfect for the workplace) which will collect all the extra milk and you can transfer and save it for later. Or you could also use a hakaa which besides being a manually operated breast pump is also a great bottle milk collector.

Find ways to entertain yourself

It's important to stay awake while feeding your baby in the night. Hence having a few things to entertain yourself while the baby feeds can help you not get too frustrated. Also in my case, having a good book on my kindle to-read helped me from falling asleep during nighttime feeding. Some more personal stuff for mom to keep handy are reading glasses, night lamp, and a phone Charger.

Keep hydrating

Breastfeeding can make a mom really thirsty and hence having a water bottle close to you can be very helpful. I remember going through multiple rounds of my water bottle during one session of breastfeeding.

Keep the lights off

Maintaining a peaceful and calm environment during the nighttime in your room can help your baby distinguish between day and night more easily. And also keeping the lights off while you breastfeed your baby can stop them from waking up completely and there is a higher likely chance that they will fall back to sleep soon after their nighttime breastfeeding session.

Maintain a bedtime routine for the baby

Developing a good routine for your babies and following it through daily can be amazing for the babies as well as for the moms. It can help them develop their body clocks and having a nighttime routine will set them in the mood and they will know that it’s time to sleep. In all following a good nighttime routine like a massage, followed by bath then story time and finally sleep time for your baby will help them be more aware of what to expect and in return, you as parents can expect a more peaceful environment at home.

Sleep when the baby sleeps

Lastly, a well-rested mom is a happy mom. Although sleep does become a luxury after you become a mom but trying to sleep when your baby sleeps as often can help you feel more rested, calm and you will have more patience towards parenting.

Although there are no shortcuts to nighttime breastfeeding sessions initially, as a mom you have to go through it as it is what tour baby requires. But following these few tips can definitely help make the nighttime breastfeeding journey easier and more manageable.