One of the main problems I’m having, when waking in the night to feed Little T, is actually staying awake to finish the feed.

We’re now 14 weeks in and with a normal full term baby we’d be starting to think about longer stretches between feeds and perhaps even sleeping through. In my dreams, that is, only It doesn’t work like that when you’ve got a premature one. Little T is only 6 weeks, age corected, so still only has a little tummy which seems to need a pretty much constant stream of food. Tonight, he’s woken for a feed at least every 2 hours.

After 14 weeks of this, I’m exhausted, I reckon I’m averaging about 5 hours sleep each night. There’s not even the opportunity to catch up on sleep during the day with Toddler B crashing around the house! The thought of there being at least another 8 weeks of this, until he’s 3 months age corrected, fills me with dread.

Fortunately, Little T generally goes back to sleep remarkably quickly once he’s finished feeding. Unfortunately, I’m not quite as patient as he is and I don’t always wait until he’s finished to fall back to sleep. I’ve had to start doing things that make me stay awake. Reading blogs/ books/ the news on my Samsung tablet is helping. I’ve found that just playing games or endless hours on Pinterest don’t cut it, I drift off with Little T still feeding and only wake when the tablet slides off my lap and crashes to the floor.

I know there’s been research saying you shouldn’t read tablets in bed as the blue light they emit will keep you awake, but believe me, I’m so tired once I put Little T back in his crib, I’m out for the count within seconds. Well, I am if his reflux doesn’t start, but that’s a post for another night.

What do you do to keep yourself awake whilst feeding?