How to Stay up All Night With Your Friend

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: August 20, 2020 References

Staying up all night can be a fun activity at sleepovers. You and your friend can play games, watch movies, laugh, and have fun; however, it's hard to stay awake at times when you would normally be asleep. Take some measures to make sure you can stay up all night. The week before your planned sleepover, make sure you prepare yourself by getting quality sleep. The night of, stay active as you stay up late, as physical activity can keep you energetic. The next day, take some time to recover. Sleep is important to your well-being, so you'll need to take it easy the day after an all-nighter.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Getting Your Mind and Body Ready

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Get quality sleep during most of the week. You need to bank sleep if you're going to stay up all night. If you go into your sleepover already sleep deprived, you will never make it through the night.^{[1]
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- Make sleep a priority leading up to your sleepover. Do not stay up late playing video games or watching television. Get to bed at a reasonable hour so you're well-rested for school the next day.
- Strive for eight to 10 hours of quality sleep each night.^{[3]
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  Research source} If you have trouble getting to bed, try reading a book or doing something else relaxing until you feel tired. Avoid screens, however, as the light emitted from your phone or computer screen can make you more energetic.^{[4]
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Nap during the day. This can help energize you for your sleepover. The day your friend is coming over, take a nap in the afternoon. This way, when bedtime rolls around, you will not feel as tired.^{[5]
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Have a protein-rich meal. Protein can help boost your energy and endurance. You and your friend should have a healthy, protein rich meal the day you plan to stay up all night.^{[6]
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- Go for healthy proteins. While pepperoni pizza or a hamburger may sound enticing, these are unlikely to give you needed energy.
- Instead, have something like a grilled chicken breast or salmon.
- Avoid things like sandwiches or pastas with protein. Too many carbs can make you sleepy.
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Make sure your room is the right temperature. The ideal temperature to keep you alert is around 75 °F (24 °C). People tend to sleep better in the cold, so a temperature of around 65 °F (18 °C) degrees may make you tired.^{[7]
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- If you switch off the air conditioning, this should put your room around 75 °F (24 °C) unless you live in a warm area.
- If it's hot outside, try setting your air conditioning to 75 °F (24 °C) to keep the room at an adequate temperature to stay alert.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Staying Up All Night

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Plan a variety of fun activities. You do not want to end up getting bored. This could make you sleepy. Make sure you've got a lot planned for the evening.^{[8]
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- You can try playing board games, games like Truth or Dare, or telling scary stories.
- You can talk online with other friends. Try video chatting with a long distance friend. Lights from electronic screens can keep you alert.^{[9]
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- Try doing crafts. Browse the Pinterest craft board and see if you have the supplies to make something.
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Keep the lights bright. Dim lights tend to make you sleepy, so keep every light on. Switch on as many lights as possible so both of you stay awake.^{[10]
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- Your parents may get angry if you keep all the lights on. However, lights closest to your face tend to be the most effective. If your parents do not want you switching on every light downstairs, turn on a desk lamp or another small lamp. You can stay close to this light as you do activities.
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Drink caffeine strategically. Caffeine reduces the effect of chemicals that make you feel sleepy. You can try drinking coffee, soda, tea, or other beverages that contain caffeine throughout the night; however, do not drink caffeine continuously as this can make you crash. Stick to a caffeinated beverage once an hour throughout the night.^{[11]
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- As sugar can make you sleepy, it's a good idea to stick to diet sodas.
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Limit sugary snacks. You may experience junk food cravings if you're sleep deprived. At a slumber party, you may want to indulge a little bit, but don't go overboard. Sugary foods can actually make you sleepier.^{[12]
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- While sugar can provide a momentary burst of energy, you're likely to crash in a few hours. Candy, energy drinks, and other sugary snacks won't help you stay up all night.
- Instead, go for lean protein and healthy carbs. For example, snack on low-fat string cheese, apples and peanut butter, and yogurt.
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Plan physical activities throughout the night. Moving around can get your blood pumping. Find a variety of activities that keep you and your friend alert throughout your slumber party.^{[13]
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- Try something like dancing, playing tag, or playing hide and seek. Anything that gets you moving can help. Do not just watch movies all night.
- If you have a backyard, try playing outside a little. Just be careful to take safety precautions. Do not leave your backyard and do not play anywhere where the lighting is dim.
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Try energetic breathing. If you find you're starting to loose steam, give energetic breathing a shot. Keeping your mouth closed, inhale and exhale very quickly through your nose. Try do three cycles of inhaling and exhaling in one second. Do this for no more than 15 seconds. This is a loud exercise and may have you and your friends cracking up, but it should give you a little burst of energy.^{[14]
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Part 3

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Taking Safety Precautions

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Get extra sleep the next day. If you pulled an all-nighter, you will likely be exhausted the next day. While it's not possible to "catch up" on sleep loss that is greater than a couple of hours, you will want to work to get back on a regular sleep schedule.^{[15]
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Research source} Go to bed earlier than normal the day after your sleepover.^{[16]
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- It may be a bad idea to nap the next day. If you do so, you may have trouble falling asleep at night. This can get you on a poor sleep schedule.
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Limit caffeine the next day. Much like napping, too much caffeine after an all-nighter can disrupt your sleep. While caffeinated drinks may give you a momentary boost in energy, they're likely to disrupt your sleep at bedtime.^{[17]
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- If you're struggling to make it through the day without a caffeine boost, limit your intake. Go for one cup of coffee or one soda rather than two or three. Do not drink caffeinated beverages too close to your regular bedtime.
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Avoid pulling all-nighters too often. It's fine to have fun and stay up once in awhile; however, regularly depriving yourself of sleep can have serious consequences. A lack of sleep can reduce your immunity, affect your mental health, and increase your risk of developing health problems like diabetes. Only stay up all night on special occasions. Work on having a healthy sleep schedule overall.^{[18]
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Warnings

Avoid noisy activities, as these could wake up neighbors who are trying to sleep. If possible, turn down the speakers in the event the audio coming out is loud.

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