Do You Have A Velcro Baby

Do you have a velcro baby
Are they with you, never maybe
Do they cling with all their might
All the day and through the night?

Do they need to feel your skin
Seem as though they want back in
Are they stuck to you like glue
No matter what you say or do?

Are they always at the breast
As they nurse from right to left
Are your boobs more out than in
Does milk dribble when they grin?

Are you ever so touched out
if you leave they start to shout
Will no other person do
Even if you need the loo?

Oh I know it is so tough
And you’ve had more than enough.
All you want is time and space
With no one pawing at your face!

I promise that the day will come
When the velcro comes undone.
When your arms are free to rest
And no one sleeps upon your chest.

When you’ll finish what you think
Your tea will still be warm to drink
When their needs aren’t all consuming
And their confidence is blooming,

Thanks to all the love you gave
When it was only you they’d crave.
Thanks to all the needs you met
When they were happy or upset.

Because you taught them to feel safe
By always being their safe space
They won’t need you quite so much
Won’t need to always feel your touch.

Then slowly freedom will return,
And you’ll look back and you will learn
That though the velcro days’ve passed
the bond they built will always last.

So if you have a babe who clings
And you wish they’d find their wings
Please take heart and hold them close
For it’s YOU they LOVE the MOST!

What Will I Remember?

What will I remember, what things will come to mind
When I think about breastfeeding years on down the line
Will I remember the hours spent with you at my breast
The imprint on my arm from where your ear pressed
Will I remember the pain of those first newborn latches
And how cute baby nails left razor like scratches
Will I remember your hands searching for something to twiddle
And how feeds blurred together with no start, end or middle
Will I remember milk-drunk smiles and limbs gone limp
How your face lit up if you even caught a glimpse
Of my bra and how you knew the sound of the click
Meant nursies were coming and how you’d wave and kick

Will I remember the nights you never unlatched
And the neighbours and postmen we unintentionally flashed
Will I remember when everything was covered in spit up
And muslin cloths lay about to catch every hiccup
How milk leaked through my clothes and pooled in the sheets
And when meals, rest and showers were coveted treats
Will I remember how you looked in my arms as you slept
When I wondered what secrets your milky dreams kept
Will I remember your smell and how soft your skin felt
How feeding you made us both seem to melt
High on hormones, falling in love, and asleep

Will I remember all the times you just wouldn’t sleep
And I’d walk you and rock you and find strength somewhere deep
Will I remember the nerves from our first feeds in public
And when every conversation returned to the subject
Of babies and boobs and how we felt far from perfect
Will I remember when I dropped my phone on your head
And the crumbs in your hair ‘cos we both needed fed
Will I remember the milestones, and all the wild places
From beaches and forests, to pools, planes and staircases
Birthdays and holidays, celebrations and sick days
And those times you’d only feed upside down or sideways

Will I remember how feeding you made me feel proud
How, in moments of bliss, we were on the ninth cloud
Will I remember too, feeling trapped and touched out
Overwhelmed, overburdened, full of worry and doubt
Will I remember how every stage passed like the last
And how days that went slowly changed to years that went fast
How you giggled when milk got sprayed in your face
And how eventually you weaned, slowly, at your own pace
I want to remember how it all made me feel
The joy and the struggles and the mundane inbetween
I want to keep all the memories that made my heart sing
When I look back… I want to remember everything.

“Fed Is Best”

~

“Fed Is Best”

“Fed is best” you say, but see, I have to disagree.
I’m calling BS on that crap, so listen up and see.
First thing’s first let’s clarify, all babies need to be fed.
Fed is the absolute minimum or else they end up dead…

So is breast best? Well no again, I’m sorry to confuse,
But humans feeding humans isn’t extra, best or news.
Now that’s clear remember, all mums are free to choose,
But when the facts are bought and sold for profit we all lose.

Breastfeeding is unique and there’s really nothing like it.
Formula has its place of course, I’m not here to deny it.
Information is the key to this, open, honest, black and white.
So let’s get real, fund real support, stop saying it’s alright.

‘Cos fed is NOT best! Never was and now that we know better,
It’s not mothers but our governments who should be under pressure.
If nothing else remember this; INFORMED is always best.
The choice is yours, when you’re informed of risks and all the rest.

Informed is best, breast’s the norm and fed is fundamental.
How you feel is personal but facts are not judgemental.