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!

You Don’t Need A Nursery

You don’t need a nursery
Much less one with a theme
It’s not safaris or seasides
But of boobs babies dream

You don’t need a cot
With sheets pink or blue
Babies sleep best
When they’re right next to you

You don’t need new gadgets
To amuse and distract
Just your skin touching theirs
Can work magic in fact.

You don’t need a pram
To get baby around
Slings keep baby happy
When they don’t want put down.

You don’t need a schedule
For naptimes and feeds
Babies have their own rhythms
That change with their needs.

You don’t need to sleep train
Sleeping isn’t a sport
Babies need to feel safe
And mums need support.

You don’t need to wean
Because it’s what “they say”
Nurse as long as you want to
They all wean one day.

You don’t need to sign up
To all the groups and the classes
Babies don’t care about trends
Or keeping up with the masses.

You don’t need to love it all
We all struggle sometimes
You’re not alone in wishing
For earlier bedtimes.

So don’t stress about a nursery
Or all that fancy baby stuff
Baby only needs you
And you are more than enough.

Yes some will love all the extras
Everyone’s different it’s true
And I’m thankful for our choices
‘Cos circumstances vary too.

But it’s OK to ignore all the chatter
Of society imparting it’s views
No one knows your baby better
Trust yourself, you get to choose.

So don’t give in to peer pressure
They can’t know what you “should” do
Whether basic or all bells and whistles
It’s your journey, you get to do you.

Silver Boobies

Congratulations Mama on getting to month 6!
For fueling all baby’s rolls, giggles and tricks,
With milk tailor made and lovingly fed,
Through good times and tough, you’ve come out ahead,
‘Cos half a year breastfeeding, means you’re not newbies,
And earns you the coveted “Silver Boobies”!

It’s no mean feat and no small thing,
All the love and protection and joy it can bring,
To nurse your baby, watch them thrive and grow.
Just think that first feed was 6 months ago!
So be proud and celebrate what you’ve done,
And look forward to new messy mealtime fun!

You’ve learned so much on this journey together,
And if you choose to continue it only gets better,
‘Cos the gift of breastfeeding is something to treasure.
With memories you’ll cherish forever and ever.

For the Lockdown Babies

For the Lockdown Babies.

 

For The Lockdown Babies

“Sure you were only a baby” I’ll tell her when she asks,
About that time in photographs when everyone wore masks.
“You don’t remember the chaos when the world was forced to rest.”
“You had all you needed in my arms and at my breast”

“You never even noticed” I’ll tell her then I’ll say,
“I held you as the weeks went by, we took it day by day”
“We were safe and happy, right where we needed to be”.
“I fed you snuggled in my arms, protecting you was key”.

“You were only a tiny baby” I’ll tell her and explain,
Why so many people were afraid, anxious and in pain.
“It wasn’t always easy, those isolating newborn days,
But feeding you flooded me with love, got me through the haze”.

“You were a lockdown baby” I’ll tell her when it’s time,
“I was your whole world back then, just as you were mine”,
“And now, though it’s just a memory, I still smile when I see,
A rainbow in a window, put there for you and me.”

For those requesting a he/him version 🌈

 

Milky Valentine

 

Lying cosy in my arms, eyes gazing into mine,

Love flowing from my breast as peacefully you dine,

On milk made from kisses, Mother Nature’s sweet design.

Connecting in these moments, hearts and souls align.

Blissfully I fall in love with my Milky Valentine.

~     ~

~~~

~

Golden Boobies

 

You’ve really done it Mama!

Your nursling just turned one!

You’ve breastfed your baby,

For one full trip around the sun!

It’s really quite amazing.

Would you ever have believed,

In those crazy, hazy first few weeks,

Just what you’ve now achieved?

‘Cos you’ve earned your

GOLDEN BOOBIES!

For making it to a year.

Congratulations, celebrate!

Maybe even shed a happy tear.

‘Cos we know it wasn’t easy,

You were determined and so strong.

But the rewards are truly special,

With effects that are lifelong.

So enjoy this awesome milestone,

With milky snuggles, cake and more,

Knowing your baby’s one of the lucky few,

Whatever next year has in store!

“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.

My Support Group

My Support Group

For BFNI.  (Breastfeeding in N.Ireland FB support Group)

~

When it feels like no one else gets it,

You’re the group who knows how it feels.

When it seems all around me are judging,

Here at least I don’t need to conceal.

You share in my joy at each milestone,

Send virtual hugs when it’s hard.

No matter the day or the hour,

Here I know I can let down my guard.

~

To you I can admit when I struggle,

And be proud without fear I’ll seem smug.

This group is a haven, a safe space,

Where support is a powerful drug.

Each triumph is celebrated together,

With others who truly understand.

So I’ll keep sharing my journey,

If you all keep holding my hand.

I Make Milk

I Make Milk.

~

It grows you from newborn, fuzzy and creased,

Transforms wrinkles to rolls, each sweet milky feast,

Makes you rounder and stronger, smarter too,

More amazing, more perfect, more uniquely you.

And it gives me a confidence, a quiet trust,

In my body, my ability, that I am enough,

So if anyone questions why I do what I do,

I tell them straight, on the bus, at the zoo,

No matter the place, the season or hour,

“I make milk – what’s your superpower?”

~

 

I Carry You Always

A poem for European Babywearing Week 2017

~

New life in my belly, I carried you inside.

Birthed into my arms and from first you cried,

I wrapped you softly in cloth tied around,

Placed gently where you’d still hear my heart’s sound.

~

While cushy fabric held us skin to skin,

I fell in love and I breathed you in.

Happiness; smelling your head on my chest.

I was your world as you nursed at my breast.

~

I carried you as you explored and learned,

At exploits end, to my arms you returned.

I carried you safe and close as you grew,

Learned to walk, to run and before I knew,

I’d carried you to a new phase, new zone.

Watched you stride into a life of your own.

~

What once woven threads held bound together,

Now bonds of love form an unseen tether,

Keeping us connected when we’re apart,

‘Cos I carry you always…  in my heart.

~