Night feeds

Drifting through dreamland, my blissful slumber
Is suddenly shattered by cries of hunger
The baby’s awake and she wants to be fed
I pick her up and stumble back to my bed
Finding the breast, she latches on with a sigh
I cuddle her close and we both close our eyes
Dozing together, snuggling sleepily until
She pulls off the breast: milky drunk, tummy filled
I lift her up gently, a gentle kiss on her head
Put her back in her cot and go back to my bed
And drift off to sleep for a while – but then
Another little cry and we repeat it again
Sometimes I just watch her, stroke her head tenderly
Embracing this moment when it’s just her and me
Alone in the darkness, enjoying this time
Of precious sleepy snuggles with this baby of mine
Sometimes I lie down and latch her to the breast
That way both of us safely can rest
And sleep until morning, cuddled up close as can be
But other nights she thinks that it’s time to party
My wide-awake baby wants only to play
(Whilst oblivious, my hubby’s still sleeping away!)
But I treasure these snuggles, these sweet night-time feeds
These moments when mummy is all that she needs
And although sleep deprivation’s a pain in the ass
I keep reminding myself that this soon will pass
And I’ll miss this incredibly wonderful time
When I was her world and she was all mine

© Louise George – 17th September 2014
Night feeds - Little Hearts, Big Love

Joining in with Zena’s Suitcase for Breastfeeding Diaries and Verily Victoria Vocalises for Prose for Thought and Post Comment Love:
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24 thoughts on “Night feeds

  1. You have described night feeds perfectly and in a beautiful way. How you can be sleep-deprived and find the words to write so well, I have no idea. x

  2. Oh my, you have just made me well up! Beautiful piece and you describe night time breast feeds so, so well. I’m glad we are past them now but I look back so fondly at those times and the line about being all they need is just so perfect and true. Fab, fab, fab.

  3. My eyes are now brimming with tears. I really know this feeling well and you have expressed it beautifully – the last couple of lines were particularly gorgeous! I’m still breastfeeding my ‘baby’. He’s 18mo now so just has bedtime and morning feed. I thought we would have given it up by now but I can’t bring myself to (he’s my last baby) and he’s so content and happy when he’s so close to me. xxx #prose4T

    1. Thank you – it is lovely when they snuggle up close and feed, as long as you are both happy still feeding then there’s no real reason to stop 🙂

  4. Brilliant. It actually brought tears to my eyes! I remember doing this with both my boys and it was such an amazing time, I vaguely remember being tired but that is faded now. A really beautiful poem that reminds me how much I loved being a mum of a new-born. Thank you. xx

  5. Oh Louise this is so beautiful and totally sums it all up. Gone in the blink of an eye, night feeds really should be cherished xx #PoCoLo

  6. So lovely, just perfect. It’s bittersweet when it ends; getting more sleep is definitely good, but those night time snuggles are wonderful and very special. Enjoy your snugly moments. Really love this poem x #Prose4T

  7. Beautiful. Reminds me of sleepy milky cuddles with all of mine. Number 3 rarely slept in the cot so every night we would snuggle in close and he would latch on as he needed.
    Lovely way to remember such a precious and comparitively short time. x

  8. Perfect words. This made me cry – I long for those days again. Thank you for linking to Prose for Thought xx

      1. No, it’s fine! It was in a good way 🙂 Thanks for linking to PoCoLo too 🙂 x

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