The Night Feed

Charlotte Smith
The Night Feed
Latest episode

119 episodes

  • The Night Feed

    Baby Illness Etiquette & Lowering Your Standards as a New Mum

    2026-2-18 | 41 mins.
    Welcome back to The Night Feed. This episode is for the overstimulated, under-slept, slightly feral mums in the trenches of early motherhood.
    Firstly, here's the link to my 'Buy me a Coffee' page if you would like to donate anything towards the podcast it would be hugely appreciated ❤️ buymeacoffee.com/TheNightFeed
    Tonight, I talk about child illness etiquette at baby groups and the awkward question of when to stay home with a poorly child. How contagious is too contagious? Is it unreasonable to leave? And why one “little cold” can mean ten days of broken sleep for another mum.
    I dive into the reality of baby sleep struggles and how parents whose babies sleep through the night really are living a different life. When your baby wakes every 45 minutes, exhaustion shapes everything; your mood, your patience, your mental health.
    There’s also an honest (and hilarious) conversation about how we’ve all lowered our standards since having a baby. From sick on shoulders to floor snacks and rogue nappies at 4am, survival mode is real.
    We touch on the trending 75 Hard challenge and whether extreme self-discipline fits into early motherhood, plus a gentle reminder that babies don’t keep and perfection can wait.
    If you’re tired, touched out, and wondering if you’re the only one barely holding it together, you’re not. You’re just deep in it.
    Keep your emails coming: [email protected]
    Support the show
    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thenightfeed
  • The Night Feed

    Mum Loneliness, Contact Naps, Phone Guilt & “You’ve Got Your Hands Full”

    2026-2-11 | 30 mins.
    In this episode of The Night Feed, I talk about the quiet loneliness of early motherhood, contact naps, phone guilt, and the mental load that so many mums carry silently.
    We chat about being told “you’ve got your hands full,” a chaotic school-run pancake attempt, and how our expectations of how motherhood should look often set us up to feel like we’re failing.
    I share listener messages about taking a social media detox and feeling the mental fog lift, leaning into contact naps without worrying about “bad habits,” and the frustration of never getting real time alone while being criticised for phone use.
    We also talk about why loneliness is trending in the smartphone era, how being constantly connected can still leave us feeling isolated, and why real human connection matters more than ever in early motherhood.
    This episode is for any mum feeling unseen, touched out, overwhelmed, or quietly lonely. You’re not doing it wrong. You’re not unreasonable. And you’re not alone.
    As always email me: [email protected]
    Support the show
    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thenightfeed
  • The Night Feed

    Is Sleep Training Harmful? The Cry It Out Debate - A Deep Dive

    2026-2-04 | 31 mins.
    This week on The Night Feed, I’m diving into one of the most divisive and emotionally loaded topics in modern parenting: sleep training.
    More specifically, the question so many mums end up Googling through tears in the middle of the night: Is cry it out actually harmful?
    We talk about why this debate feels louder than ever, how social media has turned baby sleep into a moral battleground, and what the research from the past decade actually says about sleep training and attachment.
    I read a listener email from a mum caught between exhaustion and instinct, unpack what people really mean when they say “cry it out,” and gently walk through the science around attachment, stress, and cortisol without fear-mongering or judgement.
    This episode isn’t about telling you what to do.
    It’s about making space for nuance, reality, and compassion for yourself.
    Because most parents aren’t choosing a method, they’re choosing survival.
     In this episode we talk about:
    Why the sleep training debate feels so intense right now
    What “cry it out” actually means (and why it’s not one thing)
    What the research says about sleep training and attachment
    Stress, cortisol, and what gets misunderstood online
    Why shame, not sleep methods causes the most harm
    A gentler way to think about sleep decisions in early motherhood
     Self-care tip:
    I share a simple but powerful idea for new mums: creating a “closing ritual” for your day to help your nervous system stand down, even if the night is broken.
    If you’re listening in the dark, feeling torn, tired, and unsure  you’re not alone. And you’re not doing this wrong.
     I’d love to hear where you land on this.
    You can email me, message me, or drop a comment.
    [email protected]

    Femometer Ring: 
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    Use code THENIGHTFEED for 20% off
    Support the show
    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thenightfeed
  • The Night Feed

    The Things No One Warned New Mums About

    2026-1-28 | 30 mins.
    Welcome back to The Night Feed. I’m Charlotte, and this episode starts with a bit of a rant because honestly… some days that’s where we’re at.
    This week’s unpaid sponsor is scrolling when the baby sleeps. You know the drill. You finally lay down, baby’s settled, and suddenly you’ve lost 45 minutes to your phone and feel worse than when you started.
    In this episode, I talk about an unintentional screen-free day and then we get into your messages.
    A listener writes in with an apology to the parents she once judged before becoming a mum herself. It’s honest, funny, and painfully relatable. A reminder that you don’t truly understand the mental load of motherhood until you’re living inside it.
    We then talk about what’s trending right now. The rise of posts called Things No One Warned Me About Postpartum. Not shock content. Not advice. Just quiet truths. The loneliness. The boredom. The grief for your old life alongside the love for your baby. The anger at systems and expectations. The relief of finally hearing someone else say, did this happen to you too?
    This episode is about naming the parts of postpartum life that were filtered out for years. Because once something has a name, it stops feeling like a personal failure.
    Self-care this week is simple. Once or twice a day, take five to ten minutes with no phone while your baby is settled. No scrolling. No fixing. Just being.
    Keep your emails, comments, messages coming [email protected].
    Support the show
    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thenightfeed
  • The Night Feed

    Motherhood Propaganda We're Not Falling for and Letting Go of “Perfect” Motherhood

    2026-1-21 | 39 mins.
    Welcome back to The Night Feed. I’m Charlotte, and this episode is for the mums who feel like motherhood keeps getting louder; more rules, more opinions, more pressure, just when you’re already running on empty.
    The emotions book: The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas. 
    💌 Weaning Without Losing Your Mind
    A listener writes in about feeling overwhelmed by weaning: purées vs baby-led weaning, allergens, schedules, and Instagram meals that look better than adult dinners. I talk about how I approached weaning, how much I leaned on instinct, and why there isn’t one “right” way, just what works for your baby and your family.
    😴 Contact Naps & “Bad Habits”
    Another mum asks whether she should be “working on” putting her newborn down, or whether contact naps are something to lean into. I share my honest thoughts on early sleep, habit anxiety, and why meeting your baby’s needs isn’t creating problems, it’s parenting.
    💭 The Biggest Lies We’re Sold as New Mums
    I read through a brilliant thread on the propaganda many of us fell for; from drowsy-but-awake myths, to thinking baby sleep can be fixed, to realising just how unsupported mothers actually are. It’s validating, funny, and painfully true.
    📈 What’s Trending: Analog Motherhood
    Doing less. Trusting more. Stepping away from constant optimisation and back toward intuition.
    🧹 Self-Care Suggestion:
    Have a clear out — physically or mentally. Less stuff, less noise, less pressure.
    Keep your emails coming: [email protected]
    Support the show
    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thenightfeed

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About The Night Feed

Hello new Mama, join me as I keep you company during those night feeds, talking all things new motherhood. I'll be chatting to mamas from all walks of life - whether they're thriving or feel like they're just surviving to show no matter what you're going through, we're all in this together! We chat, laugh...and sometimes cry whilst I discuss everything from birth and breastfeeding to life-changing hacks and embarrassing stories! Email [email protected] if you have stories, tips or would like to be interviewed - I'd love to hear from you! If you're enjoying the podcast, feel free to buy me a coffee here: https://buymeacoffee.com/thenightfeed
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