Thank you for your question on the poem that includes
the stanza: "Dust balls go to sleep I'm watching my baby
and babies don't keep." I really enjoyed researching this
question, as my Mom hung a copy of this poem on the nursery
wall when I was a child.
I found the following website using a Google search for
"Dust balls go to sleep I'm watching my baby and babies
don't keep":
The Johnson Journal: "Quiet Down Cobwebs, Dust Go to
Sleep..."
http://kmcjohnson.blogspot.com/2009/03/quiet-down-cobwebs-dust-go-to-sleep.html
This blog states that the poem, written by Ruth Hulburt
Hamilton, was published in 1958 in Ladies Home Journal. A
copy of the poem is included at the bottom of the blog post.
I then completed a Google search for "Song for a Fifth
Child" AND Ruth Hulburt Hamilton and found the following
websites:
Eagan West Mom's Club: "Song for a Fifth Child"
http://www.eaganwestmomsclub.org/Poetry/SongForChild.htm The Peaceable Walk: "Song For A Fifth Child"
http://peaceablewalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/song-for-fifth-child.html I hope this information proves useful to you. Thank you
for using AAQ!