Momming

Y’all, I’ve always been a natural with kids. I’ve been babysitting since I was 12. I’ve worked in church nurseries. I was an elementary teacher for 5 years. I’m good with kids. I knew I had this whole Mom thing down pat.

Then I got pregnant with triplets.

Then I panicked.

Then I gave birth, and had no choice but to figure it out and mom-up. (Read that story here.)

So, I felt that I should share my learnings with you and hope that it makes your momhood much easier.

General Tips

• (Warning… this segment is all about snot.) Nose Frida vs. Bulb Syringe. I don’t know if everybody gets one of these bulb syringes when they leave the hospital, but our NICU nurse gave us several because they had to use them with the girls. The alternative is the Nose Frida. For the record, Brandon and I were both completely grossed out by the concept of this, and swore we were never going to use it. Then, I heard from several moms that I admire, and they swore that the Nose Frida was the best invention ever, and it worked so great, and yada yada yada. Well, we tried it a few times but it honestly didn’t seem as effective as the syringe we had been using. Here’s what we’ve concluded from our {extensive} research: Syringes are better if your baby’s nose is teeny tiny like our girls’ were. Once they’re a little bigger, the Frida fits in the nostril a little better. Syringe is better when baby spits milk out of their nose/chokes. Frida is better when you have to squirt saline solution in the nose to clear up mucus because you can get more substance with each effort. My advice…. try both and see what works best for you and your baby. But if you choose to use the Frida, ALWAYS make sure the filter is in. (spoken from experience.)
• The dreaded blowout. You know, when the poop is everywhere except the diaper. Yeah, we’ve had several of those. Unfortunately, I can’t tell ya how to prevent them (other than to be sure the diaper is fitted correctly). But I can tell you that there’s a way to avoid getting poo in your baby’s hair. Most baby outfits (specifically onesies) are designed with overlapping shoulder fabric. This is so that you can pull the outfit down the baby’s body rather than over their head. YAY for avoiding more hair-washing than necessary.
• You’re gonna change about 9372840 diapers in the first 3 months. Or at least you’ll feel like it. Especially if you have triplets. If your home is two stories, or even if it isn’t, I highly suggest having a changing station in each of your main rooms, or one on each floor. You definitely need one in the nursery, but you’re also going to want one in or near your main living area where you’ll spend most of your day.
• I LOVE PAJAMAS. I could wear them all day. My babies could wear them all day (and we do this often). BUT, when you change 1800 diapers every day, you will quickly learn that snaps. are. the. devil. I refuse to buy outfits that require me to snap more than 2-3 snaps at the bottom. All of our jammies are zippered outfits. I should probably write to Carter’s and share my thoughts.
• WubbaNubs. Life saver. Now, I know every baby is different. Some don’t take pacifiers at all, some won’t like this shape paci. But, if your baby does like this paci, I highly suggest investing in a few WubbaNubs. The weight of the animal really helps to hold the paci in when your baby is laying flat or elevated (such as in a Rock-n-play).
  • Side note: I’m no expert on pacifiers. But I can share my opinion. When our girls were in the NICU, these were the pacis used by the hospital. I dunno about you, but this leads me to believe that these pacis are pretty awesome. On the other hand, we have one baby that prefers a completely different paci now. Good luck figuring out what your baby likes 🙂
  • Also, I am not a fan of toddlers (or babies) running around with WubbaNubs in their mouths. We strictly use pacis during sleep times. Again, this is just my opinion.
• I was under the impression that we should let our babies cry it out from day 1. I thought if I picked them up when they were supposed to be sleeping, they’d be ruined and dependent on me to always save them or rock them to sleep. Truth is, babies cannot be trained (or spoiled) until around 3 months. Up until this age, they don’t remember what happened last time they cried during nap. So go ahead, rock them to sleep if necessary. And cherish every second of it while you can.
• SwaddleSacks are magical. Our girls have always been great sleepers. They were on a 3-hour schedule when we brought them home from the NICU. When they were just a few weeks old, they started stretching to 4 hours at nighttime, and sometimes 4.5 hours. We thought we were in heaven when they slept 5 hours one night. And then one night, we put them in these swaddle sacks. They slept 7 hours. (Glory Hallelujah!) They consistently began sleeping 7-8 hours a night when they were 8 weeks old, and I think it had a lot to do with these magical sacks.
• Contained fun…in a swimming pool. We bought an inflatable swimming pool at the end of summer (on sale–woohoo!). Our girls were only 4 months old so I didn’t really plan for them to swim in it. Instead, I laid soft blankets in the bottom, put several toys in it, and let the babies play outside on our deck! It was during the perfect fall weather, and our girls LOVE being outside. Win, WIN. 

Pumping

• After pumping, you can put your flanges (with the valves and connectors still attached) in the fridge and use for up to 24 hours without washing! (We learned this after about 3-4 weeks of washing them every. single. time. But hey, better late than never!) I just place the parts in a plastic tupperware container, put the lid on, and stick it in the fridge! Although I was told you can use them for 24 hours, I still switched them out about twice a day during those first few months when I was pumping 7-8 times a day. Now that I only pump 3-4 times a day, I’ll use the same parts all day and then wash each night.
• HANDS. FREE. PUMPING. BRA. You will thank me for this. I met so many girls who had never heard of this, and held their pumps by hand the entire time. Wowsers. Luckily, I found out pretty early and it saved me so much time. I could pump while eating, reading, holding a baby on my lap, putting on makeup, writing a blog post, or just scrolling through my phone. This is the bra I used, and they are also available at Target or any baby stores. I got two, so that I always had a clean one. Honestly, I wore these bras all day long while I was home so I could just pump quickly when I got a chance.
• After you finish pumping, unhook the tubes from the connectors (NOT the machine) and leave the machine on. This is to prevent mold inside the tubes due to moisture buildup. You’ll notice condensation inside the tubes as you are pumping, and leaving the pump on after you’re finished will push that moisture out.
• Create a pumping station if you plan on pumping more than 2-3 times a day. This can include reading material, computer, etc. but it should definitely include water and snacks. Sometimes this will be your only “down time” so you gotta eat while ya can!
• If you can afford it, invest in two pumps if you have a two story house or plan on pumping in different locations. I have one pumping station next to my bed for middle-of-the-night pumps, and one downstairs where we spend most of our time during the day. Before I got the second pump, it was annoying to unhook and bring the pump up with me each night and then back down each morning. (I know, I sound like a spoiled brat. We were very lucky that our insurance provided another one and I do not take that for granted!! I suggest borrowing a used one from a friend. If you change out the tubes and parts, it’s not gross.)

Feeding

• If your babies are prone to spit up after eating, it helps to hold them upright for about 20 minutes after eating. We put our girls in these awesome sit-me-up chairs from Fisher Price because they are very supportive and our girls could fit in them as young as 2-3 months.
• I had only ever seen people burp babies by putting them over their shoulder. We learned a lot by watching our amazing NICU nurses for those two short weeks! Sometimes, especially when babies are very young, it helps to burp them on your lap. Sit your baby in an upright position with her bottom on your leg. You can pat her back or rub up and down her back firmly but gently. You can also rock your baby back and forth in that same position. Sometimes the air gets lodged somewhere, and it just needs a different angle to release. I found that bouncing my girls on my knee also helped, and sometimes all I had to do was just stand up while holding one.
• If you plan on mixing/supplementing pumped breastmilk with formula, good news! I thought that I would have to do separate bottles, but my pediatrician informed me that you can in fact mix your milk with ready-feed formula (the liquid formula that’s already mixed together). I typically made their bottles after each feeding, which was about 1.5-2 hours till the next feeding. I pour in formula, then add my milk. You can also do this with powder formula, but you need to mix the formula together with water first, and then add your breastmilk.
• Introducing baby foods! This was so much fun for us, and I strongly encourage you to just let it be fun. At this point, baby’s nutrition still comes from milk. Solid foods are just to get them used to the texture and tastes. So HAVE FUN with it! As far as making baby food, check out my post on that here. 

Multiples

• Bottle Props…. Not worth the money. I never used them, so this isn’t technically from experience. But I discovered (and later heard from several other moms of multiples) that you can just as easily use blankets, burp cloths, Wubbanubs, or whatever else is nearby to prop up bottles. I recommend laying your baby on a Boppy newborn lounger or in a Rock-n-play, and propping the bottle with whatever is handy.
• Keep your babies on the same feeding schedule as long as you possibly can. Which means forever. Luckily, I had this advice before my girls were born, but I heard from so many other moms who tried the whole “feed as they wake” thing. Those moms quickly learned that they were up the entire night, and when it was time to start the morning routine, the babies were all out of sync. This rule also applies during the day. Even if you want to let one baby sleep a little extra, just make sure they are still eating within the same general time frame so that all babies will be ready to eat at the next appropriate time.
• Bumbo Seats!! Maybe your house has tons of empty space that you can fill with high chairs and triplet/quad tables, but ours does not. Even if it did, I think we would still use Bumbo seats. These are great because you can line the babies up in front of you while you’re able to SIT and feed them. During the fall months when the weather was perfect, we loved to do this out on our deck.

 

And finally, here’s my best advice. Do not fall into the mindset that you are stuck at home with your baby all day everyday, or that your baby is ruining your social life. (Granted, I understand there are special circumstances such as medical needs or, you know, multiple babies at once 😉 I know it’s scary, and difficult, and it takes a whole lot of planning, but do try to get out as much as possible. Especially if you’re a stay at home mom.

I hope this post was helpful to you. If you have more advice PLEASE share!!