I have heard from several friends that know of mothers with multiples and they recommend the book Baby Wise and sticking to the schedule and methods in this book. So a friend (thank you Erin!!) sent me some books today and it was one of them! I read the chapter on multiples OUT LOUD to Peter last night. And it all makes perfect sense and we are planning to use this advice to the max!
It mostly says that new babies (especially triplets) need to be put to bed awake and to learn to self comfort. And it focuses on getting you to push sleep at night and focus on feeding during the day. This means never letting them fall asleep in their swings and not rocking them to sleep. Which - again all makes perfect sense. But boy will it be hard for me and for the grandmas to not rock those precious little ones to sleep!!
Okay - it's not that you can't ever rock them and they can't enjoy their swings for goodness sakes. But it makes a whole lot of valid reasons to teach them to fall asleep on their own etc. There is not enough time or energy to rock or pat three babies to sleep every time we put them down. It was very interesting and I am super excited to read that the author had their own set of triplets!
There is a plan layed out on how to feed three babies on your own vs. 2 feeders and 3 feeders. I was just glad to read that you could do this on your own if need be. But it talks about social feeding time and I am looking forward to that with grandmas, Peter, myself and my friends!!
I was very down in the dumps today. I think the nausea gets to me and sometimes makes me feel useless and defeated. But, right when I was at my tearful low, the doorbell rang. The mailman had brought me two packages. One was the books and some diapers and goodies!! And one was a prayer shawl, like a little lap blanket from my parent's church. I have been in a service when they prepared a shawl for someone that was ill. Someone stands up and explains who it is for and throughout the service they pass it around for each person in the church to lay their hands on the blanket and pray for the recipient. It is one prayer filled, blessed, knitted, soft blankee! Talk about a tear jerking afternoon and a huge pick me up! I have been cuddled on the couch with it wrapped around my belly all day.
10 comments:
Very wise advice...Vanessa and Sara both subscribed to this philosophy and it worked well. Their babies went right down without rocking. The rule did not appply to grandmothers !
I read a comment on the blog today and I instantly called Ann and made her delete it. If one more person questions how we might try to raise our newborns to start with I will scream. We are not looking for everyone’s advice on parenting. If so, I would let you know what I think on the way you raise your children as well. This is a place for thoughts and feelings. If anyone would like to wish us well please feel free. However, if I want your two cents on a subject I will not hesitate to ask. There is no need in giving us any unsolicited advice at this point.
Thanks
Peter
No we don't plan to raise our children from a book and yes we are clueless as to how to take care of three probably preemies at once. But these are my babies and I am taking my time reading and planning all that I can to help make decisions on how to try and raise THREE babies at the same time...alone in my home. So, if you don't have positive things to say. I ask that you please do not comment to us. Thank you.
I think you're both incredibly wise, and I think it's just wonderful that you're reading up prior to the babies arriving. Will you learn everything from a book? No. But it will most certainly give you a leg up and help you to plan out things that perhaps you hadn't thought of already. (If you read anything useful on potty training, you let me know... lol!)
The two of you will be absolutely brilliant parents--I know Trent and I can't want to see you both with those precious little babies (and I'm sorry, I think we're both going to want to rock them to sleep, ha!)
I've seen how the two of you interact with such love with our boys, and I know the love parents have for their own children is just all the more magnified. We're so excited for the two of you! Once you hold those little ones... your hearts will swell. I thought mine would explode the first time I held our boys from the overflow of love.
Stay strong--everyone will have their opinions and suggestions, because they just can't help themselves. But you'll do exactly what you need to do for YOUR babies--they can test out their methods on their own. =)
-Chelle
Thanks michelle - you are awesome and we love you!!!!
Lots of good stuff in Babywise! :)
Congrats! Triplets... oh my! I LOVE Babywise! I read it while PG with my twin girls! My girls were born 7 weeks early and were sleeping 10-12 hours by 3 months and have consistently slept from 6:30am-8pm since 6 months. They go into their cribs wide awake and never have any issues! Good luck!
Oops! I haven't perfected the art of getting my girls to sleep all day... I meant that they sleep from 6:30pm to 8am! Hehe!
Babywise is a MUST with three babies. Our boys were born at 30 weeks and when they left the NICU at 6-8 weeks old we started following the book right away. From the beginning, they've napped, ate, and played all at the same time. We have ONE schedule that we follow and we dictate it, not them.
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