Friday, September 23, 2011

The Triplet Feed

Pulled the babies out of their car seats and am setting up a triple feed.

The beauty of feeding off my legs is having my hands free for a diaper change or lil' girl hairdos.

When I do the triple feed, I try to keep one hand free to stroke babies or itch my nose. Feeding only two babies is easy cheese. I usually only have one or two to feed at a time since one will sleep longer and another gets up early. The only time I usually have 3 to feed at the same time is the morning feeding- feeding 3 babies, receiving breakfast threats from 3 year olds, wishing I could have gotten up a little earlier for some alone time...

This is the full triplet feed. I prop a bottle for the baby on my right leg, then I hold on to the other two bottles, usually I can hold both bottles with one hand. James is lying on Quinn's stomach. Wilson has the bottle propped with a blanket on my other leg, I feel like even though I have to prop someones bottle, they are still being held.

I pick the babies up by the armpit to flip them over and burp them on my leg, yes on any given day I am wearing a few ounces of spit up on my pants.

If you are gonna feed one baby, you might as well feed three!

In many parenting books, it seems like if you don't breastfeed, that's it! Your kid is gonna be a felon, at best guess, you're looking at 30 to life and visiting your baby in prison, you might as well hang hand cuffs as decoration above their crib. They will never be able to read or even graduate from elementary school and they will get every sickness known to man. They will never be capable of love and will be obese, with poor eating habits.
I look at my mother in law, she was never breastfed and as I recall from the stories, she was bottle feed evaporated milk mixed with corn syrup. I look at her and I think, it's gonna be okay.

Even though I can't hold the all the babies all the time, I still want them to know I am close and probably holding another baby, so I sing and talk to them. I make up songs and put their names in them. I touch them when I say their name so they figure out which baby they are, and what their own name is. Their minds are engaged, their eyes are alert watching me, they hear loving words and know that I am close. That is how I can be close to my babies. Maybe it's not the same as breastfed babes, but it works for me.

5 comments:

  1. I think the important part is that the babies are loved, and yours obviously are. You are doing a wonderful job.

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  2. They are being bestfed. Fed with care and love and good humor. Nothing better than that for the ol' immune system.

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  3. I've decided that breastfeeding is somewhat overrated, Meredith survived formula and has avoided jailtime :) Nourishing them with love and hugs along with those bottles sounds like a good plan to me!

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  4. amen.
    and amen.

    you made me want to try a triple feed. and you made me realize what a joy being a mom is :)

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  5. Beautiful, Sherry. You are amazing - and so blessed, as you well know. Love ya!

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