Babywearing Triplets: Feeding in a Carrier

Baby carriers are great tools for bonding with your baby and maintaining your busy life while meeting your baby’s needs. This is especially true when feeding our babies. Whatever your circumstances, a baby carrier can be helpful when your baby starts to let out those hunger cries! 

Many moms choose to nurse their babies. With a little practice it can be easy to nurse your child discreetly in a baby carrier. Any carrier can be adjusted for a baby to nurse in; however I find two shouldered carriers tend to be the easiest. As a new mom I often used a stretchy wrap because I could easily wiggle the wrap down a little and let my child nurse. The amount mom needs to wiggle the wrap is dependent, of course, on how well endowed mom is! The more blessed you are, the more you may need to wiggle.  If you are wearing a mei tai you can easily loosen the straps to lower baby down to nursing level. I often used an oversized sun hat on my baby to completely cover us from any peering eyes if I was in a public place and no one ever seemed to notice.

For many reasons, some moms use a supplemental nursing system. This can be useful for brief periods of times for small nursing problems, or for long periods of time for other situations, such as adoptive parents, babies with more serious feeding difficulties, or moms of multiples. Basically, a supplemental feeding system allows the baby to nurse while receiving extra nutrition. When using the supplemental feeding system I like to adjust my carrier slightly to the left or right so that the baby’s head is not in the middle of my chest where the feeding system rests. That way he or she does not knock into the supplemental feeder. Also, if you have an older baby, you will find that they love to grab the tubes of the feeder. I try to keep my babies’ arms at their sides when I put them in the carrier to nurse. That way it is harder for them to grab the tubes and rip them off. Otherwise, simply adjust for nursing and go!

Of course, not everyone nurses and many moms use bottles. When we first started using bottles I was surprised by how much more inconvenient they are than nursing. I had to hold baby in one hand and the bottle in the other hand which left me no free hands for eating, gesturing at my older children, or for posting on Facebook! I found it easy to put my babies in a carrier to bottle feed and to then have one or two hands free. To bottle feed, place your baby in a carrier and lower him or her just enough to give space for the bottle. If I am holding the bottle I find it most comfortable to place my hand underneath and up into the carrier to hold the bottle. To go hands free I give just enough slack that the bottle can lean on my chest while my baby is eating. It simulates nursing well and we can gaze into each other’s eyes, or I can wipe Orajel off of my 3 year old’s face, or assist my 6 year old in researching the state flower of Virginia.
Most importantly there are many ways we can feed our babies in a loving way and still accomplish all the tasks we need to throughout our day. Do try this at home, or better yet, stop by one of our fabulous babywearing meetings for demonstrations and assistance.

Babywearing Triplets: Preemie Problems

Welcome to my first of many recurring blogs on babywearing triplets. My name is Carolyn and I gave birth to spontaneous triplets (!) recently. (Yes, that means they were totally natural and a big fat surprise). Oh yeah, and I also have a 5yr old and 2 year old. I’ve been a babywearer for many years and was sure I could handle this new challenge with lots of babywearing, but so far life has been more complicated than I’d hoped.
My babes (2 girls and a boy) were born at 34 weeks and because of that were in the NICU for a little while. I found out right away that there would be lots of obstacles between my babies and me. They could only nurse a little because they tired out too much. They were also attached to wires which made it difficult to maneuver with them. Lastly, of course, there were three of them, which had me rotating from baby to baby.

After 10 days we had S home, and 2 days later R was home. Great news! Unfortunately they were both on apnea monitors. This was wonderful for my sanity, because I knew they were breathing, but not great for babywearing. The leads pulled on the carriers and it was hard to carry around the monitor wherever I went and sort of defeated some of the purpose of babywearing (which is being able to get things done and play with the big kids.) I found myself putting my babies down much more than I ever thought I would. I held my first born all the time and wore my second child around the clock, so putting children down is strange to me.

I did find some opportunities to wear them, and even wore both girls in a Moby once. It was awkward, and they got too big for it quickly.  I found a ring sling great for wearing one and was able to tuck part of the monitor leads into the sling which kept it from pulling on the ring sling too much. Even at 4 pounds the ring sling was a perfect fit.
During really fussy times at night I did wear 2 in two separate mei tais. It looks like they are on top of each other in the picture, but really one is more on my left and one more on my right. Keep in mind that they are used to being pressed up against each other. I did have to put a receiving blanket in between the girls to make sure they didn’t bonk heads.

The best thing for us has been mei tais. My husband finds them easy to use and we are constantly switching which baby is being worn and which baby is in a swing or bouncy seat so a mei tai is good for quick ins and outs. I have also had a few requests to be worn from my 2 year old, and the mei tai is still perfect for him on my back.

So far, I have been a little disappointed that I haven’t worn them constantly, or worn two or even three, on a regular basis, but we have been plagued with unwieldy monitors, reflux, and other preemie problems. I have not been comfortable putting them on my back due to their small size and previous breathing problems. I look forward to them getting a little bigger and being off the monitors because we feel a bit trapped in one 10 foot radius these days.
 

Next blog: The girls are off the monitors and my determination to make Christmas normal

Wearing Three - Ellen's story

Having three children aged three and under meant that when my first reached her half-birthday, I was already pregnant again. By the time she took her first step on her first birthday, I was far enough along to know that we were expecting another girl. By the time she was running on unsteady toddler feet, I was ready to deliver. The day I was discharged from the hospital with my second daughter, my 15 month old was buckled into her carseat first.

With my first, I got by using a too-large heavily padded closed-tail ring sling and a borrowed mei tai. As soon as she could walk, she strongly resisted being worn. So, it was in parenting two spaced so closely together that my practical experience and knowledge of babywearing grew.

With a toddler that was charming, quick, mama-focused, and adamant about being down and doing it herself thank you very much, it became vital that I wore her newborn sister.

I ordered an open-tailed ring sling that arrived days before my second daughter's birth. I practiced in the hospital and insisted on wearing her as often as I could in the first few days home from the hospital. For two weeks it seemed like I was constantly adjusting, repositioning, and checking on my newborn until I found my 'sweet spot' and I could quickly put the baby in, tighten my rails, and go. Spending so much time those first few days learning the ins and outs of my sling saved me so much time and provided me with so much mobility.

We walked to the playground at the end of our court. My oldest would run, climb, and slide. Her little sister sat in the buddha position in my sling. She took in the world, and napped when she had regarded it for long enough. On trips to the mall, I wore the new one and strollered theolder one. At the play area, I'd let the mobile one run. Once a mom with just a toddler asked me how I managed. Without thinking I carassed my second daughter in the sling and replied, "I keep my hands on one and I keep my eyes on the other."

We'd go to church. While my husband tried to engage our oldest in the liturgy, I would nurse the baby in the sling, using the tail as a cover. I was used to sitting or standing still and nursing discreetly, until one day she was still nursing as it was time to head up the aisle for communion. I made my way to the front of the church, looked the priest in the eye, and made my way back to our pew without anyone being the wiser that not only did I have a baby in there, I was nursing her too. The being able to nurse in the sling further opened up our ability to go and do.

Then there was housekeeping. Baby and I often cleaned house together. She was very afraid of the vaccuum, even waking from a deep sleep if it ran. So I put her on my back in the mei tai and vaccumed while her sister napped. I could also do dinner prep--the washing, chopping and mixing at least during our afternoons. The more I wore my second daughter, the more things I found I could accomplish. Trips to the park, the store, the hospital, the bathroom. Dinner prep, vacuuming, wiping fingerprints off the walls and windows.

While my husband didn't mind that I was eager to wear the children, he was reluctant until he saw firsthand what an effective tool it was. This may be a familiar story to other babywearers, but it happened when my husband had a crying baby, and no mama to fix it for several minutes. He wrapped the baby up in a simple piece of cloth, she settled down, and settled into a peaceful sleep.

Once he had that experience, he encouraged my interest in babywearing, made it possible to acquire other carriers I admired, and even advocated the usefulness to other new parents. While it seems like I'm spending a lot of time writing about daddy babywearing, I mention it because his interest in wearing made it possible for us to plan for and welcome our third daughter.

While some days never seemed to draw to a close, the time passed so quickly. My second was eager to catch up to her older sister and she was a very early walker. I was able to wear her into her toddlerhood. Often in a soft structured carrier on my back. She frequently napped back there until my belly expanded so much that I couldn't even buckle it low on my hips. We slung for a little while, then all walked together.

When the new baby arrived, my three year old, who hadn't been worn in two solid years, made a return to being worn. It was an excellent opportunity to snuggle with her. My two year old also asks to be carried sometimes, but mostly she just brings me a carrier so that I can wear the baby.

I guess I should explain how I manage, but I'm not sure I can other than to say we do. My husband might wrap the baby if the older girls are particularly interested in having me put them to bed at night. I definitely sling her for a trip to the store, and I wrap her for a longer walk through the neighborhood. I guess it also helps that my children have had siblings for as long as they can remember, so there's little jealousy over the baby. Now that there are three young ones, they have realized that they do have each other, and it's such a satisfying sight to see the two older girls with their heads together playing pretend, while the baby looks on and chews her fingers.

Up until several weeks ago, I had three children, aged three and under. Now I bear the almost-but-not-quite-as-noteworthy distinction of having three children four and under. Passerbys will comment quite frequently “You’ve got your hands full.” The response I learned from a fellow babywearing mama, is “better full than empty”

When I make a trip to Costco, there are three blonde girls with me, two chattering in the cart as one sits on my hip. When we make a trip to the mall, one peeks out from the mei tai while the other two trail behind me like ducklings as we file past the perfume counter The comment I hear most often from passerbys is, “You’ve got your hands full.”

See, the thing is, technically, I don’t. Busy? Yes. Occupied? Most definitely. Rushing in where angels fear to tread? Sure, but no my hands are most definitely not full.

Posted by Ellen