Thursday, March 17, 2011

Our Non Schedule Schedule


His pants are fitting more like capris

They'll always have each other to lean on.





Bad swaddle fail. You'll notice our latest addition, owl swing bit the dust!



The grandparents just left so it's back to juggling babies by myself again! Family is always streaming in so I can always look forward to getting some relief in the near future. My mom and sister are next in line, yay! It's especially stressful when feeding babies and the others are whining/crying to be held or played with. The boys are starting to out grow their baby einstein and prefer sitting in their high chair, bumbo's and jumping activity chair (I wish I had another one but my house is already about to explode with baby gear).

Our Non Schedule

Unlike most triplet households we do not follow a written schedule. It works for most, but I felt too stressed out about "staying on schedule." Having never had children before I initially thought the world would implode if I didn't keep a strict schedule. I was relieved when this didn't happen. We stopped the every three hour schedule at 3 months (see my life in 3 hrs post).

I didn't like it once I had to wake babies up to eat. Why would you ever wake up a baby! A few times the babies let us oversleep and that was a VERY nice treat! This let us know that they were capable of longer stretches of sleep. This also made me worry that I was overfeeding them. Another reason I ditched the schedule was because the babies were always up at the same time and asleep at the same time. So I was hoping to get more one on one time with each boy (although this means less down time for me).

Even though we don't have a written schedule that doesn't mean I don't run a tight ship. We keep a strict "Eat, Play, and Sleep" schedule. The Eat and Sleep portion lasts 1 hour to 1.5 hours. In that window if anyone shows any signs of crankyness it's off to another nap. I have them eat the minute they wake up so that nobody becomes dependent on having a boob or bottle in their mouth to fall asleep.

So here is the funny thing, I think the 3 hr NICU schedule is so ingrained in them that on their own they reverted back to it. For the most part, one wakes up right after the other every three hours to eat. A few times a week, however, one or more boys will nap for like 5hrs and it's glorious! I can get so much done and a few times I didn't know what to do with the spare time.

At night it's a little different. They are all asleep by 9pm and when the first one wakes, after about 4-5hrs, we wake up the others too and feed them all at once. Then back to bed till 7am.

Here's something else that's funny, we still swaddle even though they are almost 6 months old! They are too big to swaddle their legs so we only swaddle their upper body. Most kids outgrow this within the first couple of months so I'm wondering how long we are going to have to keep this up! I wonder if it's their way of making up for their shortened time in the womb? Anyways, they are getting really strong and can break out of a swaddle a lot easier, a swaddle fail almost always leads to baby waking up : (


Bobble head Thomas

Thomas on the boys new favorite toy

6 comments:

Myra 米兰 said...

Thats so cool! Thomas bounces! Elliot still hasn't figured that out yet, so the neighbor baby is borrowing his jumper. You all look great! I was shocked to see phil with no 'stache! I have to admit, I was a fan of Portland Phil. The glasses he wore reminded me of my dad's, he had the same ones! :)

Jonalyn said...

LOVE bobble-head Thomas! Everyone looks great! Glad you have more family on the way. :)

Kat the Baker said...

I never used a schedule. Not with one, not with three, and not a chance with 6!

Everyone is happy and healthy and I do not feel like a failure for not keeping to a schedule.

I once had a friend (first baby) call me in tears because she was doing everything on schedule but her 3 month old son wasn't. A simple reminder that babies don't follow schedules, parents do.

nan cee said...

Looks like every one is doing great without a schedule and with more family comming I am sure it is a welcome visit! I am glad you are getting help! Love Thomas bobble head! :) Makes me laugh out loud. You are always included in my prayers and I think of you everyday! Time for me to print pictures and show them to my friends at the Kingdom Hall. Some have been asking about the boys!
Love you all,
A. Nancy

Vancouver Elerick's said...

You don't know me but I follow your blog faithfully! I swaddled my son until he was 9 months old. I had an extra large swaddle blanket and we were opposite; at about 6 months we started swaddling just his legs and leaving his arms out.

You are doing a great job and should be very proud of yourself!

Tati said...

soooo cute! i wonder why thomas does that whole "bobblehead" thing...