Shopping list (advice for expectant MOMs)

I recently had the privilege to meet (virtually) and offer some advice to an expectant id trip MOM, the sex of the babies is still unknown but can't wait to find out! I remember the overwhelming feeling as a new expecting parent of what to get and how much of each to get. So in retrospect here is my advice if you don't have a big house or a lot of money like us...

-ditch the triplet stroller, they are way too expensive, bulky, and you'll find that you don't use it much on top of getting way too much attention with it. Instead I'd get a good double stroller and good carrier (I recommend the ERGO, you can use it up to 40 lbs and is super comfortable). When the babies are a little older get either a joovy big caboose (12mo+) or a valco tri-mode (6mo+), these are much better triplet stroller alternatives that are more compact and affordable. 


-Do get three boppy's, my boys spent most of their time in them from 0-3mo. I'd feed them, flip them over to burp them, and they'd nap in them. 

-Bouncy chair vs swing...this one is tricky since most babies only like one or the other and never both. Maybe get one of each and when you figure out which one they like you can get two more. Mine loved the swings (full sized ones), and from 3-8months they napped in them all day long (I drew the line at night though and would put them in their cribs)...Fisher Price swings were die hard, the Graco's I had periodically wouldn't work before they finally bit the dust.


-Bottles: my goal was to breastfeed so I didn't want to get too many bottles but I knew that it takes preemies a while to learn how to take a full feeding from the breast. I got 6 4oz bottles and 6 9oz bottles. I just washed at every other feeding. It is a bit of work but it saved space and it was plenty of bottles once I was mostly breastfeeding via baby and not the pump! I love my Avent bottles because they are easy to clean and you can convert them to sippy cups and baby food storage containers. It saves money since the adaptors are much cheaper than buying a different set of sippy cups. The only thing is that many preemies are born with acid reflux and I hear the Dr. Brown bottles are much better for this but they are a pain to clean. So maybe keep all the packaging in tact and receipts just in case. 


-My boys room is small and wanted them to be able to play in it when they got older. So we just got one crib where they all slept in it until about 3months and then we got two more pack n plays. This leaves enough room for them to have a separate play area than the living room which is a life saver when they get bored!


-Definitely get at least one activity mat. Ours was plenty big and we could put all three in it. As early as 2 months mine could easily spend 20-30 minutes under it. I loved our Baby Einstein Baby Neptune Ocean Adventure Gym


-3 Portable high chairs, the kind you can strap onto a regular chair. Saves space and money!


-Bumbo's are fun but not necessary, you can probably just use the high chairs to give babies the same experience. We had them but we could have done without.


-Bath seats, it's almost impossible to bathe three babies at once by your self! These seats actually make it possible and wish I had gotten them sooner. You can use them as soon as baby can sit up-right with support and you can use them as long as you want (I did till 19 months! great for story time). I recommend the Dreambaby Deluxe Bath Seat because they are small and if you have a regular sized bath tub you can fit all three in it. 


-You can never have too many burp cloths and bibs (avoid ones with velcro attachment, they'll rip them off the minute they are capable and refuse to wear them, get the ones with snap buttons)


We love to hear from other parents of triplets, and identical triplets of course have a special place in our hearts. So don't be shy!


New Skills
I finally let the boys try feeding themselves with spoons and bowls. Thankfully the bowls weren't immediately thrown over board like I was fearing. While they went through the motions correctly they didn't get a whole lot into their mouths. Eli did the best : )

Eli, notice how few bits of rice are out of his bowl!

The next day we tried forks and Thomas did such a good job! He was so proud and satisfied with himself. After lunch no one wanted to let go of their forks, they even took them to the meeting and the next day they took their baths with them. Silly kids! Now I'm slightly afraid to give them forks again since it's not the safest thing to walk around with...

so proud of himself!

Now see a video of how well he does it:

poor kitty

ETC

Eli you look just like the fox on your shirt : )

"oooo eeee oooo I look just like buddy holly..." if you don't get it that's ok : )