How to Feed Triplets

Feeding your triplets takes up the majority of your time in the first few months of your babies' lives. A difficult task in the beginning, feeding multiples is made harder if you are breastfeeding. The key to feeding your triplets is to become educated about feeding babies and to plan ahead as early as you possibly can.

Instructions

1

Get some help. Since newborns need to be fed every few hours, you need to get some help. You may need people to help with bottle feeding, preparing bottles or even just making sure you get enough food and rest.

2

Decide how you are going to feed your triplets. While breast milk is absolutely the best thing for your babies, especially if they were born premature, it may not be a possibility to offer your triplets nothing but breast milk. Successfully breastfeeding triplets is made easier with some help. Contact a lactation consultant and La Leche League for more information on breastfeeding multiples. Decide whether you are going to offer your babies pumped breast milk or formula in a bottle.

3

Figure out some way to distinguish your triplets from each other. As you get more and more sleep deprived, it may become easy to mix up who needs a feeding and when. Putting numbers on tags or painting toenails may help prevent one triplet from getting a double feeding while another goes hungry.

4

Make a chart. You may find it easier to make a gigantic chart to hang on a wall that notes feeding times, number of wet diapers and number of bowel movements so you can help ensure your babies are getting enough to eat. After all, what goes in must come back out.

5

Avoid using a bottle proper. A bottle proper is exactly what it sounds like; it holds the bottle in place so you don't have to. However, bottle propers may lead to choking and are not recommended by the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics). In addition, you must hold your babies as you feed them for proper brain and personality development.