Nursing triplet toddlers

I have been thinking about writing this post for months because I don't think I've written anything about nursing since the summer.  We are still nursing the babies, but probably 3 months ago or so we cut down to 2-3 times a day.  We still nurse them when they wake up in the morning and before bed and if one or both of us are home then we typically nurse them in the middle of the day before their afternoon nap.  Then of course there are the times when someone wakes up from a nap incredibly sad or has a serious wipeout and needs some extra help settling down.  I don't think we set out to nurse them this long (I know Michelle's original plan was 6 months!), but it's just part of our routine right now and I for one am not really ready to be done.  Michelle is definitely more ready to be done, but the babies are to blame for that because they are definitely NOT ready to be done and in fact are currently kind of obsessed with nursing and Michelle has had it with having little hands diving down her shirt requesting milk the second she walks in the door!

It is hilarous to think about how different nursing these three is now compared to a year ago.  I know this evolution happens for every mom who nurses into toddlerhood, but there are definitely some things that are different with multiples and some that are unique to having two moms both nursing triplets.

I don't know, but I suspect that other moms nursing toddlers are familiar with what we like to call "nursing yoga" where their little ones practically do sun salutations or work on their cirque du soleil routines all with your nipple in their mouth.  Their favorite yoga pose is standing on one leg with the other kicked up behind, similar to this standing bow pose!

Avery has tried to up the ante a bit by trying to do a plank while nursing by putting both feet up on the crib behind her!  Another favorite nursing game over the past few months include the ever popular "nipple peekaboo" where they either take our hand or put their hand on the nipple to play peekaboo a few times before re-latching.  Isaiah prefers the more traditional version of covering his one eye and playing peekaboo because then he can keep nursing! (smart boy!)  We are also super into body parts and what better time for a review session than while nursing, right?  Some current favorites include eyebrow, cheeks, chin, lips, teeth, and of course nipple and breast! Intermittently stopping nursing to blow a few quick raspberries on Mama's belly or breast is another funny one.

They sometimes like to give their loveys a nip of milk too. =)

Only moms of multiples though can truly appreciate the challenge of trying to referee a tandem nursing session.  What does that even mean you ask?  Well, remember, these guys are toddlers now and they don't stop being toddlers while they're nursing so the urge to test limits and annoy their siblings remains strong!  It is fairly routine to have to employ mama handcuffs to prevent hair pulling, eye poking, and other "annoy my nursing buddy" tactics.  Now, to offset those particularly obnoxious moments there are also occasional moments of incredible sibling sweetness where one will reach over and give their nursing buddy a back or head rub or try to hold hands.

hard to say whether Avery is getting a back rub and a head rub
at the same time here or if Isaiah is about to pull her hair!

The one thing that I suspect is unique to our situation and is also quite hilarious to watch is the game of musical nipples.  Avery started this game a few months ago and it took us a little while to catch on to her plan.  She would stop nursing and start saying "shhhhhh" and after a bit we figured out that she was trying to say "switch" because she wanted to switch spots with someone!  Now they all do it and pretty much every night now someone initiates a switch and often there are multiple switches.  I think this concept is pretty hilarious and most of the time the others are pretty amenable to the swap though sometimes we have to negotiate a trade. Lately they've also started saying switch when they want to switch sides.

If I'm the only one home before a nap and decide to nurse them we have a lot of these negotiations and do a lot of slowly counting to ten before switching so the third baby can get a little milk too.  I am actually amazed at how cooperative they typically are about taking turns most of the time.  Though there are times like the photo below where the third just tries to nudge someone out of the way using his or her head!


just in case you were wondering, no, I do not have 3 nipples

maybe I can get milk from Isaiah's head?
(or maybe if I bite his head he'll get outta my way?!)

And then when it was time to switch Isaiah tried to get milk from her cheek =)

I don't know how much longer we will end up nursing, but but it has been quite an adventure thus far and one I'm so thankful to been able to be a part of!  Love these crazy little toddlers!