3 easier than 1?

I find it highly amusing when people call me a Supermom for having triplets (as if I had any choice in the matter). This morning, it occurred to me (and not for the first time) that for me, it’s easier to have three than it would be to have just one.

Why?

Because I’m lazy.

Because there are three of them, I can leave them in their cribs until they’re 4, and I don’t have to teach them to sleep in a toddler bed. No one will bat an eye (or they’d better not!) because I can use the excuse “but they’re triplets! They’ll become a roving pack of wild toddlers if they’re not confined to their cribs!” Same with potty training. If I had one little boy, I might have bought a potty already. But the thought of going out in public and getting three little boys to use the bathroom sends chills down my spine. Not to mention the accidents…times three.

I propped their bottles when they were old enough to sit in their high chairs. I didn’t rock them to sleep, and they had to learn to fall asleep after being put in their crib awake. I didn’t nurse them, and they never slept in our bed. I bathe them a couple of times a week at best. When you have triplets, you learn all sorts of tricks to make things go more efficiently, things that you might not consider when you have just one.

(Here’s my favorite bottle prop of all…a sleeping daddy!)
Sleepy Daddy

The most efficient way to transport bottles:
Bottle carrying system

Am I sad that I didn’t get to rock a baby to sleep every night, or nurse, or at least cuddle with my infant while he ate his bottle?

Sure I am.

But there’s the whole “entertaining each other” aspect that helps make up for it.

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Too bad it often culminates in “fighting with each other” though. Hmmm…

Fighting over the car

Ah well. In the end, it’s really not that bad. Mostly because it’s all we’ve ever known.

The Fam

27 thoughts on “3 easier than 1?”

  1. Jessica

    Love it Pam, it’s true. Having had one first then triplets, there are aspects of life that are easier with triplets. You don’t have time or energy to obsess over all the little things like when you have one! Plus, it’s a 24/7 play date which gives you time for other things – even if it is referring sometimes! 😉

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  2. amber

    OMG, that first picture is hilarious! He’s looking at Dad like “Seriously?!” I also love the repurpose of the 6 pack container. Too funny!

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  4. Brian Boudreaux

    Could not agree more with you! We are still new to this whole thing, but I can really see how things are a little easier with three, especially the bedtime thing. I have friends with one baby that are still struggling at 6 months with their kid sleeping through the night and in their own room. Love all the pictures as well. Good idea on the six-pack holder! I will have to use that!

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  5. Christina

    Boy, this is one of my favorite post! I feel those things so much too, but I only have 2. 🙂
    You can’t do some of things, because we just don’t have time. And I don’t plan on letting mine out of their cribs for a long, long time. Why bother?

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  6. Angela

    So True! I’m right there with you! The other thing is that you’re not entertaining 3 at different stages of development. It’s a huge blessing too! Love the beer bottles! 🙂 too funny. It may seem horrific to some not to snuggle your babies during feeds….they can’t talk until they’ve had trips!

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  8. Helen

    Fantastic post Pam! Although, I think you’re a little more terrified of potty training than you need to be 😉 I’ve only had to rush three to the bathroom in Target once! LOL

    I love, love, love that the boys entertain each other now. I just had a mom of 1 (4 yo girl) here and she commented how great it must be to have 3 kids because they can entertain each other rather than relying on Mommy to entertain them.

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  9. Helen

    OH! I thought of another 3 is better than 1 to add to your list!

    With three you can use those sweet backpack leashes and not have people rolling their eyes at you left and right.

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  11. Teresa

    I have twin boys and I find myself thinking the same things. Like you, I do get a little sad thinking I didn’t get enough rocking time in. Now they are 2 and just don’t have time for it.

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  12. Deanna

    I only have two, not three, but I can definitely relate to just about everything you mentioned! And the sleep, oh the sleep…our babies are amazing nighttime sleepers (much better than most singletons I know), and I credit it mostly to the routine we established and the fact that I couldn’t sit and rock them for hours every night. Great post!

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  15. Kellie Darnell

    You don’t know how much I love this post and really needed to hear this from another triplet mom!! The timing is so perfect! I also fully believe I am a better mother because I have three…. you have to be!

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  16. Jo

    You are 100% RIGHT. As a triplet mom, we have to put our survival skills to work. Would we prefer to do things differently sometimes – sure. Are they missing out? maybe – but what they gain being born with and growing up with their best friends beats all they might possibly miss.

    And mine are 11 now, and I don’t think they show any signs of being deprived because I had to prop a bottle or 2.

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  17. Molly Israel

    You are the definition of “glass half full,” if I ever doubted it before. Pammy, you are the only person I know who could pontificate for an entire page about how “easy” it is to be a mother of triplets. For this, and a million other reasons, we all love you dearly. Happy Belated Birthday!

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  18. Jamie

    I totally agree…we only have two, and I reached Supermom status. It is funny all the peeps that complain about one and I feel so blessed to have our two. We are keeping ours in cribs, until they no longer fit, and then we will keep them in the same room at least until college. I think they will be better for our survival skills…born with their best friend, does it get any better. Love the 6 pack bottles…definitely my FAV!!

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  20. Beth

    This is awesome! I don’t know that I would say ‘easier’ but at least more efficient for all the reasons you mentioned. I have an older daughter that needs as much attention as the trips because it is what she had for her first 3 years. The difference with the trio is amazing. And I think it’s for the better – they can go to sleep on their own without any trouble. They entertain themselves and each other without any trouble. And they will be in their cribs and high chairs until they are 10 so that I can maintain my sanity 🙂 Happy Belated Birthday to you!

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  21. Amy

    Ah, I love your attitude, Pam. 🙂 I think if I had triplets I would do a lot more whining! 😉 (Although of course I hate it when SINGLETON moms try to tell me multiples are so much easier … ;))

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  22. Eclipsed

    Great attitude, I’d probably be crying into my coffee because, who am I kidding, I do that with one. But I say let them raise each other. No matter how they turn out, everyone will just sympathetically say “Well they were triplets” 🙂

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  23. Jen & The Amazing Trips

    I had triplets AND THEN I had one and I can say – absolutely, positively, three were easier than one. I had the triplets on a schedule, sleeping THROUGH the night before they were six-months old. Because there were three, there was NO option in the matter. Sure it was tricky when we’d go out with three toddlers but the solution to that was we wouldn’t go out.

    So yeah, three are easier than one.

    Except when it comes to breastfeeding.

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  24. Jill

    I check out your blog when I was pregnant with my GGG triplets and it got me through the scary times. However, this post in my favorite… Yes, they go into their cribs awake while I round up their sister(s), they might even cry for a little bit… but I watch my friends with one baby and I really think that it is easier with three. Yes, there are the things the are harder (going out in public, the expense) BUT, it forces a schedule and it forces patience. My husband puts it perfectly, he says “The girls won’t be able to do something that others can because they are triplets, but because they are triplets the will be able to have and do things others can’t”

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  25. Mercedes Donis

    OMG! Visiting from TB board. This is too funny (I especially love the bottle carrier!) Even though I *only* have twins, I totally relate. Sometimes I think I needed to have twins instead of a singleton, because with only one I’d put too much pressure on myself to be perfect mommy to a perfect, cloth diapered, handknitted sweater wearing, sign language using baby.

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  26. Kristin Ronnevik

    LOVE!!! I think only mothers of multiples can understand this 🙂 My twins were such easy babies. Now I have a singleton and he is giving me a run for my money!!!

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