A Day at Umpa’s Daycare

As of Week 23 with Triplets

It seemed like a good opportunity to walk you through my day with the triplets. With the holidays bringing people together, there seem to be questions about our schedule.

Getting an Early Start

My daughter and her husband head off to work around 7:00am, so that’s when I arrive at their house. Understanding the effort of getting triplets loaded up and out the door, I’ve offered to take that off their hands.

There’s just too great a chance that something gets missed in the early morning hustle. Next thing you know the dog is left outside, a pacifier gets left behind or someone’s car seat harness isn’t securely cinched.

If the babies are on schedule, they’re just waking up. I set them up with a fresh diaper and the first feeding of the day while still at their house. After sitting for a bit to let breakfast settle, we load everyone into car seats and prepare to head out.

A triplet mom on TikTok advised that all the kids should be loaded into the car at the same time, so no one is left alone in a vulnerable position. With my vehicle in the driveway, I move all three babies from the house into the garage with the door closed and then load them into my vehicle from there.

The Babies Control the Schedule

With any luck, we leave my daughter’s house by 8:30am and make the short 10 minute drive to Umpa’s.

What I love most about this arrangement is the flexibility. For the most part, there’s no reason to rush any part of our day to be somewhere on time. For example, if it becomes apparent the babies are off schedule and need a nap before leaving their house, than that’s what we do.

This reduces potential stress on the babies, and me, so we’re setting everyone up to have a great day.

Three Hour Blocks

At this time, the only thing that regulates each day is our feeding schedule. The babies eat every three hours, so they have bottles again at 10:00am, 1:00pm and 4:00pm.

In between feedings we have play time and naps. There’s no real structure to these in-between periods. On a perfect day all three will go down for a nap together, but those are rare. If a baby shows signs of being sleepy, I put the tired one down in their crib.

It’s common to have one baby sleep longer than the others, and then the short-napper kiddo(s) will obviously get tired sooner next time around.

Does one baby make a fuss and wake the others? They are pretty good about sleeping through the noise, but siblings can be jolted awake and we wind up with crabby babies until after the next feeding.

Dining Picnic Style

Feeding time has always been a little tricky. Between one colicky baby and two who spit up frequently, my daughter and I figured out early on that it’s best to leave this activity to the experts.

At my house the triplets are still only drinking formula, so feeding time takes place on the floor. I lay out three Boppies in front of me, like a drum set, so I can easily reach each baby.

It was a priority early in their lives to learn prop feeding and they picked it up like champs. Their interest in eating does fluctuate, and distractions can be found everywhere, so it’s often a juggling act keeping bottles in mouths.

Thankfully they can drink straight through a bottle, as burping is no longer necessary. We’re up to Level 3 nipples on our Dr. Brown’s bottles, so they can all eat in under 10 minutes.

Umpa’s Daycare Setup

The reason it’s worth the effort of transporting the trio back to my house is the convenience it affords me personally. The days are long and physically difficult, so everything I can do to make that easier ultimately benefits the babies.

Our living room is of a good size and rarely used. Because the triplets are, joyfully, the center of our world, this room has been transformed to meet their daily needs.

Plenty of space to spread out and play, a playpen ready to go once they start moving, and two portable cribs. The third crib is currently in an adjacent room to reduce the risk of our noisiest one (sorry, Baby B) from disturbing the others during naps.

The biggest advantage to my house is having the kitchen and changing table on the same level as the play space. My daughter’s house requires going up and down stairs for every diaper change and feeding.

Some would argue the stairs might keep me in better shape. I’d argue that doing that with a baby in your arms creates an undue level of stress. 😉

Visitors are Welcome

We’re so fortunate that family and friends are always asking to stop by and offer their assistance. I like to say that help is not needed but visitors are certainly appreciated.

Afternoons are the best time to have guests stop by since this is when my energy starts to wane. It’s all about having someone else to play with the babies so I can take a breather.

I had to put an end to snuggle naps. While these are very sweet it’s not sustainable when I’m frequently alone… and there are three of them.

Closing Time

Conveniently my house is on their mother’s route home from work, so she picks them up around 4:30pm. I give her a rundown on the day’s highlights before loading them up to go home.

Once they’re out the door, the daycare space gets organized, the bottles go in the dishwasher, and I wash a load of burp rags along with anything else soiled during the day.

The following morning I assemble the clean bottles and fill with water in preparation for the day’s feedings. Everything is clean, organized and ready once again for the triplets.