In a message dated 99-11-08 11:22:31 EST, you write:

<< Please forgive me for asking, but *physiologically* how does scheduling
feedings for any baby (triplets, twins, or singletons) lead to sleeping
longer at night?   >>

In terms of multiples, it "clusters" care provision. If all are fed at
approximately the same time then (theoretically) all will sleep without
interruption for a 2-3 hour block of time. It isn't necessarily longer sleep
time that is sought--it is uninterrupted sleep time. (One hasn't lived until
one has dealt with multiples waking at alternate 30-60 minute intervals for
months to years at a time. They use us as extras on films such as Night and
Day of the Living Dead. We play the zombies in background shots.)

I think clustered night-time feeds often seem to work with multiples because
many have already become used to a NICU routine when discharged home. Or
maybe it often works because the babies sense their parents are hovering at
the edge...

Actually, it does not work for all babies/multiples, and I've worked with MOM
who are expending much more time and effort trying to impose such schedules
than they would if they simply could go with the baby unable to fit the
"programmed" feeding plan. (And we've seen many mothers become more flexible
after this has been discussed when pertinent.) How do those MOM handle a baby
or two unable to go along with the program? They often put up with a lot of
crying. Maybe this is easier for some with multiples, because even for those
trying to feed on cue, it's often impossible to get to everyone needing mom
so crying often is a heartbreak that goes with the territory of having
multiples.

I was surprised by the story of the triplets on the four hour "schedule"
because most MOM of triplets have premies and the docs usually seem to want
them fed every 3 hours until weight gains are well established. With the
surveillance usually used with premie multiples, it is hard to imagine two
were teetering at "failure to thrive" with so little apparent
intervention--unless intervention recs were totally ignored by the parents.

Karen

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