Tips: Managing Visitors
Newborn multiples often draw a crowd. If you haven’t experienced this already, you will. I promise. Even at home, you may have many friends and family who want to stop by for a quick – or not so quick – visit. Visitors are great if they’re also being helpful, but in the early days it’s especially important to limit visitors so you can focus on establishing breastfeeding and getting settled as a new family.
Here are some tips for managing visitors in the early days with newborn multiples:
- Consider recording an outgoing message on your voicemail and posting a message to your Facebook page giving everyone some basic stats on the babies and satisfying their requests for pictures.
- Let people know that you’re limiting visitors in the early days while you and the babies settle in. Ask that people who are going to visit keep their visits short and be respectful of your need to focus on the babies, feeding, and sleeping whenever you can.
- Don’t be afraid to ask some people to hold off on visiting for a while – early visitors should be people who make you comfortable. Only invite those people whom you don’t mind seeing you in your pajamas, unshowered, and topless. If you aren’t comfortable breastfeeding in front of your uncle, sister-in-law, or anyone else, it’s okay to ask them to hold off on their visits until you and the babies are more settled into a routine.
- If you do have visitors, put them to work! Don’t be shy about asking someone to bring dinner if they’re going to visit, or asking them to load and run the dishwasher before they go. You can keep a running list of chores and errands posted on the fridge to keep things easy for everyone.
It takes time to get settled into breastfeeding even one baby – and longer to learn to juggle two or more. Take the time you need to focus on your newly expanded family. There will be plenty of time for showing off your gorgeous new babies!!