Help! This will be long... I am getting alot of comments from other parents about how my twins seem to be behind on their eating schedule. I need help with where to go next. The boys are now a little over 7 months old, but they were born 7 weeks early. They are doing VERY well and you would never know they were preemies. Both are about 18 pounds! With that said, we didn't rush into baby food b/c the formula was doing its job quite well. We introduced cereal at 6 months and introduced veggies about a month ago. We just introduced bananas this week with their morning cereal. Recently they are not eating their full 8 oz bottles, so we are going to drop that down to 6 ounces but I dont know how to adjust their feeding schedule.
Right now they get:
7 am - bottle
9 am - 2 tblsp cereal, half jar fruit
11 bottle
3 - bottle
6 - 3 Tblsp cereal and half jar veggie
7:15 last bottle
So, the daycare woman says they are not eating their 11 bottle b/c they are still full from the cereal and suggests we push the bottle back to noon and asked if we thought about starting lunches. I just dont know where to go from here from a menu perspective. Do they get cereal/veggie and fruit at supper, or should I stop with the cereal and start with a "dinner" meal and veggies and fruit, and then a final bottle a little later? I don't knwo how to space out all this food with out overstuffing them. They aren't skinny little guys and I don't want to make them overweight! Any help whatsoever would be greatly appreciated from a menu/amount and time perspective. THANK YOU MOMS!
P.S. we put them down at 8 PM and they sleep til 6 AM, so I don't want to mess with that too much-if it isn't broken, don't fix it!!!
I worried a lot about feeding w/ child #1, now I just try to offer healthy breakfast, snack around 10, lunch, snack around 3, dinner. My pediatrician says offer healthy foods and don't worry- they will eat what need. Baby #2 hasn't even had baby food- I just grind up what we are eating...
Hi C.,
At this age, babies will regulate their own eating. They won't get overweight if you listen to their "I'm done cues". When my daughter was 8 months old, she was getting 3 meals a day and on a lot of finger foods. She loves to eat! She was still breastfed 5 times a day, too at that point and actually lost weight around that time because she started crawling and was more active.
They need to eat, and they will tell you when they're done. Don't withhold it from them. The best way to keep them from being overweight in the future is to keep healthy foods in the house and demonstrate good eating habits (mom and dad) and keeping them active.
Good luck!!!
My response may seem a little harsh but honestly you just need to listen to your kids. They are doing VERY well for being so early - chronically they are 8 mo, but really they are only 6 months from your due date.
I let my kiddo dictate what he wanted to do. When we sat down to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner I would offer him something. We'd do cereal/oatmeal in the morning, I'd offer a veggie or fruit at lunchtime, then give them bottles when they fussed in between. Your kids will let you know when they are hungry -- trust yourself and your instincts!!!
The only aside I would note is to only introduce one thing at a time -- just to make sure there are no allergies. I got a little ahead of myself sometimes and then had a REAL BIG problem when my kid ended up being allergic to strawberries. I had given him mixed berry yogurt and it had fruits in it that he'd never had... OOPS!
Good luck!
K.
my advice, (since you obviously are very in tune and they are doing well, both growth and sleep wise) is for you to r-e-l-a-x....the road is long my love, and when i had my son as an older mom, i was so hyper about was i doing everything right. my pediatrician said (in relation to good eaters and sleepers) children only eat what they need, and that changes daily, and you can never understand each little thing. so if they go down on formula, its cause of the new food. i never had a set schedule, i always tried to see what he needed. i felt if i had a schedule, it would maybe make him eat when he didn't need it, and mine was 10 lbs at birth, 300 now, tho he is 6'2". so relax, and keep note of changes, but don't fret, they will intake what they need, and if they go off feed, its either sickness coming on, or they just are not hungry. you sound like a great mom, and of twins too. god bless, and good for you. save energy for when they are older, cause i assure you teens are as demanding as infants, and have a waaay better vocab....peace, dani
I have heard "food under one is just for fun". Your boys don't really need to be eating a whole lot of food now. Formula or Breast milk has the most nutrients and calories and contains all they need. If you want to introduce a lunch time food then maybe give them 2 T of cereal then a 4 oz bottle at lunch time and skip the 11 o clock bottle. If they are hungry before then or after they can always get a little more formula or cereal. I wasn't really good with my son at a set schedule of meals. What you have already seems really good for their ages, so I wouldn't worry about adding too much more until they are closer to a year old. Just make sure you don't force them to finish all their food if they seem full. Babies will stop eating when they are full naturally as long as parents don't force them out of the habit. So if they don't seem hungry don't worry about feeding them. Hope this helps.
Your schedule looks pretty good to me. I have a three year old and a four month old. Both my kids were not little. My son was born 10 lbs 1 oz. He is now pushing 20 lbs. I only give him 7 oz of formula at a time. He just started cereal because he wanted more, but more formula made him spit up more.
With my little girl by the time she was eating baby foods really well. I had her on a schedule like yours. The only difference is that she took only 6 oz bottles.
7am- cereal small jar of fruit and 4 oz bottle
9-10am- 6 oz bottle
12-1pm 2 small jars of baby food and 4 oz bottle
3pm 6 oz bottle
6pm 2 small jars of baby food and 4 oz bottle
If we were out then she would get another 6 oz bottle about 8 or 9pm. I used to take her out to basketball games to watch her Daddy work where she would eat dinner at 5pm and need something before bed to sleep well.
If I gave a larger jars she would eat like one and a half.
I liked to give the baby food first then the bottle to wash is down.
My son is just starting cereal. Right now he gets cereal in the morning and at night. His daycare asked if they could give him something in the middle of the day because he is acting VERY hungry in the midday. So he got cereal at lunch time too. I will give him more foods about 6 months.
Both my kids go to bed by 730-8pm and sleep through the night. The baby gets up between 6:30 and 7:00am. He will sleep longer at times. My three year old used to go to bed about 730 and sleep until 7-8am when she was a baby. In fact she still has the same sleep habits.
Good Luck!!
S.
You're a great mom. I have an 18 mo old lil girl. I'd give my doc the feeding schedule & see what they say.
Here's baby center.com's feeding guide too... http://www.babycenter.com/0_age-by-age-guide-to-feeding-y... Can't remember the exact amount of oz they want a 7 mo old baby to eat, but they sound excellent. Keep up the good work & enjoy em
Hi C.! I have a son that was born on Feb 3rd (2 days late!). He is also changing his eating habits right now. This is his schedule:
7am bottle (8oz)
8:15 2tbs cereal, 1 jar fruit, cheerios, 1oz juice (sometimes I leave out the cereal or juice - he just gets the juice to learn how to drink from a cup)
11am bottle (he drinks about 5-6 of the 8 I make)
1pm 1 jar veg 1 jar fruit
3-4pm bottle (5-6oz of the 8, again) and a snack - puffs, cheerios, baby mum mum, biter biscuits
6pm 1 jar veg 1 jar fruit and something he can "feed himself" aka make a huge mess with.
7:00 8oz bottle
We started finger foods about 2-3 weeks ago, and he's doing AMAZING. The first week was hard, I felt like I was wasting so much. He also didn't STTN until he was getting the 3 "meals" a day of baby food, at 5 1/2 months.
Ask your pediatrician before you cut out the cereal, I know they get iron from the formula, but I'm not sure if they "need" the extra from cereal or not.
I also sometimes have been replacing a "jar" with some finger foods - sweet potato, squash, white potato, bread, bananas, etc.
I think as long as they are getting the minimum recommended 22-24oz of formula it is fine. My son stopped drinking 8oz during the day after his last growth spurt was over.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that formula or breastmilk needs to remain the primary food/nutrient source throughout the first 12 months. Introducing cereal and foods is meary to "teach" them to eat. It should NOT decrease the amount of formula/breastmilk.
That being said, its suggested to give the baby a bottle (or nurse) and then offer food/cereal. This ensures they get enough formula/breastmilk.
The food/cereal is simply to supplement the bottles/nursing. You can do it as often in the day as you choose. Remember, you are the parent. As L. as your babies are thriving, gaining weight and developing appropriately you really don't have anything to worry about.
You should ask your pediatrician how much formula/breastmilk they should be consuming each day. My son wasn't drinking enough and we had to pretty much force feed him 2 extra bottles each day.
You do not sound like a 'new'
mom and with 8 mth twins I think you are an expert:) (especially if you have them sleeping 8-6). It they are on their growth curve I would not worry about their weight. Sorry I do not have more advice but you seem to have it under control. trust yourself!
C.
Stop sweating this. The fact that you have this food/time/amount thing written in stone will stress you. Children tend to get enough even when we think they aren't. You just said they were healthy babies. Don't worry about making them overweight.If they want more give it to them. If they don't want as much don't make them eat it. I am a daycare provider (14yrs) and I don't measure anything. I feed the babies at meal times and if they aren't hungry then I don't force them to eat. Just like they are doing, they will adjust their schedules to meet their needs. I'm not saying to just feed them willy nilly. However don't make feeding time stressful for them or you.
Hi C.,
I too am a mom of twins, and my best friend(and my source of all knowledge) has early preemie twins like yours. The first thing you need to know is that you really can't do this wrong - go at the pace that is comfortable for you and your boys.
DO NOT listen to people who don't have twins when they criticize your schedule. IT IS necessary and almost every mom of twins thrives on it. To meet the needs of two or more babies you need to get them to the point where you CAN meet thier needs at the same time - it takes work and patience to get too it but my kids now eat and sleep better than most I know.
Solid feeding twins and still getting in all those bottles is a challenge. I know it is frustrating when everything just seemed to be getting better and suddenly your are feeding your kids 8 times a day again.
First know that practices have changed so many times over the years and there is no right way - I was exclusively bottle fed until I was one some kids start on solids when they are four months.
Your schedule looks perfectly adequate to me. It in fact looks exactly like what I did. I would maybe just let your little ones drink what they want from the bottle at 9 after thier solids and them go ahead and move it to 12pm or right before thier nap. They should still wake up hungry.
As for what to do with the menu. When you add in lunch I tried to give cereal and a fruit in the morning, cereal and a green veggie for lunch, and cereal and a orange veggie or fruit for dinner (they liked this better so I fed it at the fussier time). I also varied the types of grain for different nutrition. I used the www.wholesomebabyfood.com website for my tables of what to feed and when.
Some rules of thumb:
1) Formula is your main nutrition - as long as your kids are eating at least 18 oz they will have what they need to grow.
2) Cereal is like the formula of solid food - I gave it at every meal.
3) My Drs. Guidlines were to introduce one meal by 6 months, 2 meals by 8 months, and 3 meals by 10 months (add in 1-2 snacks by 12 months).
4) Don't worry about overstuffing your kids - they wont let you and if they do - they will throw it up.
5) As far as eating fruits vs vegetables. They generally have the same vitamins and minerals, fruits are higher in calories, vegetables higher in fiber. The most important part of offering both is not that your kids need it to grow (they get complete nutrition from formula) The most important thing is exposing them to healthy foods so they eat them later.
6) The next 6 months is just about teaching your kid how and what to eat - the formula takes care of the rest so relax and make if fun for all of you.
7) Don't worry about being behind - the more advanced the kids eating skills the more complicated your life will become. Thier nutrition will not suffer and finger foods are not neccessary until at least 10 months. Once the little ones start feeding themselves lookout trouble.
First thing is not to worry, you are the mom and if you think everything is fine, then it is. Second, you can't really make a baby overweight, they don't eat for no reason like adults do. If you are still concerned about that then be sure to avoid microwaving there food since it turns into paste in the intestines and stays there causing digestive problems later in life. Also another good eating tip to avoid overweight children is stay away from jarred and processed food, even if the label looks nice, it's still full of junk and gets them used to that processed taste. Now would actually be a good time to incorporate a yogurt, preferably plain stonyfield organic to get a lot of good probiotics that is beneficial to the natural flora, helping control weight and others.
I noticed there's a 4 hour gap between the 11 am bottle and the 3pm feeding, so how about substituting the 11 am bottle and making it a 12:00 yogurt then a 3pm bottle. They may not be that hungry for the bottle because the yogurt is very filling, but that's not bad and it should keep the afternoon schedule relatively the same.
I hope this helps.
maybe the babies haven't read the schedule?
i just haven't met any that are fine with sticking to a time routine just because that's what works for the parents. if they're not hungry at 11, why is it even a question to hold off feeding them until they are?
unless you're planning on stuffing them against their will, they will stop eating when they're full.
even if babies are reliable as clockwork for a few weeks or even a month, that schedule will change. yes, even their sleep schedule. it's inevitable. it's GOOD. change is growth, and that's what we're working for with this whole parenthood thing.
stop stressing about whether to give the veggie at breakfast or dinner. listen to your babies and give them what they need.
khairete
S.
