How do I adapt the routine for giving solids at 6pm to 6 month twins?
My twins are nearly 23 weeks so I am aware that I will need to introduce solids soon, despite them showing no real signs of being ready. How do I adapt the evening routine in the evening to accommodate two babies? At present I am feeding them alone and have to start feeding them their bottle about 5.45pm. It can become difficult if I leave it any later. Do you think I need to bring the feed time forward even further to accommodate the solids?
I do not bath them in the evening as this was too stressful for all of us, so after their feed at 5.45 they are settled by about 6.35pm.
When you first begin to introduce solids to the boys it may be better to split the 6pm feed to help you all with this stressful time of day.
Once the boys have begun to accept solids at 11am and shown no reaction, you can begin to offer solids with the 6pm feed. In order for them to continue to feed well before bed, allow 5ozs at 2.15pm and then offer 4-5 ozs at 5pm. This will be the best time to offer solids. Once they are changed and ready for bed, offer them the rest of their feed.
By splitting the feed at this time you could find the boys are able to cope better when tired at the end of the day.
When first introducing solids give 4ozs of the feed at 11am followed by the solids, then allow the boys to have as much of the rest of their feed as they want. This will help them steadily increase their solids without cutting back on their milk too quickly.
As the boys will be weaned at 6 months it is important to work through the food groups at a quicker rate than a baby being weaned earlier. They will begin to need some iron in their diet as the supplies laid down at birth are running out. For more information on this look at the article by Gina on the site:
http://www.contentedbaby.com/members-only/GR-Weaning.php
Both boys seem to be feeding well throughout the day. Once you introduce solids be aware that one baby may take to them better than the other. The easiest method to use is to make a double quantity in one bowl and have a spoon for each baby. So at 5pm in the early days have a bowl with six teaspoons of rice mixed with milk and offer each baby 2-3 spoons each.
Once the boys have been accepting solids for two to three weeks, begin to decrease the amount of milk they have at 10pm so this feed can be dropped.