Does anyone have suggestions for meal routines for my just turned one year old twins? I am currently feeding them three meals a day and a bottle of milk about ninety minutes after each meal, plus one more bottle at about three or four in the afternoon. They seem to be wanting an afternoon and evening snack rather than a bottle sometimes. I am wondering if I should be giving them milk with meals now. My doctor says I can do it either way. So I am wondering what other moms do. I am trying to transition to sippy cups, but they are having trouble figuring out how to make it work. So suggestions with that are helpful too. Thanks!
I just added an afternoon snack, (cheese, fruit, bread) to my twins' day and they love it. Now as for getting them off the bottle in the morning (sippys most of the day and dinner), I'd love to be there, but we're not yet.
Take care,
D.
I have twins too...they are almost 6 now. I think when they were around 1 I was still giving them 2 bottles a day, but it was first thing in the morning and right before bed. That is just what worked for us. I think we did about 3 meals a day too. I started to do snacks around that age. Something simple like dry cherrios or toast....something they could feed themselves. I felt like my whole day was spent feeding them at this age, so the more they can feed themselves the better. My kids just started to get the sippy cup around 1. It took them awhile. Go ahead and give them one during their meal. It is good practice whether they actually drink anything or not. At this age eating is all about experimenting.
Remember there is no right or wrong way as long as they are being fed. Do what works for you and your family. Enjoy..the time goes fast.
If they want snacks then give them snacks, so long as they are still eating decently at mealtime. Babies can consume an amazing amount of food, and really need to since they are so active. I have really had to up my daughters eating. SHe was getting so hungry and cranky before mealtimes. I upped her snacks and she's doing better making it to mealtime. It's almost like 5 small meals a day. If you can get your kids to drink milk, by all means do it! The more bone growth they build the better. Bone growth is built from birth until about age 35 and then we start slowly depeleting our stores of calcium. At menoupause (for women) we start depleting our stores of calcium rapidly. As for sippy cups, just keep trying/keep offering. My son hated them and took a long time to get the hang of them and my daughter did it almost instantly. She kept trying to take everyone elses cups so I got the clue she was interested. Good luck!
I transitioned my daughter at 1 to sippie cups. It was easier for me because she wanted to be like her 3 yr old brother. With both of them I started out with the Nuby sippy cups (you can get them at Walmart for under $2 each). They work well and provide a similar suction to the platex bottles w/liners. They are sylicon but shaped differently. The first few days they would sometimes get frustrated with the sippy cup so I would pour it in a bottle. After about a week of using both they were off the bottle for good. At that point I added in the take and toss cups.
As for meal time. I've always given them their milk during the 3 meals (about 6 oz). They also got a milk in the afternoon with their snack. I have given morning and afternoon snacks too, it helps them get to the meal time. Its usually something small like some fruit, cheerios, goldfish, or graham crackers. Good luck.
My son is 13 months and drinks exclusively from a sippie cup now and just started with a nonspill straw cup but still breastfeeds also. Start them out with a beginners cup and transition to a more advanced one. I started putting water in them at first because he would suck to much at first and spit a lot of it out. Start giving your twins the sippie cups at meals with some water in them. I leave one at his level also so he can grab it and drink from it when he is playing.
He isn't too much in to cow's milk yet. I give it to him at breakfast and he will take a few sips. I microwave it for a few seconds to get the chill out of it and also add some ovaltine to it at times to get him used to milk. Doctor suggested that. He seems to drink a little more, but he prefers water and breastmilk.
If your babies want a snack instead of a bottle, give them a snack with a sippie cup of water! Dont stress they will get the hang of it!
When my children turned one, I switched them over to a sippie cup. Sometimes it helps to put water in the sippie cup first b/c they may need some transition time away from the bottle. I gave them a sippie cup of milk with their meal, just as you would do with an adult. I usually do also give them small snacks in between meals.
When my twins were one, my doctor encouraged us to switch to the sippy cup which we did (but it's not always easy to do!). One thing she said is that the girls should be drinking 16 - 20 oz of milk per day and not more than 24 oz. So you may want to ask your dr. how much milk he/she recommends and then adjust the amount accordingly in the bottle / cup.
I have a 19 mnth old and when she turned 1 I tryed the hole cup thing and my daughter could not figure out how to suck on it so i tryed not using the vents it helped allot cuz then she figured out how to use the cup and then i used the vent more so that the cup would not spill(when she was mobile) I would try giving them juice in the cup also switch it up instead of milk all the time my kid still dont like to drink milk out a cup. I also would try giving them snacks instead of a bottle and a cup with snack.My 19 mnth old still has her bottle only at night time but its hard cuz she crys for it. I hope you figure out a good schedule for them. good luck
