Bottle after solids, or before?

[Phoebebaz]

Hi all,

having looked at a lot of the routines for feeding on this site, it has struck me that there is a general consensus to feed bottle or breast first thing in the morning, like at around 7 for example, and then solids later at 8. I have twin nine-month- olds, boy and girl, and what I was advised by a health visitor (I'm in England) was to offer them solids first and then offer milk at the end of the meal. They're are naturally drinking less and less but I'm pretty sure they still get about 1 pint a day as they still have a night feed. So their schedule goes like this:

6:30-7 wake up (I don't acknowledge the day has really begun till 7)
7:30-8 breakfast of porridge, toast some of whatever I'm having and water. Then I offer them 4oz and he'll typically finish it but she'll have about 2oz.
9-9:30 nap (between 45 mins and 1.5 hrs, normally with a little help from me to get over the 45 min hump!)
12-12:30 lunch of solids: blended stuff and small pieces of food with water followed by the offer of 4oz milk. If they've eaten well they'll not have it all and if they're hungry they will.
1-1:30 nap, not going well at the moment and often only have 30 mins, so they're super tired in the afternoon.
4ish, snack of fruit and yogurt and maybe bread and cream cheese.
5-5:30 dinner of solids and water. No milk offered here as I've been told by health visitors that they should be dropping feeds around this time and this seems the one they were least interested in.
6:30 bath, massage, 7oz bottle, stories, and asleep by 7:30.
Anywhere between 1:30-5:15 wake. I feed them 4oz to get them to go back to sleep.

I'd love some feedback on this as I feel a bit lost and confused at the moment. I feel so wobbly without a clear routine, especially with twins. And things have to change every couple of months and I get so confused! And it's hard cos it feels like no one around me really gets how crucial it is for me to have a structure and thinks I should just chill out and be more flexible. I really wish I could be more relaxed but it just scares me. So any help, gratefully received.

Phoebe x

[mamatolevi]

I'm no expert, but as far as i've been told, the main source of nutrition until one year of age is from breastmilk or fomula. At this stage, food is just for fun. However, perhaps the health visitor suggested solids first for a reason? Hopefully someone more experienced than me will have an idea. Otherwise I'd get a second opinion, perhaps from your Dr? HTH

[twogirlsmommy]

My doctor recommended we do it that way but when we started we only had one meal, then we went to 2 and then finally 3 meals but we didn't do snacks our bottles were really our snacks.  So we had breakfast first thing then about an hour later a bottle, then lunch and an hour later a bottle, then nap, have a bottle, dinner, bottle then bed.  Most people recommend that you do bottles first as that should be the main source of nutrition and I agree but this schedule worked better for us then feed first because I wasn't breast feeding.

[~inbalance~]

Hi there.    It's true that up until a year liquids are their main source of nutrition and should be given before solids so that they are maintaining an appropriate amount of milk intake.  With that said, milk intake does start to decrease between 9-12mos as solids take on a larger role.  I also understand the need to do what works for you, especially when you are juggling not one, but two LOs!  So I would say that if solids before milk suits your routine better, and they are still drinking an adequate amount of liquids, then you can continue to do it this way.  From what you've posted it looks like they are just getting by with enough milk, but they are eating things like yogurt and cheese which is great.  They should be drinking 18-20oz a day.  If they're maintaining that then I think you're ok doing solids first.  I found that after 9mos you can start to be more flexible when it comes to milk and solids anyway.  Up until a year though try to maintain the appropriate amount of liquids, so if you notice any further decreases then I would rethink it a little bit to try to encourage more milk in favour of more solids, maybe at lunchtime in particular since you mentioned they won't drink their milk if they're not hungry after their solids.  HTH