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