Twinfo
Moving onto solids is always a fun and exciting time. You get to start playing around with different flavours and textures with your twins or triplets and they get to make a huge mess with food everywhere.
The decision to start solids is based partly on the parents’ choice, the child’s age and the milestones that the child has hit. It is recommended to start solids anywhere between the 4 and 6 month age group, however, the child should also be showing signs of wanting the food and be able to sit, holding their head up properly before starting solids.
When starting solids with your multiples, you need to ensure that when you are considering their age that you are going off their adjusted age to ensure that their little bodies are ready for the solid food. They may need a little bit of extra time before moving on to the solids.
Your twins or triplets may not be ready at the same time either, so if you need to start one earlier than the others don’t stress – they will show you when they are ready.
How do I know they are ready for solids?
There are a few signs that you can look out for to help to see that your babies are ready to start trying solids. The first sign is that they are able to sit with support and hold their heads steady whilst sitting up. This is very important to ensure that the food is able to pass down their mouths and throats without choking.
The next sign that may show that they are ready is that they are showing interest in your food and making a reach for it when they can. This shows that the food interests them and that they want to know more about it. Along with this, if they start opening their mouths when they see food close by and want to put it in also shows that they may be ready.
Once you try their first bit of solids watch how they eat it and make sure that they are able to take the food into their mouths and swallow it and not just push it straight out with their tongues.
Should I feed them at the same time?
How would you feel if you saw someone close to you getting to eat and you had to just sit back and watch? Imagine that as a little baby! To avoid tantrums, if both your babies are ready for solids it is best to try and feed them both at the same time. This will help them to stay calm and not get frustrated and agitated waiting for their turn.
Having your babies set up in high chairs next to each other or bouncy chairs next to each other will make mealtime a lot easier for you as you can sit in between the two and take it in turns with feeding them. Just make sure you do not leave the bowl of food within their reach as that can cause everyone to need a bath!
Remember there will be a mess!
Eating is a sensory experience for babies so there will be a lot of mess. They are learning about new flavours and textures, some they will love and others they will dislike. There may be spitting out of food, hitting of the spoon and bowl flipping when they get a chance.
Where possible try to have your babies in either just a nappy and singlet or just a nappy during feeding time. This will help to make the cleanup process a lot easier on you.
Feeding twins or triplets is going to be a lot of fun. Just remember that all babies develop at different stages and even if one of your babies is ready it doesn’t mean the other one will be as well.
Watch their cues and they will tell you when they are ready. If you have one that starts before the others it may help them to develop as well once they see their sibling enjoying all the fun.
Make sure you take lots of photos and pack away the nice clothes during feeding time as well!
