At what age will I be able to bottle feed both babies at once?

My boys are 4 weeks old and are bottle fed. At what age should I be able to feed them both at the same time in their bouncy seats? Right now I feed one and then the other and that's all we do all day long. Also, how do you handle burping them when both need to be burped at the same time?

Thanks!
Amy

 

My boys are 4 weeks old and are bottle fed. At what age should I be able to feed them both at the same time in their bouncy seats? Right now I feed one and then the other and that's all we do all day long. Also, how do you handle burping them when both need to be burped at the same time?

Thanks!
Amy

 

I bottle fed at the same time right from the start at a week old when I had to! Sometimes they are just hungry at the same time and if you are home alone there is no choice. What I did was sit on the floor with my back to the couch for support, lay one boppy on either side of me and lay one baby in each boppy. I would feed them bottles simultaneously this way. I stopped feeding halfway through and burped each one, then resumed and repeated at the end. This is still the way I feed them at the same time today (although we now only have one burping at the end) - it's very comfortable for all of us. I was never comfortable putting the boppies on the couch because I was afraid of them rolling off or falling off. So I've always done it on the floor to be safe. Good luck!

 

I was not successful feeding both of mine at the same time using the bouncy seat. Until a month or so ago I fed them separately just to give them individual attention. Now I feed them at the same time. I will put DS in the boppy on the couch beside me and prop his bottle with a towel (He's my better eater). I will hold DD. When DS finishes or DD wants to stop, I will put DD beside me with a toy. I will then finish giving DS his bottle and burp him and then put him somewhere to play. Then I pick up DD and get her to finish as much of her bottle as possible and then burp her. Hope that helps! Good luck to you. It may take a while to figure our what will work for you!

 

You can feed them together right now. A common way to feed at that age is to get 2 boppies and place them on each side of you on the couch. Place the opening (U shape) towards the back of the couch. Sit in the middle and you now have each baby on each side of you.

When they had to burp, i usually stopped feeding them and took a few minutes to burp each and then went back to feeding. Sometimes i would put a blanket or pillow under the babys bottle who was not getting burped.

Now that they are bigger, it is easier to feed them in their bouncys. i have my back against the couch and my arms can rest on their chair since they are bigger.

 

My girls always dripped a lot milk during feedings so we couldn't feed them together at first. You really needed to concentrate to keep them clean and make sure they got enough. After about 1 months old, they got better at feeding and I could feed them both at once. I hated doing it though because it was really uncomfortable, especially 8 times a day every day. I ended up getting bottle proppers so I could hold one baby during feeding and lay the other next to me. I burped whoever finished first and then I burped the other. If they finished at the same time, I'd often turn the one laying next to me over on her tummy and then pat her back to burp her while I laid the 2nd baby over my legs to pat her back. At 2.5 months old, we discovered the Podee bottle and that allowed me to hold both babies at every feeding.

 

I fed them both at the same time from the beginning. I sat on the couch and had one in the Boppy and one in my arms. The next feeding I switched so they both had cuddle time.

Cari

 

I always fed mine at the same time. IN the beginning, I laid them on the floor in their boppy pillows side by side...then, maybe at about 2 months of age, I fed them in their bouncy chairs side by side....

Now, they hold their own bottles, so I lay them in their boppy pillows on the floor and hand them their bottles...

 

I fed them together from the start too. I used to hold one and put the other in the crack of the sofa!! Then on the next feed swap them over so they were both getting a cuddle. x

 

I usually feed them together too, but sometimes when I don't have to go somewhere, I'll have them do their own thing in terms of sleep. My dd will use the Podee and then I'll feed ds, because he has rice cereal in his bottle so Podee doesn't work.

 

I started feeding them at the same time as soon as we came home, I would put them in their bouncers and prop the bottle up with a blanket. It worked great!!

 

I never fed mine at the same time until one started holding his own bottle. One did eat faster than the other, and burped less often, so he would eat first--if they cried at the same time. Which in the 11 1/2 months that we fed bottles, was probably less then 5 times. One would eat, and the other right after--it took about 20 min per baby, and we fed from the beginning on a 4 hour schedule.

 

thanks so much for the great tips! i'm going to try the boppy trick today.

 

I never used a bobby, don't know why, but I did use their car seats, especially in the middle of the night. The boys were preemies, and they preffered sleeping in their car seats all snug than in an open crib. Anyway, I would place them each in their car seat, sit in front of it on the floor, and feed them both. When I wanted to snuggle with them at the same time, I would have one propped up against my side and the other up on my legs and feed them that way..

We did buy bottle proppers, which were a lifesaver, shhhhh don't tell my pediatrician!

 

Can you recommend a good bottle propper product for small babies? Thanks!

 

I feed them together - breast mostly but bottle too -
I don't have much help - boys are in school dh at work -
I lay them on a pillow (so that their heads are elavated) right beside me on the couch and bottlefeed - to me it is much easier than
breastfeeding at the same time - which I have just now gotten the hang of by myself!!

I just try to be quick at burping

I would not prop bottles at my girls young age or at least not if I wasn't paying 100% attention - I have a friend who's daughter
was 8 weeks old - she propped a bottle - went to the bathroom and her baby vomited and aspirated the vomit because the bottle was in her mouth and didn't come out when she vomited
- poor child ended up in the
hospital very sick. I did prop bottles with my boys - but since
that happened to Allison- I am afraid.

 

I would not recommend propping bottles at that age. There are too many risks and there are safer alternatives such as the boppy trick!

 

I use Milk Maid bottle proppers. When I use them (and have since they were about the same age as yours) I am always in the same room with them. I use them if I need to do something else while they eat- like make dinner for the rest of the family or get ready for work. Sometimes I will hold and feed one while the other gets propped- if I do this I will switch out next time so they each have turn. I usually have them in the bouncy or car seat when I prop.

 

quote:
Originally posted by boogerkw:
I started feeding them at the same time as soon as we came home, I would put them in their bouncers

This is what I do for the most part as well.