Feeding schedule

My girls are about 7 months (5 or so months corrected) and I am trying to figure out a feeding schedule.  We have them on oatmeal and are introducing vegetables but I can't figure out how to get it all in!  Right now, we're feeding them about every 3.5 hours with oatmeal in the mornings and night then veggies 3x during the day but I feel like trying to do all 3 at one feed (even mixing veggie/oatmeal together so it's just 2 things) is a lot and the girls aren't getting full.  What does everyone else do?  I have several friends that seem to feed about every 2 hours alternating milk then solid but that seems like A LOT of work and nearly impossible with twins and working.  I'm very open to suggestions because I do not feel like I'm doing a good job with it at all right now!!

 

Hi,
 
My kids are 3 and a half so it's been a while - but I remember I didn't stress too much with their solids at 7 months. I didn't even start solids until 6 months, and even then I would do one morning feed during weekends just to take some messy pictures and then leave it like that for another week. I think around 8 months we started to give them oatmeal  in the morning every day- after their morning bottle. Then 2 weeks later we added avocados - then 2 weeks later we added banana, then sweet potatoes, then something else - but it was really relaxed, we were only doing one solid meal at a time. At that point they were still on the same quantity of formula - so the solids were just so they can practice texture and get used to the feeling of eating - half of it ended up on the floor or on their face/bibs/highchairs anyway. We did a lot of fruit or steamed veggies and we introduced one thing at a time for a few days in a row, then moved on to something else. Up until they turned one, we only did one solid meal a day - in the morning or in the evening. I was working full time, I didn't have time or energy for more, plus my kids were very big for their age.
 
Especially since your kids were preemies, I would rather concentrate on them gettign the right amount of formula/breast milk - I think up until they turn 1 that should be their main nutrient source - solid food is more for practice - and to make your life more difficult - JKJK - they need the practice. 
 
People that have singletons and especially their first kid is a singleton have more time and energy to experiment with solids early on - so let them have the joy - I never felt like I had to compete with my friends who had singletons. That's the reason my kids never had a massage with lotion as babies - I never bothered with it - and guess what? Their skin is just as soft as the kids that got massages with lotions as babies .
 
Do what you feel is right, and what you can, remember they will learn how to eat in the end, no matter how early or late you introduce solids. Have fun with solids!

 

Thanks for that advice.  I need it!  I had one of those "am I doing this parenting stuff right" days yesterday.  You are so right that I just need to have fun with it and concentrate on helping them grow!  They are actually doing well learning to eat the solid foods and seem to be enjoying carrots and squash so far.  I have been good at not comparing our situations to singleton moms but for some reason, this feeding schedule got to me. 

 

I agree - food before 1 is just for fun! All of their nutrition is still coming from breastmilk/formula. I didn't start solids at all till my girls were 7.5 months old. Then we also only did 1 meal/day (ish). We weren't up to 3 meals a day (consistently) until closer to a year either. Some babies refuse solids and do just fine on breastmilk only until 12 months. There's a pretty wide variety of normal here. With our singleton, we skipped purées entirely and just gave him table foods right off the bat - usually just chunks of whatever we happened to be eating at the time. It's called Baby Led Weaning and is a super lazy way to introduce food to older babies. I highly recommend it. Because I'm lazy. :good:

 

We also only offered solids for one meal (veggie purees for lunch with nursing afterwards) for quite a while, starting around 6 months. When I went back to work at 9 months we added an afternoon snack of solids (oatmeal and fruit puree). We did this because I was still mainly breastfeeding and it allowed me drop one pumping session at work. One the days when I was available/at home both of mine preferred nursing and only snacked on solids.
 
That changed once we moved to a baby led weaning approach and they began "stealing" food off our plates at breakfast and dinner (we monitored for suitability of course) and discovered the joy of using a spoon for themselves around their first birthday.
 
So I agree with PPs: Offer solids once or twice a day for fun and experience but let their nutrition come from breastmilk or formula.

 

Love Baby Led Weaning!!

 

Too much solids! We just started my singleton at 6 months, and we try to fit in one solids meal a day--to practice and watch for allergic reactions. In the next few weeks, we will up it to 2. Otherwise, it's bottles. She does 4 a day roughly 4 hours apart, and solids slot into a midpoint between two bottles.