water intake

The babes are definately tapering down their milk intake. Around 18-22 oz/day, plus three solid meals and then one snack.

I try and give them water after every meal but seeing as they don't get the sippy concepy AT ALL, the water is in a bottle that I STILL have to hold for them. They are getting somewhere between 6-9 oz/day.

I've tried bringing their bottle count down from four to three bottles but they can't seem to make it. I find they need that little bottle of about 90 ml mid-day to make it until bedtime.

Any advice re:

1) getting them to hold their own bottle?
2) do they need more liquid? They seem very well hydrated and pee lots.
3) when to transition from four to three bottles/day

Thanks

 

Sippies will come, just keep them available and keep encouraging them. You could try straw sippies. Some babies find them easier to figure out.

I didn't transition down to 3 feeds a day until just about a year when we introduced cow's milk. Becuase you're already at 3 meals + snack, I'd try just giving them a sippy of water that they can have whenever they want during one of their play periods rather than the 4th bottle. If they want it, great, if they don't, that's fine too. If they're hydrated and gaining weight, I think you're doing just fine! You can always feed them foods like watermelon that have a high water content to make sure they stay hydrated, but it sounds like things are going well.

As for holding bottles, we never had much problem with that, so maybe someone else has advice. I would just put their hands on either side of the bottle and even try and encourage them to hold it for a few seconds at a time. Go crazy with praise when they hold it up on their own even for a second.

 

1. No advice...my girls still need me to hold their bottles too, lol!

2. My doctor told me that they need 20oz of fluid/day (formula, water and water from food). My girls are barely getting it through formula (they get 14-16oz and for that I have to force them) and he didn't seem concerned and said that as long as they are peeing normally and gaining weight they're fine.

3. I have been doing 3 bottles a day since about 7.5 months. I do them before each of their 3 meals and then feed solids about 15-30 min after (so at 7am, 12pm and 5pm).

My girls are not big on water. I finally have them drinking a little since I started using the straw sippy cups. I have no idea how much they are actually getting. I basically let them have access to them all day and they will sip them here and there (it's more of a game then for the water at this point). I am finding lately that they will take a couple of oz when they wake up from their naps so I make sure the sippy cups are within reach then.

 

Thanks! Which straw sippies are you using? I feel as though I am wasting so much money buying a million "things" for the twins that don't work!! grrrr..

 

We've had good luck with the playtex ones.

 

Hahah same here. I have bought many kinds of sippy cups, cups, nothing has worked.I realized that if they really want it, then they can drink it well. If they don't, then everything runs out not in. My boy can drink fron a open cup but not much.

 

Pretty sure mine are Nuby...I've been using them for the last 2 years (started when my son was about a year) and really like them so I keep replacing them with the same ones (part of the straw keeps going down the drain on me...you'd think I'd have learnt by now to keep the plug in the sink after I do dishes just in case I missed one!).

 

I never found them to take water at meals. I filled water sippies and had them in the playroom, car, in their room etc. This way they were encouraged to drink whenever they felt thirsty. At first they just played with them, which I was ok with because its just water. As soon as we switched off bottles I started giving them milk with meals and snacks (they take 12-20 oz a day) and water any other time. They also still nurse twice a day.