Starting a Bottle Feeding Routine for Twins

Last updated on November 2nd, 2023 at 01:45 pm

Hey gang, listen up! We’ve got a great article for all you new parents starting a bottle feeding routine for twins, PLUS one family will take home FOUR 5-pack sets of Dr. Brown’s Options bottles (a total of twelve 8oz and eight 4oz bottles!)

THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED

We LOVE these bottles! They offer the same benefits as the standard Dr. Brown’s bottles (reduce feeding problems, help digestion and help preserve vitamins) but you have the option to remove the vent, which is super convenient as your babies’ feeding becomes more developed.

We’ll also throw in one standard dishwasher basket, one flexible dishwasher basket, one deluxe bottle brush, and one of each of their new Baby Bath and Skin Care line (they smell INCREDIBLE!) — baby wash, nutritive baby balm, baby lotion, and daily diaper cream.

Starting a Bottle Feeding Routine for Twins

Whether you are using formula or pumped breast milk, settling into a bottle feeding routine that works for both you and your babies can be a trial. In the beginning, you oftentimes find yourself bogged down by too many contraptions or time consuming activities that you had been under the impression were supposed to save time. Learning ways to streamline the whole process beforehand will help make feedings a success from the start.

Prepare for Success

At the beginning of each day, set up all of your bottles on the counter, fill them with the correct amount of water, and cap off. Then right before each feeding drop the formula scoops you need straight into the bottle and shake. Preparing your bottles with water ahead of time will save you so much time, and you only have to think about it once! When you’re a new parent of twins you’d be amazed at what you can forget. This will save you a lot of stress and confusion.

Feeding Journals

It is really important to keep a journal that first month home from the hospital, tracking how many ounces they are eating, how often, and how long it takes them to eat it. This is a very helpful tool for your pediatrician to explain weight gain and sleep abnormalities. You may also find that one of your babies is always hungry after the feeding and that they need more than their twin sibling. Keeping track of those habits will go a long way towards understanding the growth patterns and needs of your babies.

Twiniversity Tip: You can download the Twiniversity daily log as a member.

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Feeding Times

I feel like one of the only easy things about being a parent of newborns is that you have already been told how often and how much to feed them. We know when that 3 hour mark hits that we need to feed them right away. As they put on weight and a few weeks go by, things get a little murky. This is where keeping a journal of feeding times can really come in handy. After a few days you will see a pattern regarding when they start to get hungry and you can adjust your schedule and feedings to accommodate it.

Heating Up The Bottle or Not

My oldest son always got formula bottles made with filtered water and heated in a bottle warmer. This led to disaster when we traveled. Either bottled water wasn’t available, or it was and we had no electronic bottle warmers. When we had to use tap water it led to a series of spit-up explosions every time because he wasn’t used to the additives in tap water, or he wouldn’t drink the bottled water concoction because we couldn’t get it warm enough. With our twins we decided to only use tap water and to always have it at room temperature. This made travel, as well as just day-to-day moving about town, so much easier.

Your Dishwasher Is Your Best Friend

Before having twins I maybe ran my dishwasher every other day. When I had twins it became apparent that I would need to run it once if not twice a day. Handwashing 10 plus bottles and sterilizing them in batches is very time consuming. As a new parent of multiples you really need that time for important extras like the occasional shower, eating, or (heaven forbid) sleeping. I ran a load every night before I went to bed (and another after breakfast) and assembled all the clean bottles the next morning to be ready for use. Take my advice and skip the handwashing and throw all your bottle parts in the dishwasher. A great bottle brand like Dr. Brown’s makes ingenious enclosed dishwasher baskets that separate all the bottle parts and make sure that they not only get clean, but that they don’t end up melted and misshapen at the bottom of your dishwasher because they got too close to the heating implement. I tried to go without them for a few weeks and it really did not go well, so take my advice and add them to your Amazon Prime cart ASAP or run (don’t walk) to your nearest brick and mortar retailer.

Streamlining your feedings, as well as capitalizing on the time that you spend doing them, will make your life so much easier. They will allow you time to connect with your babies as well as find more time for yourself. Following these few simple steps will help you settle into a relaxed yet efficient routine.

Destiny Effertz began following Twiniversity’s Facebook page in 2013. She quickly fell in love with how the page created a feeling of community while at the same time providing support to thousands of parents and soon to be parents of multiples. She began writing for the website in the spring of 2014 carrying on the tradition of providing advice and support to parents. She is a mother of 3 boys; twin 3 year olds and a 5 year old. She worked for many years as a civil litigation paralegal prior to having children. Now she spends her days formulating new pie recipes, throwing epic kid parties, planning family vacations, and planning and executing pirate adventures and trips to far away planets with her boys.