Moving to Solids

I just went thru this for the second time with my now 7 month old. What I did was start with rice cereal mixed with a little apple juice and warm water. I fed that once a day for one week, then twice a day for 3 days, then up to 3 times a day. After that was goin well, I started green beans plus a little rice cereal for lunch for 3 days, then added sweet peas plus cereal for dinner time. Now we do oatmeal for breakfast (in a jar by Gerber) and a veggie plus a fruit for lunch, then a meat (like the jarred chicken and rice or noodles) plus a veggie for dinner. You just want to introduce one new item every few days, so that if there's an allergic reaction you'll know what caused it. So that means he eats two 4oz jars of food per meal and a lot of times after dinner he'll eat about 2oz of formula from bottle too.
I hope this is what you're asking, cause if you're asking about actual solid foods and you're past the baby food stage, this big long responce is gonna be annoying!
PS- my doc is a little on the holistic side, and she had us start with green veggies (green beans, sweet peas) then start other veggies, and make sure we had him eating all the veggies there are before we started fruits. they say babies can develop a sweet tooth and get to where they expect all foods to be sweet or they wont eat them. We did this system with our now 2 year old and everyone compliments us now on what a non-picky eater he is. He would rather have carrots than a sucker.
ONE MORE THING- my sister in law has a preemie and she says there was no difference in her diet except that she eats smaller amounts and more often. But your baby will stop eating when he's full. My theory has always been to feed them until they want no more.

Premie twin mom here! Mine were 28weekers and are now 15 mo.

I worked a new meal into their schedule over the course of a few weeks. FOr several weeks we just did once a day, then we did twice a day for a couple weeks, then three, then four. They wanted their bottle first, then solids. Eventually they started taking a little bottle, a few bites, a little bottle, a few bites, and so on. Now, sometimes they'll drink a ton of milk first thing in the morning before starting their breakfast. It will come, you just have to be creative and patient. I have two really good eaters. There isn't much they don't like/won't eat.

Hi C.,
My name is Debra and I also have twins. When the Pedi gave me the okay to start my boys on solids, I looked up Gerbers website and found that they have sample menus that are really great to use as a guideline on how much and what to feed your little ones.
Good luck!
Debra
Mom to Kennedy, Chase and Max

My preemie (30 weeker) was/still is a slow grower. His GI doctor, nutritionist, and OT had us working baby food meals in between his bottles. The schedule was 8am bottle, 11am 1 oz of baby food, 1pm bottle, 3pm(or when he woke up from his nap) 1 oz of baby food, 5pm bottle. We did that for a long time, always spaced 2 hours apart from each other. Eventually, we were allowed to move the baby food spacing closer to the bottle times so we weren't having to feed him around the clock anymore. And we increased the amount of food he was getting at time.
I made my own baby food and froze it in containers from One Step Ahead. It made it very easy since each container holds 1 oz.
Have fun feeding your preemies!

I am a preemie mom also. My daughter was a 32 weeker. From what I remember I started aiming for one jar per meal...breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Then 2-3 6-8 oz. bottles. After she mastered that I slowly started cutting back the amount in bottles and adding in solids. Then my pediatrician gave me the final ok at 12 months actual to go with all solids! Since then my daughter has really started gaining weight like crazy! finally! :) Feel free to ask me any more questions. I'm happy to let you know what my experiences are. Being the parent of preemies is hard!

C.-
Congrats on your twin blessings!!! I also have twin boys who were premature. They are now 5 months old and we have started solids as well. Here is what my pedi advised us for our situation.

Start of course with the cereals. He suggested mixing the cereal with juice like apple, white grape or pear. The reason for this instead of water or formula/breastmilk is because the juice allows the body to absorb more iron from the cereal. Our boys need this as the most important thing for them now. I have to say I did not do this with my other sons. I introduced juice after they were a year old for them. I understand the pedi's advice in this case and have always added the juice for them. I do this at night. Once they got good at this I introduced green vegetables and then orange vegetables along with the cereal. Be warned that if the boys eat too much orange foods their skin will actually turn orange. Do like they say and introduce new foods slowly so you can see if there are any allergies.

When they have tried all the vegetables, I introduced them to fruits by feeding them cereal and fruit in the morning thus adding another feeding. Go from there.

I always gave food first and then the bottle. That way they would have their strong appetite for motivation while trying something new. Then when they showed they were not hungry for anymore I would give them their bottle to finish them off. If they ate very little then they would take alot of their bottle. I also always had my boys be the gage of how much they wanted to eat. I never have stifled their inner hanger triggers or forced them to eat more than they wanted. They have grown beautifully and are doing well.

Good luck. I know what you are going through. If you ever need to chat, write me anytime.

Again, Congrats!!!

Sounds like you are doing great with twins. Well I didn't get how old they are but if they are under 1 do not stop the bottle that is their main source of nutrition and as you said food is just a way to learn to eat and there is hardly any nutrition in baby food. So you would give the bottle first and then give the food. If they are over one then you should start weening them off the bottle and give them food at each meal. Instead of the bottle you would just give a sippy cup of milk. Just start weening one bottle at a time whichever is easiest to get rid of. Good luck.

you don't say how old the boys are now and if you are still doing some age adjstments. Have the gained some motor skills and lost the tongue thrust yet? Boys tend to gain gross motor skills faster than girls. Dont forget they still need a lot of protein, so they will still need up to 36 oz of milk per day depending on weight. Please feel free to email me with the information and I will be happy to help you with a solid feeding program to get you going.
K. @ The Nestingplace
lactation and pediatric consultations

At this point, don't worry about a food schedule since this is simply a time of introducing foods. But work up to giving solids three times a day (4 oz. jar or amount at each feeding). Just use a time that works best for you and your little guys. Also, you should give the bottle first, then do the food, and finish with the remainder of the bottle since at this point, solids are more for practice and less for nutrition. This will help also in case they are already hungry and can get frustrated by the solids and how much more difficult they are to consume. I wouldn't cut back much on milk at this point though unless they seem less interested in drinking a bottle.

I know that babies get most of their nutrition from breastmilk or formula until age 1. I know my boys would have their solids when we ate our meals and I believe they would nurse afterwards but I can't remember.

You did not say how old they are, but if you were breastfeeding, solids are never necessary for the first 11-12 months! Mother's milk is all they need even if they were premature. Their digestive track is not mature enough for solids until about one year and will cause all kinds of problems, allergies, gas, constapation, etc. Hang in there, this is temporary and why we have babies-to nurture, spend time with and love on a lot.
V. B.