Looking for a guide on how to bottle feed your newborn twin babies at the same time? You’ve come to the right place!
There’s a lot to wrap your head around when you find out you’re pregnant with twins. Two newborns… at once? How do you do anything with one parent and two babies?! Okay, deep breaths!
I recently asked on Instagram what I could help twin moms-to-be understand better and one of the most common questions was how to feed newborn twins at the same time. Now although I exclusively bottle fed (with both breastmilk and formula from the beginning), I imagine this method working all the same if you were to nurse your twins. You want to know the secret?
You rotate! There are probably a dozen different ways you could maneuver bottle feeding both twins at the same time with lots of different contraptions you could buy, but I can promise you that your twins will learn how to take turns very, very quickly with this method. If your twins are on a good newborn feeding and sleeping schedule, they’ll have no problem rotating sips of their bottles.
Here’s what worked for us:
Start by preparing the bottles.
Whether you’re mixing formula or bringing your stored breastmilk to room temperature, prepare your bottles while the babies are sleeping. You can keep formula and breastmilk fresh for two hours at room temperature, so preparing the milk ahead of time will ensure you feel calm and ready BEFORE your babies tell you they’re ready to eat 🙂 trust me, there is nothing more stressful than trying to prep your babies’ bottles while they are screaming. Not fun!
Next, wake the first baby.
If one baby is already stirring, start with them.
If both babies are in a deep sleep, choose your fussier/less patient eater to start with while the other sleeps for 5-10 minutes longer.
If both babies are equally good eaters, just rotate which baby to wake first for each bottle.
Now in the rare case both of your babies are awake and ready to eat together, you are going to have to let one wait just a little longer while you start with the other. I promise you, they are OKAY! Give them a pacifier along with something to entertain them, like a black and white graphic card, to look at while you begin feeding the other.
Feed the first baby 1 oz.
Hold your baby and feed them 1 ounce of milk. Burp them, then set them down somewhere comfortable (like in a newborn nestling pillow, a Doc-a-Tot or when they’re more than a month or so, a bouncer chair).
I’ve read several different points of view on how much to feed your baby before you burp them, but for us we found success burping every ounce while they were between 0-3 months. After that, we would burp every two ounces. The more frequent burping helped to prevent spit up, helped the twins to have more solid naps in between feedings, and helped with their steady weight gain!
Wake or pick up second baby
Once the first baby has had 1 ounce, has been burped and is set somewhere safe and comfortable, wake or pick up the second baby. You’ll repeat the same method: feed one ounce, and burp. Set them down safely, pick up first baby, and repeat! You’ll rotate the babies every ounce until you are through with both bottles.
If you have a second set of hands…
It is always nice when you have someone available to help you feed the twins. If your partner or another trusted person is able to assist you with feeding, make sure they take their time! You do not want your twins getting used to flying through a bottle. Have them feed at the same cadence as if you were solo, distracting them in between ounces and burps.
I hope this guide helps ease any stress you might have had about how to bottle feed your newborn twins! Let me know in the comments if you have any additional questions I can help with.
Thank you for being an amazing reader of The Savvy Spoon! If you loved this post, I would so appreciate you rating it below and/or leaving a comment! Be sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook for more recipes, twin mom and healthy lifestyle content!