Feeding At the ZOO

Feeding 3 has always been a challenge!  Do you feed all 3 at the same time and try to balance bottles and burps?  Do you stagger feeding and spend most of your day on meals?  Where do you feed them?  How do you ensure everyone eats enough?  Where do you find time to make organic foods?  How do you get them to take their vitamins?    

I'll be the first to admit I dread "meal time."  It's stressful, time consuming and constantly involves fussiness (waiting isn't one of our best attributes).  When the babies were teeny tiny everyone said this was "the hardest time."  Maybe my memory has faded but I think things were MUCH easier from birth-5 months.  Their routine was fabulous and predictable, everyone slept great, eating was a breeze.  Now, with teething and more mobility, things are more challenging.  Don't misread this and think I'm complaining - I love their new abilities! They're more social, more engaged, laugh and talk - I wouldn't trade our current stage for the previous.  That being said I have had to make many adjustments to our routine to maintain a calm, peaceful and developmentally appropriate environment.  

The first adjustment was adding transitional activities.  We used to go from one thing to another, quickly.  Now, if I want a constant flow I need to have toys, music and silly faces to keep them occupied while they wait for their turn.  

Another change is location.  Since adding solids we have had to relocate our feeding area.  Luckily we have a fabulous table (aka baby prison) that makes spoon feeding easy.  We still use the Boppy pillows for bottle propping - this allows all 3 to eat at the same time.  Now that they are interested in holding their own bottles this has become more challenging but for now it is still a successful arrangement.  

To ensure everyone eats their portion and vitamin I use plates with 3 dividers.  We all eat together, one spoonful at a time.  I add the vitamins right to their food - tricky, I know!  

Right now, at 7 months, we are eating solids 3x/day.  We're eating ~30oz. of formula in addition to the solids which equals ~650-700calories/day - right on track for their "real age."  The trio likes bananas, banana baby yogurt, avocado, green beans and squash.  Occasionally they eat rice cereal mixed with their solids but for the most part eat just the fruit/veggie since they already have rice in their bottles.  Thanks to my Baby Bullet these foods are easier to make than a grilled cheese!!!  

Fingers crossed that in the months to come they start holding their own bottles and meal time will be less stressful!!!