Introducing Baby Triplets to Solids

This post is brought to you by Heinz Infant.

Starting babies on solids can be a big decision. I found when I was starting solids with the triplets, I needed advance planning and be mentally ready to begin. Factors that can influence your decision when to introduce solids include:

• Appears hungry after milk feeds.
• Watches closely and appears to want to eat your food.
• Can open mouth for a spoon.
• Is old enough to sit up with an unsupported neck.

Every child is different, so there isn’t a necessarily right or wrong time to start solids. Generally solids are started in between 4-6 months old.

Heinz has produced this helpful info-graphic detailing some hints on introducing babies to solids.

My triplets didn’t completely start eating solids until they were 6 months. We had tried to feed them solids at 4 and 5 months and they weren’t interested.  To be truthful, this kind of suited me. I knew it would be more work once solids started, (and it was), so the lazy mum in me was happy let them gum Heinz teething rusks until they were a soggy mess and prolong the inevitable.

Their first meals were Farex rice cereal. All my five babies started on Farex baby rice cereal and loved it. For the first couple of months Farex was always their breakfast. My babies liked the various Farex flavours and I would also mix some pureed fruit, vegies or juice in it to introduce different flavours.

Feeding baby triplets solids is a lot of work. I liked to give them home made food as much as possible. It would take so much time to steam the food and puree it!  A box of vegetables would be gone within a few days! There’s something very fulfilling blitzing freshly cooked vegetables and fruits to make nutritious food for your baby. It can be exhausting as well. Sometimes you just have to give yourself a break, so for the hard days I always had a supply of Heinz baby food jars in my cupboard. It wasn’t quite as economical as making my own food, but I knew that it was still good value and nutritious for my babies. I also liked that Heinz sources Australian products where possible and manufactures the food in rural Victoria. Mostly I like that Heinz Infant food is natural with all the good stuff. The food is steamed and heat sealed so it doesn’t need the nasty additives and preservatives.

I tended to also use commercial food instead of homemade food when we were out. Personally I felt that the jars or pouches of baby food were easy to carry and store. My babies didn’t mind eating straight from the jar also and so I didn’t need to even heat it up when we were out and once they were finished I didn’t need to cart around dirty dishes. I tried not to take it personally when the triplets used to bounce up and down in excitement when they saw the Heinz jars. They got far more excited compared to when they saw their ‘ordinary’ home made food!

Tips for multiple birth mothers when introducing solids to your baby.

• Wait for a time which is convenient for you to begin so you don’t feel pressured to introduce a new routine
• Take cues whether to feed babies separately or together. (When mine were little we often fed separately because they were too impatient to wait patiently for the next spoonful!)
• Use only one spoon and bowl when feeding the babies together. (It makes feeding quicker and easier. Let’s face it, they already have one another’s germs!
• Give the babies rusks or finger foods on their highchair so they can nibble between mouthfuls. (When you are feeding their sibling.)
• Have a face washer ready to make clean up easy at the end. (Or a warm bath ready after dinner!)
• Use store bought food if you need a break or need to create extra time to spend some quality time with your family.
• Be prepared to get messy! (Them and you!) Wipe down splatter after meals. There may have been a few occasions where I had puree vegetables stuck to the walls!

Here is a video of me feeding 10 month old triplets. They all have qukes (mini cucumbers) from Grandad’s farm to keep them occupied in between mouthfuls. Not that it distracted Toby who was obviously very hungry. Obviously if you make more noise, you will also get more food when you are a triplet!

You might like to also check out an earlier detailed post I wrote about feeding triplets solids

What do you like to feed your baby when introducing solids?

Linking to Essentially Jess.