weaning prem twins - and 1 toddler in tow

[Regine]

Hi all, i need help and encouragment!!! i have 24 week old twin girls and a 2 and a half daughter, my twins were born 9 weeks early but i feel they might be ready to be weaned, they are now waking up in the night again. Does it matter that their corrected age is on 15 weeks? Did you start weaning them both at once or started with one first to make it easier? how do you entertain your toddler whilts all of this is going on, i'm struggling, she is getting bored and want my attention quite a lot. looking forward to your thoughts and ides

[anjlix]

I started at 26 weeks even though mine were 6 weeks early. They say they are ready when the tongue thrust reflex is gone, they can hold their heads and sit well with support. I found that with my prems they didn't really get the concept of eating until nearly 7-8 months. At 10 months they are still behind other term babies in their eating abilities.

I started weaning both together as I had feeding time help. May be ask your toddler to help feed them Such as dip a spoon in baby rice and feed them. Not sure if this is reasonable cuz I dont have any other kids. What worked best for night time waking for me was 1-3 tsp of baby rice mixed with some fruit puree 1/2 hr before bed time after the 1 hr after the last milk feed. I didn't bother with keeping spoons and bowl separate to make it easy on me.

[SingleMum01]

My Ds was 6 1/2 weeks early, I weaned him at 16 weeks 'cos he just wasn't getting enough through milk. He was fine with it. Wasn't behind other full term babies in anything! Go for it if you think its fine, trust your mother's instinct.

[accessorizequeen]

Regine, I have same age gap with my dt's and older son (I have a 5yo as well). It was actually quite good weaning them as it meant they were at the dinner table with us all and I didn't have to try and calm them down whilst dealing with 2yo as well! I did BLW, which was great because they could have what toddler was having largely. Get her involved in the whole thing, she'll feel really important and be much more co-operative.

I wouldn't do BLW with their corrected age at 15 weeks though, I would wait. TBH, just because they're waking in the night doesn't meant they're ready for weaning though, they probably just need more milk! Milk will fill them up more than a few spoonfuls of veg or baby rice will, it's more calorific.

I did both of mine together, probably waited until both were ready if I remember, I figured the other would get jealous and what would I do with the other baby whilst I was feeding?