Feeding and sleeping questions

benkari

We did the rice cereal for 4 days then the oatmeal for 4 days and today we are going to try peas.  So did you start with veggies and fruit straight or did you mix them with cereal and why?  Some of the kids I watch had them mixed and some straight so I am just trying to see what is best.

Up until recently we have had AWESOME sleepers!  The past 5 nights they all go down good but have been taking turns waking up from midnight on.  So we have been going on about 2 hours uninterrupted sleep each night and then a little here and there and it is wearing us down.  Any suggestions?

How many naps a day does/did your 6 month old take?  Ours take a half hour one at 8:30, an hour and a half one at 11:30 and then about an hour at 4. 

Do you always put the babies down at the same time at night or does one stay up later than the other?  Brady and Aubrey are so ready for bed by 7:30-8:00 so they are usually cranky and falling asleep during bedtime routine.  Matthew is ready for bed when we put him down at 8:30 but Cameron is usually wide awake and likes to talk to himself until at least 9.  As long as he is somewhat quiet we leave him in there but if he is loud I bring him in my room to fall asleep.  We have a good routine working where they all eat and nap at the same time so if we feed and put some of them down earlier will it mess up our whole day?

lisa&andy

We started with sweet potatos and alternated veggie for 3 days, fruit for 3 days until we had gone through Stage 1's and then moved on to Stage 2's. I mixed with oatmeal because they liked it thicker, you don't have to use the cereal, see which way they prefer; I noticed some things needed the cereal because it was so runny and others didn't.

As for sleep, have they decreased how much formula they are taking? How often/how much solids are they getting? When mine were 6 months, they got 1 solid meal a day just to get used to it, once they started wanting more solids I increased to 2/day. Their formula intake stayed the same and has only recently gone from 30oz to 28oz. Their systems may also be getting used to solids and will eventually get back to STTN.

At 6 months they were taking 3, 930-11, 1230-130, 330-430.

For us, they both tend to get really sleep at the same time so they go down pretty close to each other. On the day that DS (since it is typically him) wants to stay up later, he hangs out with us in the living room until he starts getting sleepy. Even if he stays up later and usually it is only an extra 30mins, he still gets up at the same time every morning with DD. You can always try staggering their bedtimes and see what happens the next day.

janjag

assuming your babes were born before mine (gest age).  when my 33 1/2wkers were 6mos we were transitioning from 3 naps to 2, and from 5 feedings to 4.  it is definitely a period of transition!  for us, vivienne was ready for 2 naps before audrey (who may occasionally need a 3rd nap still). 

as for solids, we were told to do stage 1 veg for a while before fruits.  we started with green beans, peas, avocado (a fruit actually but that's ok), and moved from green to yellow and orange.  in general we moved from less sweet to sweet, with the thought that they might not like things like beans if they were given yams first.  we started fruit around 7mos actual age.  my homemade applesauce gave them diahrea. 

with more than one baby it's difficult to get them on the same schedule for everything, and i don't know if you can expect them to have exactly the same bedtime at this point.... they might catch on soon though. 

 

we also had some nighttime sleep regression around this time.  i think they are just so excited about the world they are starting to become aware of more and more.  and yes, they always take turns... why can't they get it over with at the same time??  i am a believer in early bedtimes for my babies, so my only question is about maybe moving bedtime earlier... falling asleep during bedtime routine sounds like they are wanting one.  however, your cameron may not be ready.... he might surprise you though!  maybe he has a hard time getting to sleep b/c he's overtired too?  how i wish they would just tell me what is going on   we did ST around 5 - 5 1/2mos gest age.

even now we have strange wakings at 8pm, or 9:30, or 4am, but they just cry or moan or fuss for a few minutes and back to sleep. 

benkari

I delivered at 32w6d.  I think we will aim for 8 pm for all of them tonight and see how they do.  Thanks ladies!