Breast or bottle?

It could be said that the argument on this topic is different for multiples than singletons. Personally, I feel the choice is up to the individual, don't feel pressured if you aren't comfortable with it.  If it's a case of logistics, speak to your health visitor/midwife/lactation specialist and see what they suggest.

Breast

Your breasts will produce enough milk for however many babies you have - that's the way your body works. It's whether or not you want to have bulging breasts 24/7!!  Certainly, with twins you can feed them at the same time - this however will take a lot of practice. You are best investing in a "V" shaped support pillow. Place this round your front. The babies are then put to the breast - there are several different ways of doing this but I found it best having the twins away from me (feet at my sides) I needed my partner with me to perform this technique. I therefore took time and fed them individually giving closeness that I didn't get whilst feeding both.

For mothers of higher order multiples - good luck! It can be done. It just depends how you want to approach it. You could feed two at once, and then the third but make sure that you change breasts half way through with your third baby as to maintain a balanced milk flow. You may even want to take it in turns so that every feed one of your babies is getting formula milk or even expressed breast milk (gives dad a chance to help out with the feeding!)

Bottle

With breast milk, you are always concerned as to whether they are getting enough, both in quantity and in sustenance. With formula milk, you can see exactly how much they are taking. The milk is also fortified with vitamins and iron. Formula milk makes things a bit easier on mum, as dad can help out with night feeds. A downside of formula milk has to be the workload attached. Cleaning bottles is a time consuming task. This along with sterilizing and making up formula, can often leave you wondering if breast feeding was not a better idea!

Personally, I breast fed the girls for five weeks after they were born. Not only did I feel I was giving them the best start in life, I lost lots of weight (this tends to happen when breast feeding)  I felt my milk supply drying up and found myself crying constantly fretting over whether they had had enough.  I was upset about swapping to the bottle but it meant Phil was able to help out with the feeding!

Weaning

It is now recommended that weaning commences sometime between 4 and 6 months. Your baby will usually let you know that it is ready to move on a stage. These signs include: wakening at night after sleeping through for sometime, looking for extra bottles, flushed cheeks and the tendency to bite and chew things (also signs of teething!!). So what should you give them as their first food? Emma and Rebecca sampled creamed potatoes at 5 months.

Potatoes

• Simply boil and mash potatoes as usual and add some breast/formula milk to thin slightly (never add solids to your child's bottle) Offer to the child - only a little on a spoon. Don't expect them to eat a lot this first time.  And remember don't add salt as you would to your own! :)

Emma took 3 spoonfuls whilst Becca only took one! If your child isn't interested, leave it and try again a couple of days later. We then tried them with different foods (but take it slow - let them have a few days on each new taste) Baby rice, pureed apple and Swede&potato were favourites in the early weaning days in our house.

What now?

I continued making homemade foods for several months. It became extremely hard for me to do this as well as everything else. So I started to use jarred baby food. Not that there is anything wrong with jarred baby food but society gives the impression that it is wrong. I feel that big brand baby food is equally good for your child. The food is generally fortified with extra vitamins and iron.

When the girls reached thirteen months they started to want to feed themselves.  I really didn't want them to as I knew how messy it was going to be. Don't take the attitude that the longer you do it for them the easier it will be on you. Quite the opposite is the case. You are just prolonging the inevitable. Kids need to have freedom with their food.  I know how frustrating it is when you have umpteen other cleaning chores to do but let them - they will come on leaps and bounds by being able to have that little bit of independence!

Finger foods

These are a great starter once they are able to hold them (always stay with your child whilst feeding) Let them hold their own spoon so they can practice what to do with it! I discovered a great baby food in Boots called Ravioli, part of the International range. It is ideal for letting your child feed themselves as it has bits of ravioli in sauce so that they can pick these up with their fingers and try out their spoon with the sauce! Make sure your floor is well covered. There are floor mats for sale in all baby stores but I found that cutting up a bin bag and laying that down instead, saved cleaning a mat, as it could be thrown away after use (or after a day)

Try to always be adventurous with baby food and don't let them get bored with the same "favourites"