Jan 17, 2011
Twin Survival Tip #5: Boon Squirty Spoons
For Christmas, my awesome BFF got the babies an amazing contraption that I’m convinced will make my life easier with twins:
This, my friends, is the Boon Squirt Baby Food Dispensing Spoon!
So, here’s how it works:
- Unscrew the colored soft plastic portion (it’s squeezy).
- Fill that with baby food or cereal.
- Screw it back onto the clear plastic spoon.
- Squeeze the desired amount onto the spoon (there’s a small hole at the base of the spoon).
We have two of them, one for each baby. Here’s why I think I’m gonna love these (and you might, too):
- You can throw them in the dishwasher.
- There’s a little cap (not pictured) that fits on the spoon portion for travel.
- When you’re feeding two, things get kinda crazy, especially if you have to mix one baby’s cereal with soy formula and one baby’s with regular (like me). If you get two different colors, you can keep them separated easily.
- Less chance of spilling (if you’re anything like me).
And here’s a short video presentation, brought to you by Whitsun & Cadence:
I’m still having trouble wrapping my brain around having the time to give them solid foods. Right now we’re only doing it once a day, around dinner time. If you have any tips on this topic, please share how you did it with twins!
Bon appetit!
Great! That’s gold! We’ll certainly give that a try with the next baby.
Found you through EE’s blog a while back… My twin boys are 14 months now, and I hear you, I put off solids, and then finger food, just because it takes forever! Waiting till they were closer to 6 m. for the cereal and 9 m. for the finger food let them become more coordinated too, so it took at least a _little_ less time. Not quite like my first two kids that I was so eager to get going! Really though, it’s just a hassle for a few more months, so hang in there. Then you’ll be handing them cups and a pile of cut up table food, and you will never have been happier :). Keep up the good work!
Thanks Joanna! They’re almost 6 months, so I’m *trying* to give them cereal, but man, it’s hard! So far I’ve only been able to squeak in that 1 time/day (after my husband gets home).
Wow, that looks awesome! We never had anything like that so it was a mad dash to keep up with the bowl-to-mouth thing. And of course, one of ours gets impatient before the other.
Not sure what to tell you on having time since we just have the twins at the moment, not two older ones. I think we only did solids once a day at this point too though and we’ve pretty much always had them share a spoon as well…that’s always been the last of my concerns!
yay! and i know CayCay’s bib wasn’t for me…but I mean…come on…how appropriate? ;-)
Of course it was! It’s for all the Aunties out there.
Thx for the video – I have been pondering this little invention, and it’s great to see it in action. Seems like a good transition from bottle to spoon-feeding, cuz they can sort of suck it off the spoon like a nipple heehee. I love pretty much everything Boon makes. They have this ‘grass’ product for drying bottles/small baby bitses that I really really want, because washing all those bitses gets to be a pain (when one doesn’t have a dishwasher…)
i don’t have twins, so i don’t know if this will help, but when we had two under two, it was hard to get our second started on solids. so, i just put it off. and put it off… and put it off. she wasn’t super interested anyway. we tried some pureed foods around 7-8 months (skipped cereal completely) and then basically just gave her finger foods. it worked great for us — she would just eat whatever we were eating in small, soft form. and, at 17 months, she’s a great eater now!
oh.my.gosh! i’m totally getting that for baby #3. i think feeding one baby solids is hard…you are amazing and my hero doing two (with two others in tow)!!
Very cool! Those look like such a timesaver.
This is amazing! Absolutely brilliant!
Man alive I love that spoon! Wish I’d had it when my twins were babies.
I hear you about the challenge of finding time to fit in solids. We had 3 other children (ages 5, 3 and 2) when our twin boys were born. Threw me for a loop and forever changed my definition of the word ‘busy’. That 1st year though? Some of the sweetest days of my life. The Lord was an ever-present help.
Like you, I did solids at supper once hubby was home, and gradually I had my oldest help out with the daytime feedings (challenging to do with how head-jerky those baby eaters can be, but she got the hang of it). I remember a lady visiting us and being horrified that I fed them from the same spoon. “They’ll catch each other’s germs!!!”. Too funny hey? Germs were the last of my worries! It was all about efficiency. Thinking about it now, perhaps it’s a good thing I didn’t breastfeed in front of her. I didn’t disinfect then either.
:-) Loved the video. And loved your boy being anxious for his next mouthful!
My twins are almost three now, but I remember the hecticness of their schedule right around six months. That’s when we went to bottles every four hours. It was the only way to fit in solids too. Bottle at 8am, breakfast at 8:45, bottle at noon, lunch at 12:30, bottle at 4, dinner at 5:15, and then a bottle before bed. There’s about six months where every time you turn around you’re feeding them, but then it gets a lot better!
That’s a great idea! It seems like it’d be especially helpful for traveling. I wish I’d known about that during the huge road trip we took last month!
too funny. my friend gave this to me for my third and i just started using it. my boys and i “fight” over who gets to squeeze the food for the baby. it think i giggle every time i use it.
Wow! Where was all the cool stuff when mine were little? Thankfully, my very first niece is still itty bitty, and I think she is totally getting one of these from her auntie! Yay!
We had one of those with Abigail and used it with Lucy too. I LOVED it!
This is the cutest baby feeding video :)
My boys are 2 1/2 and I remember feeling so stressed about solids. Looking back I wish I hadn’t stressed so much about it knowing that eventually everyone learns how to eat foods! But I didn’t even attempt to start until they were around 9 months. They can solely JUST have breastmilk the first year anyhow, that I knew I didn’t need to be in a rush. I think you are doing great with just doing it once a day right now. Once they get the hang of that then you can add another time in the morning. We did breakfast b/c I knew they would be the hungriest – When it got to where I was trying to wean them from nursing (around 12 months) I would offer cereal/yogurt first and then nurse them. But when nursing was still the primary food for them I always did that first. When their only cereal was in the evening I would nurse around 5 (or so) then offer foods at 7 and then nurse RIGHT before bed. And I did it just like you – side by side, same spoon, etc.
I don’t have twins, but I did a small inhome daycare when I had ones 3, 2, and 6 months. That gave me another 6mo old who was there from 6:30am until oh, say 8-9pm when his mom finally stopped hanging out with friends and came to get him. Then we had another two year old much of the day, another 3 year old with Down’s Syndrome, and an 11 year old who was mentally the age of a nine month old. So four “feeders”.
So feeding time – it became a procedure! I got a stool that turns, a tiny table on wheels, and highchairs lined up in a circle and went from mouth to mouth with spoons and mugs. (It was easier to have their food in mugs rather than bowls as they had handles and spoons didn’t fall out of mugs as easily as bowls!) Those spoons look great and I would have LOVED a few then!
My advice for feeding – do it right before bath time whenever bath time is. Strip them down to onsies, feed, and then pop in the bath. :)
Molly, once you start doing more solids you need to get some mesh feeders (like these: http://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-Fresh-Food-Feeder-Pack/dp/B000GK5XY2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1295377182&sr=1-1). They work so well, and they are great for teething because you can pop a banana slice in the bag, put it in the freezer.
Wow, I need to get one of these – great invention. And I can’ t believe how big your babies are already!
I’ve always wanted to try one. I never did though with my little girl. Maybe baby number 2? :)
Love your blog by the way.
I don’t have twins but I had 2 under 2 and will soon have 3 ages 3 and under. Those squirty spoons look like a great idea! I’m also going to try this contraption with feeding my youngest when she gets to the starting solids stage: http://www.amazon.com/Wean-Machine-Portable-Baby-Maker/dp/B0029WNNPQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=IGL1SG8K9LPJC&colid=2QY8XVY7P3QA9 I really wish I’d known about it before.
DUDE. I want one for me, and I’d put ice cream in it. Except I’d need the receptacle to be much, much bigger.
I really want to eat from that spoon. Is that crazy? Maybe I could fill it with pudding?
Hi Molly! I don’t have twins, but I have a ten month old who for since she was 6 months old we have practiced “Baby-led weaning”. It’s pretty basic, you give the babies table foods and they learn the motor skills to feed themselves, chew and such. It is absolutely amazing, and much easier than trying to stuff a baby’s face with puree. It’s free (because you feed them whatever you eat) and doesn’t require any contraptions. Hope this can help!
Your doing a great job sister!
Here is a basic pamphlet on it: http://www.rapleyweaning.com/assets/blwleaflet.pdf
and there is a book on it
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Led-Weaning-Essential-Introducing-Foods-/dp/161519021X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295504875&sr=8-1
I don’t have twins, and only have 2 kids total, but I already don’t really know when to feed my 9 month old solids. She gets babyfood maybe once a week, and generally just gets a few soft bites of whatever I’m eating. She’s recently developed the coordination to pick up and eat cheerios and soft fruits. Everything I’ve read says it’s okay to delay solids until 8 to 12 months. Hope that helps!
I only have one little boy… and so I’m probably not qualified to comment!
But, if you haven’t heard of “baby-led weaning”, then perhaps you could google it. Basically, it’s about letting kids explore food themselves, rather than spoon feeding them.
My little boy is 9 months old now, and mostly feeds himself.
When we first introduced solids we did cereal/pureed fruit for a little while, then started giving him food he could hold himself. He loves to eat now, and it gets less messy!
Hi Molly!
I have twins girls that just turned 1 year old!! They have 2 big brothers ages 5 and 2, so I know the hecticness of your days!! For feeding time for the girls I would always use the same spoon and the same bowl, you cannot keep them only playing with the same toys and at this age when everything was going into their mouths I figured their was no difference.But that was easiest for me. My mother-in -law made baby food for me also which was a huge help!! She would cook things and blend them and freeze in ice cube trays and then I could just pull out what was needed. This could save alot of money. God’s blessings to you! Keep up the good work!