Wknd @ beach w/ twins. Need ideas/tips

[VroomieMama]

3 of my friends and my family are planning a weekend at a beach soon. My dh and I are excited about this trip because it has been a while for us to have something really nice planned.

Now, we are concerned because our twins are used to having 7 oz. warm milk every three hours with their meal/snack. We have tried to get them to drink cold milk but they got upset. We were thinking about giving them their warm milk in the morning with their meal. Then during the day at the beach, we feed them food from baby jar and keep them hydrated with fruits and water. Then warm milk again for dinner with their meal.

I just wonder if they end up getting fussy with no warm milk between breakfast and dinner then how do we give them their warm milk at beach? Should we use formula for this type of activity? Have you used formula again after few months not using them? We need ideas or tips you can think of that we haven't thought about.

Mothers out there who are breast feeding-- I'm so envious!

[VroomieMama]

16 read but no comment? This is one of those time that I do feel invisible. I'm sure I'll feel loved the next time I come back here.

[oolongtea]

Well, I can't tell from your sig how old your twins are, so I don't know if this will be helpful. I took my 13 month-old son for a week to the beach last week. I found that all the excitement, plus the new location, really changed his eating/drinking habits while we were there (went back to normal when we got home). I just did my best to give him everything he needs at whatever time he would accept it. I felt I had to give him extra water too, because of all of the heat and sun and extra activity. He was not fussy at all, because of all the excitement, but he was less likely to concentrate on his food and be interested in it. I found he accepted less food variety than at home, so I had to rely on some favorites like banana and yogurt. Also he wanted to be fed with a spoon rather than feed himself the way he does at home. He was really distracted!

If your twins are not too high-needs, I would assume that they will be fine without their midday warm milk (use water instead). I would bring formula as a backup, the same kind they had before, in case they are too distracted to concentrate on eating foods.

[VroomieMama]

My twins are almost 15 mos. old now and you're right that they will be really distracted and entertained by everything that goes on at the beach. Thank you for your inputs.

[claras_mom]

I'd just go with water during the day. And finger foods, if they eat much of those. We spent yesterday at the beach with our kids (dd2 is 15 mo) and another family. I had some of her favorites--cooked broccoli, crackers, applesauce--but she also ate things she doesn't usually eat as much of, namely some cheese (dd2 doesn't care for fruit very much). She basically grazed and that was fine.

Dh totally rocked yesterday - I went off to help supervise the two 5 yo kids fishing, and he got dd2 down for a nap. He tucked a blanket over her and she slept an hour and a half!

[CalvinTy]

Originally Posted by oolongtea

I found that all the excitement, plus the new location, really changed his eating/drinking habits while we were there (went back to normal when we got home). I just did my best to give him everything he needs at whatever time he would accept it. I felt I had to give him extra water too, because of all of the heat and sun and extra activity. He was not fussy at all, because of all the excitement, but he was less likely to concentrate on his food and be interested in it.

I'm the DH of VroomieMama (I just finally registered today and my wife doesn't even know yet, LOL; so now she would know, ha). Good points, oolongtea. Any outdoor outing does change kids' routine quite a bit and then typically return back to normal at home. I agree with the water -- important to hydrate the kids. Interestingly, the twin girls love it when Mommy is drinking a bottled water and they are happy to get sips from Mommy, and it's not even warm, ironically, heh.

My concern was more of whether it was wise to bring formula (twins stopped using them 2 months ago) because I did not know whether it was not good to "re-introduce" formula even just for a weekend. In any case, they would likely insist on the formula being warm just like in the past anyway so that's a dilemma either way.

Originally Posted by claras_mom

I'd just go with water during the day. And finger foods, if they eat much of those. We spent yesterday at the beach with our kids (dd2 is 15 mo) and another family. I had some of her favorites--cooked broccoli, crackers, applesauce--but she also ate things she doesn't usually eat as much of, namely some cheese (dd2 doesn't care for fruit very much). She basically grazed and that was fine.

The twins do love finger foods so, yeah, we can stack up on that and, like you said, basically graze on those whenever they are hungry. We also could bring fruit cups and/or yogurt cups, too.

Originally Posted by claras_mom

Dh totally rocked yesterday - I went off to help supervise the two 5 yo kids fishing, and he got dd2 down for a nap. He tucked a blanket over her and she slept an hour and a half!

Neat. This reminds me on how I just seem to get the twins to sleep often. Wife would say, "It is really easy for them to sleep on you." Nice feeling.

* CalvinTy

[VroomieMama]

Originally Posted by CalvinTy

I'm the DH of VroomieMama (I just finally registered today and my wife doesn't even know yet, LOL; so now she would know, ha). Good points, oolongtea. Any outdoor outing does change kids' routine quite a bit and then typically return back to normal at home. I agree with the water -- important to hydrate the kids. Interestingly, the twin girls love it when Mommy is drinking a bottled water and they are happy to get sips from Mommy, and it's not even warm, ironically, heh.

My concern was more of whether it was wise to bring formula (twins stopped using them 2 months ago) because I did not know whether it was not good to "re-introduce" formula even just for a weekend. In any case, they would likely insist on the formula being warm just like in the past anyway so that's a dilemma either way.

The twins do love finger foods so, yeah, we can stack up on that and, like you said, basically graze on those whenever they are hungry. We also could bring fruit cups and/or yogurt cups, too.

Neat. This reminds me on how I just seem to get the twins to sleep often. Wife would say, "It is really easy for them to sleep on you." Nice feeling.

* CalvinTy

Haha CalvinTy, I LOVE you for registering on MDC! *smooches*

[snoopy5386]

just let the milk sit out of the cooler for a bit until it warms up? It should be warm enough on the beach so that it wouldn't take long....

[VroomieMama]

We thought about it but our concern is, will the bacteria form if the milk heats up too slow?

[cloudbutterfly]

I remember seeing portable bottle warmers around when I was registering. One of those plus milk in some sort of cooler might work?