We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
If you thought it would be tricky trying to tell your twin babies apart but have since discovered you just know who is who, give yourself a pat on the back! Now, you can focus your efforts on trying to keep straight whose bottle is whose. They can get mixed up faster than you think.
Beyond not wanting to swap their little baby germs while they're still building up their immune systems, you want to make sure each baby is getting their full feed and associated calories—and if you forget whose bottle is whose, one baby may end up drinking more ounces and more calories than the other unintentionally.
Or, you may find yourself in a situation similar to the one we had with our twins, where one had to be on a supplemented formula to help with weight gain. During those first few months where our twins went for bi-weekly weigh-ins, we had to make sure we could distinguish the difference between the bottles, so that we could be certain the correct baby was getting the bottle that had the additional calories mixed into it.
Here are five ways to keep track of which bottle belongs to which baby
1. Use a silicone decal on the bottom of one bottle
This trick will work for the first couple of months, while your babies are still young enough not to realize there's something they can play with, move around, or try to put into their mouth on the bottom or side of their bottle. Always watch your babies while they're drinking their bottles, and as soon as you notice they've become aware of the decal, ditch this method right away and move on to one of the other options listed below.
While we used this method, we always put the marker on the same baby's bottle each time, so we always knew who it belonged to and didn't have to remember which one had been assigned the decal that day.
Basemmaher Silicone Drink Markers
These silicone decals are a quick and easy way to distinguish whose bottle is whose during feeds with your twins. Stop using these markers once your twins become aware of them.
2. Use different brands of bottles for each baby
You may have purchased a few different bottle brands in anticipation that your twins may not take to the first kind they were offered. If so, you can put these different brands to work to help you decipher which baby has which bottle. For a while, we gave one baby a Philips Avent bottle, while their sibling had a Medela bottle for their feeds.
Medela Slow Flow Feeding & Storage Bottles
These are Medela's Slow Flow Feeding & Storage Bottles. They hold five ounces of fluid and have a silicone tip. They also come with lids and caps for leak-proof storage in the fridge.
We used this multi-bottle option until we went to a faster flow bottle tip, and it was nice to see the visual difference between the bottles; we knew one baby had the yellow and black Medela accents on their bottle, while the other had the Philips blue accents on theirs.
Philips AVENT 4-Ounce Anti-Colic Baby Bottles
These are Philips' Avent Anti-Colic Baby Bottles. They hold four ounces of fluid and are designed to reduce feeding issues for your baby (colic, gas, and reflux).
Use two different sizes of baby bottles
With our twins, we started with smaller bottles for the early days and then upgraded to bottles with a larger capacity as they increased the amount of ounces they drank in each feed. This came in handy, as we used this to our advantage with telling the bottles apart. We used a nine-ounce bottle for one baby (the same baby each time) and a four-ounce bottle for the other baby, with additional top-ups in the smaller bottle, as needed, to ensure they were getting the required number of ounces for each feed.
Philips AVENT 9-Ounce Anti-Colic Baby Bottles
These are Philips' Avent Anti-Colic Baby Bottles. They hold nine ounces of fluid and are designed to reduce feeding issues for your baby (colic, gas, and reflux).
4. Use a cap on one bottle
If you opted to buy one set of bottles and don't have various sizes to work with, don't fret. Just place a cap on one of the bottles, so you still get that visual differentiation between the two. Keep it nearby, so that when your baby takes a break or needs a top-up, you can place the cap back on the tip and not worry about mixing up whose bottle is whose during the refill process.
5. Use the same side for setting bottles down
If your babies have had their initial feed but might need a refill before their bottles get cleaned, get into the habit of always putting their respective bottles in the same spot for the "in-between-bottles-limbo" timeframe. We tried to always put Baby A's bottle to the left of their rocker chair or set it down underneath the chair or swing; Baby B's would go to the right of their own chair or swing or underneath it. This often helped to nip any confusion in the bud.
Say, "Hasta La Vista, Baby" to Bottle Mix-Ups
While there's a chance that the odd bottle mix-up is bound to happen, these tricks should help keep them to a minimum. Putting these tips into practice will also help with your planning and organizational prowess. As a twin parent who's juggling dual babies, while multi-tasking multiple undertakings, this is definitely a "Twinning It and Winning It" situation.
Did you use any of these tricks to prevent bottle mix-ups during feeds with your twins? Was there a different method that worked well for you? What was it? Let us know in the Comments section below.
Read more
The Best Positions for Dual Feeds With Your Twins
If you're about to welcome twins into your family, you're likely making sure your home is set up and ready to go as you embark on your journey to survive the newborn stage with multiples. You may also be wondering about the logistics of feeding sessions with two little babies. This could look different depending on how you're planning to feed your children. Will they be exclusively...
Top Tips for Bottle Tips When Feeding Your Twins
If you're getting ready to welcome your twins, congratulations! You're likely making lists of everything you need to stock up on before your bundles of joy arrive. (Fun fact, we've already done this for you, and once you've sorted out what you need, you can decide what you want to buy new and used by checking out this article, here). So, you're making your list. Way to go, you're on...
Tips for Increasing Milk Output When You're Pumping Away From Your Twins
There are many ways to feed your newborn twins. Some people strive to exclusively breastfeed their twins; others aren't able to or simply choose not to—for many reasons, and they will have put much thought into this decision. Or, it may have been entirely out of their hands. Perhaps their preemies were born early and weren't able to feed that way. Or maybe they needed to spend time...
Why This Tandem Nursing Pillow Gets Double the Love
This week wrapped up another World Breastfeeding Week, which is held during the first week of August every year. Supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and many Ministries of Health and civil society partners, the theme for 2024 was Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All. One of the most effective ways to ensure the health of your newborns is to breastfeed...