How can I reduce feeding jealousy with my twins?

Question

Our girl/boy twins are a little over a year old. One of the surprising things we've learned is that they are intensely jealous of each other at feeding time. It starts first thing in the morning: whichever twin thinks the other is going mommy first starts putting up a fuss. By contrast, they stay fairly relaxed after naps which aren't usually followed by feeding. When my wife breastfeeds both at the same time, they slap each other's hands and face.

Now that they are into solid food, they are intensely frustrated if it takes any amount of time to prepare their meal. Our older son never got as impatient as these two are nearly every day. Not even dividing the job between my wife and I works if each can see the other. We use the alternating spoonful method and the moment one twin finishes a bite, he or she will immediately start begging for more.

I wouldn't bother too much if it were just a matter of the crying. But the jealousy seems to feed on itself. From the perspective of the twins, crying seems to work. How can we break out of the cycle?

Answer 1

Jealousy is natural tendency we find among infants and babies. You simply cannot help it and it goes with the time. Have you ever seen two grown up twins fighting over a morsel to eat first? Don't worry, this will go as they grow.

As of now, if alternating spoon-feeding has not worked, for a period being, you can treat/feed them separately. You take one of them somewhere else while your wife feeding the other and then vice versa. Once they grow a bit more, help them coming close to each other by teaching sharing. In fact, this I am sure will happen in their schools and they'll probably learn from there. It won't be a problem anymore.

They are twins and it's not mandatory to feed them simultaneously. A 10-15 minute gap is okay and affordable to the jealously growing by leaps and bounds!