7.5 month old eats well except at lunch

[ACH2509]

I began weaning at 5 months but had to stop due to norovirus and restarted at 6 months. My son is now 7.5 months. He eats a fairly good breakfast (about 170g), usually porridge or bircher muesli with fresh fruit stirred in. For tea he has a multigrain porridge (we live in Germany where it is usual to give babies porridge for their evening meal) with a different fruit and/or natural yoghurt. He eats a big portion for tea, usually over 200g. He has a bottle of formula before bed and one first thing in the morning and has been sleeping through for the past couple of weeks. My problem is lunchtime- I usually cook for him, he is happy to have lumpy food so I mash rather than puree (same goes for the fruit and porridges at brekkie and tea). He starts really enthusiastically but after about 100g closes his mouth and turns away. I know he is not full as if I offer something else or make it look like I am offering something else, he will eat more. He eats all sorts of veg with fish, chicken, beef or lamb as well as carbs like sweet potato, normal potato, baby pasta, rice etc. But his refusal to eat a proper portion is driving me crazy. Does anyone have any ideas? His food schedule is roughly as follows:
7am 170ml bottle
8am breakfast
11am small snack (e.g. 50g yoghurt or Hipp fruit pot and finger food)
1pm lunch
3.30pm small snack as above
5.30pm tea
6.45pm 200+ml bottle

I have tried leaving the morning snack out and giving him lunch at 11.30am and at 12 noon, it doesn't make any difference.

He has a morning nap of about an hour and an afternoon nap of about an hour and sleeps 7pm- 6am. His sleeping is sometimes excellent and sometimes very disturbed with short naps but lunch is always a disaster no matter what!

[CultureSucksDownWords]

I came at weaning from a different angle, and did baby led weaning from 6 months. So my DS fed himself (with his hands and then a spoon/fork later on) from the unmashed food I put out on his tray/plate. I couldn't have told you how many grams he'd eaten, all I went by is what came out the other end and how well he was growing.

From that perspective, your DS is eating a huge amount of food at 7.5 months. 3 meals plus two snacks. I didn't get to that point until after 12 months. I think I was only doing 2 meals a day at that age. My point here is that I don't see that there is a problem with the amount your DS is eating.

Instead of it driving you crazy and viewing it as a disaster, could you just look at it as this is what his appetite is like? Some people just don't like a lot of food at lunch. If you'd rather he ate more of the lunch type food, then try serving it for the evening meal instead. You don't have to stick to porridge in the evening just because you're in Germany.

[MrsAukerman]

Similar thoughts to pp, could he be hungry for milk? How much milk per day does he have if you include what you use to make up the porridge?

[Treeceratops]

I would echo the 'let him feed himself' comments. What is a 'proper' portion anyway? It's great that he eats such a variety of food (looks at 17mo DS who appears to be living off peanut butter).

[ACH2509]

Thanks for your comments. Baby led weaning isn't for us, but I do give him finger foods which he plays with, sucks, gums and sometimes even eats ;).
He has between 550 and 600ml of milk a day.
I wanted to wait to switch to a 'proper' tea until he was eating well at lunch but maybe I'l try flipping the meals as suggested. And I will just relax and let him lead.
Living in Germany I have definitely noticed a big difference in weaning styles- things do seem to be pushed along much faster here!

[Whyisithappening]

I have only just got 8.5 month DS on to 3 meals a day with no snacks yet. Sometimes he has a larger bottle before a meal so won't eat as much, sometimes he randomly eats loads. I'm not paying a huge amount of attention to the amount he eats, more what he tries and how well he managed to eat it himself. It sounds like he ha eating really well for a 7.5 month old! Not a disaster in the slightest!

[squizita]

I'm in the UK and as PP have said you're describing a huge amount of food. So absolutely nothing to worry about I would say.

I'm not blw btw, but even with purees and finger foods the guidelines for 7 months I have suggest an ice cube size or 2 of puree/porridge, plus a few fingers of veg or toast twice a day. Plus of course milk not reduced at this stage.
I know as I'm a pfb mummy so checked all my books just now.

So I really wouldn't worry too much.

[201418]

At this age babies should be getting at least 26-32 oz of milk per day and a third 'meal' should be added in around 8/9 months.

Maybe he isn't so hungry at lunch and has had enough.