Weaning not going well but baby is gassy and miserable

[PickledElectricity]

DS2 is 6.5 months old and I started trying to wean him over a week ago. He just will not eat anything. He pushes purées out of his mouth and will gnaw on and destroy any whole foods that I give him - e.g. toast, avocado, cucumber - but again doesn't actually eat anything.

However, some traces of food must be entering his digestive system because he's doing stinky farts, had 2 dirty nappies yesterday (unusual as he's ebf and does 2 poos a week at most) and for the past 3 nights has kept me awake all night by whingeing and wriggling around. He doesn't really want milk and did settle this morning after a big fart.

I'm feeling very stressed, tired and at a loss about what to do.

He is normally up 2-3 times per night anyway but this is ridiculous.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

He might just not be ready. Not every baby is at 6 months. My son really wasn’t interested and spat everything out. He’s now 15 months and eats more than me and DH combined.

I know it’s easier said than done but try and relax your approach. Maybe just give a purée every few days and finger foods once a week until he shows more interest?

How often are you offering solids and at ehat times of the day?

It might be best to stop for a day and then to offer once a day, in the morning so that he has time to digest whatever he’s eaten before the nighttime.

And it’s quite common for them to look as though nothing has been consumed but for their nappies to let you know it has

Gnawing and destroying whole foods means he's learning and eating- literally learning how to manipulate the food in his mouth. He sounds like he's doing brilliantly tbh!

Just carry on and forget the puree. No point getting him used to it only to then move him onto proper food. Just let him eat what you're eating, no added salt or sugar, and don't worry about how much is going in- increasing amounts certainly will over the next 6 months or so. And the tummy issues will settle too.

No scientific basis for this but personally I’d stay off wheat for a few more weeks. Root veg (boiled/roast) and bananas are nice simple foods to start with.

Agree with starting with food once a day only.

If he’s off his milk and a bit more unsettled at night perhaps this is not weaning related - could be teething or a bit of a virus for example.
he should still be having the same amount of milk, if he is off it then this may be making him more unsettled as he is hungry?
Either leave it for a week, or offer maybe once a day, various things to gnaw on as he seems to be keen to try that?