Baby gone off milk but doesn’t want solids either

[bleachblondemom]

My DS is 6 months old. For the last few weeks he has been having one pouch of puréed food a day, plus all his usual bottles (240ml about 4 times a day, plus a 300ml bottle at night before bed, he won’t necessarily finish every bottle fully but a lot of the time he does).
Over the last week or so he has barely touched his milk. He’ll drink about 100ml then refuse any more. The only way I can get him to almost finish a bottle is to take him somewhere quiet and rock him so he’s calm and drowsy, then he’ll drink more (but still not as much as he was drinking previously). But trying to give him a bottle whilst we are out of the house is a nightmare. Or even if I’m just in the living room watching telly, or in a garden. It’s like he has to wait until he’s absolutely starving and tired before he’ll have a decent amount of milk. I dread having to take him out for the day because I worry he won’t eat much and then he’ll be upset because he’s hungry but he just won’t take the bottle and I don’t know why.
Today from 6:30am until now (5pm) I think he’s drank about 400ml… surely that’s an absurdly low amount of milk for a 6 month old??? I’m throwing away so much leftover milk, I feel so wasteful.
So I thought to myself, maybe he’s just sick of milk and wants proper food. So I’ve just given him some mashed up banana and he is not into it at all. I can tell he doesn’t like how it feels in his mouth, he’s gagging and choking because he doesn’t get how to chew it up a bit more and swallow (although it’s so mushed it barely needs chewing). I don’t know how I’m going to start giving him things like carrot and broccoli or other fruit etc if he can’t handle mushed banana.
His last bottle today was at about 2pm and he only had about 60ml. 3 hours later and he’s had 3 mouthfulls of banana and refused anymore. I mean, he seems ok, he doesn’t seem ill or anything. I just don’t understand how he’s not hungry.
I don’t know what to do about his eating. He wakes up after 10-11 hours sleep at night and has like 100ml of milk, how is he not starving???

Also he was sleeping 11-11.5 hours, now he’s not drinking as much milk before bed he wakes up after about 10 hours so it’s causing him to lose sleep too. But as mentioned before he still won’t drink a lot when he wakes up even though you’d think he’d be starving hungry, especially as it’s waking him up earlier.

I'm not a medical professional but doesn't sound right to me... I'd get on to the GP / out of hours straight away about this as lack of appetite is often a symptom of an infection. I really hope your DS is ok OP but I'd treat this as being something that needs checking until you know otherwise.

Well he’s just drained a 180ml bottle, which is great, but again it’s because he’s tired and ready for a last little nap. Could he be associating a bottle of milk with nap/bed time? He doesn’t feed to sleep but he might be associating his milk with comfort and sleepiness. So then when he’s hungry in the day but not tired, he’d rather have some purée instead? I wish he had enjoyed the banana a bit more as I feel like a baby his age should be on more than milk and puree!

Could he be teething and in pain? Have you tried giving a dose of calpol to see if that improves it?

Some babies don't take to mashed or pureed foods, they much prefer finger foods. Don't be afraid to try a finger of banana or carrot or a broccoli floret. Are his nappies still good and wet? Is he teething?

@choosername1234 I’ll try but he doesn’t seem in pain or anything.

He’s currently now eating fruity rice cakes which he seems to be enjoying but he really can’t get the hang of chewing and swallowing! I’m terrified of giving him any proper food now in case he chokes. I thought he’d be ok to start with the mushed banana but he struggled with that.
We have been giving him 2 lots of purée per day over the last few days, maybe he’s digesting it all slower so doesn’t want as much milk? Or his tummy is getting used to the new food so he doesn’t feel like eating loads of milk in one go?

@bloodywhitecat yeah he is having normal wet and dirty nappies. His dirty nappies are changing consistency though because he’s having more purée. So maybe as I said in my last post, his tummy is getting used to his new diet?
He really likes parsnip crisps (they are like big wotsits) and fruity rice cakes so perhaps you are right and he’ll prefer more solid food he can hold himself.

I foster and both of the last babies I have looked after have completely swerved the puree stage and gone straight for what we are eating. If nappies start to get dry I would be concerned but I'd be inclined to think he's just getting ready for the next stage at this point.

There is a lot of gagging in the early days, it is normal and part of him learning to eat. This might help you to feel more confident in knowing how to recognise choking gagging vs. choking

Thanks guys I feel a lot better, especially since he’s had that last bottle and some of his rice cakes. I’ve given him some calpol as he is a bit warm and is chewing his thumb (we’ve been on holiday all weekend so maybe the hot weather has contributed as well, it’s been uncomfortably hot)

He drank 210ml at bedtime so still not quite as much as he was drinking before (he would literally drain a 300ml bottle before bed), but maybe the purées and snacks are keeping him fuller for longer