Is my 13 month old getting too much milk? No appetite for meals anymore.

[Agentmummy]

Hi just looking for some advice and other experiences.

My 13 month old son has always been great at eating - we've done a combination of baby led weaning and purees (blended foods as well as pouches) and he's done great.

Recently he's had no appetite for meals and it's always a bit of a challenge at meal times to get him to eat. I've started to try and not push him to eat and if he's constantly pushing the food away I just stop as I don't want him to start having a negative association with it all.

Im wondering if perhaps he's just not hungry when I'm offering food?

He usually wakes around 7.30/8am and I offer him breakfast first around 8.30 which is usually the most successful meal. Usually has porridge/Weetabix but has recently gone off both and even a slice of toast he's taking one or two bites then throwing it.

He then has a 5oz bottle between 10/11 and will then go for a nap.

Lunch is usually around 1pm sometimes it's a bit later depending on naps but this one recently has been very challenging - there have been days where nothing has been eaten at all. He used to love yoghurt as well, takes a spoonful now and then either gags or pushes it back out his mouth. I've also tried ordering fruits and lots of finger foods and he just plays and then throws it away.

Another 5oz bottle around 4/4.30 - sometimes will have a short cat nap sometimes he's OK to skip it.

Dinner is usually no later than 6pm - same approach and same results. I've even given him small pizza fingers which have been a success a few times but then again gets fed up and uninterested.

Bedtime bottle is 7oz at around 7.45/8pm

Any advice greatly appreciated!

They only need around 300/350mls (which is about 10-12oz) from age 1. Maybe the milk is just too close to food times. Mine had milk am and pm at that age and had swapped to a cup rather than a bottle.

They’re supposed to stop bottles at 12 months and only need about 300ml total and that includes what they get from food e.g. milk on his cereal, yoghurt, in mash potato etc. Just chuck the bottles. Offer a small cup with breakfast and before bed (brush teeth after) and not at any other times and you’ll probably find there’s more appetite for food.

Stop giving him bottles of milk. Instead offer milk or water to drink from a cup. He will quickly find his appetite.

Thanks for the tips everyone! I will give this a try with milk in a cup. I'd really like to get away from bottles now and my hope was always to have him having some milk in a cup after 1 so will make this a sign to start! He's not the greatest with a cup at the moment so will need some encouragement with that.

How much milk are you putting in cups?

How much milk are you putting in cups

A couple if ounces will be fine.

He only needs 10 floz a day and he's having 7 floz before bed so you don't need to worry if he drinks the milk from the cups or not. The other 3 Floz can come from things like milk in cereal, custard, fish pie etc

Look in his mouth and see if he’s teething.

Hi all here with an update so far for anyone who's interested.

He now is eating three meals really well and probably drinks around 1oz of milk in the morning. I'm also trying to keep him awake in the morning til he has his lunch then nap after that as felt like he was ready to drop his late afternoon nap which was usually around 4pm.

So he has breakfast - porridge and some toast
Mid morning some milk - we're working on a cup but it's not happening so far so keeping at it!
Lunch - today was chicken and cream cheese wrap, yoghurt and a few pieces of fruit

Yesterday he drank 2oz of milk in the afternoon after a 2 hour nap - should this have been a snack rather than milk?

Dinner - last night was a wee mini onion and cheese pastry, beef meatball, yoghurt and literally two pieces of fruit

He had his 7oz milk for bedtime and initially slept really well until around midnight where he was wide awake until 3am 🙃🙃🙃 wanting to play, carry on, crying if I tried to get him to sleep. I wondered if he was hungry and he drank 5oz of milk.

Is he compensating for lost milk during the day?

When he was smaller he used to have 2 or 3 bottles during the night and when we finally got him sleeping longer and through the night without milk it was amazing - are we going back the way now?

He only has two bottom teeth atm, top teeth are definitely trying but seem to be taking forever.

He's waking almost every night recently and I would say it's been since the loss of appetite.

Does he drink anything else?

BF 13 month old DD is also off her food at the minute, as are some playgroup friends of the same age - I'm assuming its a phase that will pass.
She still drinks lots of breastmilk and won't touch cows milk. If your son wants milk it may be for comfort as well as because it's filling - they're still so little at this age and going through so many developmental changes/teething etc, I'm sure he'll find his appetite in time :)