Figured it out, how could I have not seen this sooner

For a while now I have been battling the "my baby won't eat!" I have to say I was worried, I would get ready to feed him and his mouth would lock up. He would turn away or fuss. I would then give up and let him out of his high hair. I would give him bottle, I figured he just wanted a baba and that perhaps his mouth hurt. That may not have been the case. After a few weeks of this along with him not sleeping all night because he would wake up wanting a bottle. He was hungry. But why wasn't he eating?

I know when babies reach a certain age they want to be rolling around the floor vs sitting in their chair eating. And I was thinking this was maybe a battle of wills. After some research it was not the case and again I was back at square one. I even tried giving him finger foods, soft enough for his gums to chew. He liked it but didn't eat enough. He is growing so what is the deal. Research was needed and a call to a pediatrician perhaps.

Thursday afternoon I got my iPad and had Siri search, while I searched too with my phone. Siri brought me to a doctor's blog and what I found there relieved my stress. It said "if the baby is not eating but is still growing properly, they must be getting nutrients and calories from somewhere. Formula,bm,juice,etc." wait what? 

It dawned on me! My son and his bottle! His formula! The pediatrician said 3 babas a day. One at breakfast, one after lunch, and one before bed. I was making a huge mistake, I left his baba readily available. So he was getting the nutrients from that all day thus making him not want food.he was eating his bottle before lunch, and then of course he did not want his baby food. Then he would have bottle in the afternoon,so no dinner would be eaten. I couldn't very well force him to eat. It would cause eating issues later on. I had to change. So, yesterday I gave him breakfast before bottle. It worked. Then he ate lunch! Oh my god! He ate dinner too! But not a lot because he was drinking his bottle a bit in the afternoon. He still woke up. Today I gave him his morning bottle after breakfast then he got his bottle and took a nap! Lunch ,he ate lunch! A plate of carrots and beef, with pears and he ate it all. He has been drinking wawa(water). But now he can have his 3rd baba and still eat dinner! Final bottle is before bed! And he still gets snacks! I am totally kicking myself in the butt as I was the cause of his not eating full baby sized meals. 

So lesson of today, if little one isn't eating think about what they are taking in throughout the day. Listen to what THEY tell you. Baby will tell you they aren't hungry and do not force it. They will let you know they are hungry. Communication is key, even with little ones.