4month old refusing to eat!! It's been 4days :(

[rishaanim]

Hi guys! I know I have been missing for a few days now. But so much has been happening. I am travelling with my LO and DH soon so packing has been crazy. Then my baby got his 4month shots today, so been a little busy with that. He still eats 3oz happily and leaves the rest of the bottle but since he wakes up from his nap early almost everyday, his feed time and his nap time are more or less 1/2- 45mins apart from each other. So here's what I do, I let him take his 3oz and then feed the rest when he is ready to sleep, miost of the times he eats another 2-3oz.

He has been looking at us everytime we eat, so I tried giving him a tsp of oatmeal yesterday, he still woke up at his regular times last night. Then today I asked his pediatrician he said if I want to give oatmeal then I should give him abt 2-3tbl. He has taken two good two hour naps today and not a lot of stirring, maybe because of the shots and ate a little here and a little there.

Iam not sure if Iam going to give him oatmeal tonight, but he definitely eats more when I swaddle him. I have formed too many bad habits for him already, I hope this one is not adding to it. But I guess we'll see how it goes!

[*Kara*]

personally, I would stop the solids right away.  Milk is far more nutritious for him in terms of fats/vits/etc at this age.  Also, his tummy is very likely not ready to be digesting food yet.. you are quite likely to find that feeding cereal late in the day will cause NWing and scream fests as LO is unable to sleep with a resting tummy.. digestion is quite a job for a wee one.

That said, if the cereal calmed him and he slept, I wonder about reflux... 4 months can be a time it really kicks into gear... the small feeds are common for babies with reflux too.. they will drink to settle the acid, but only enough to cool things down or it causes more issues....

Have a look at this:
Reflux 101 - General reflux information

[rishaanim]

Hi Kara!

I feel the same way about solids, but till now he has not woken up even once. And he was getting up every hour past 5days. So I don't know if its the affect of his shots or actually the oatmeal cereal. His doctor has repeatedly told me that he does not have reflux but I've always had my doubts, so even if he did have silent reflux, do you think oatmeal cereal helps with that or is it just going to make it worse?

Your thoughts..

[*Kara*]

If you think he has reflux, he likely does to some extent - moms tend to be a better judge of their baby than a doc who sees them for 15 mins

Cereal/reflux is a mixed bag really - it really works for some and can be disastrous for others... the idea is that it will thicken what's in the tummy and keep it down/prevent it from splashing about... some do great with it and others not so much.. trying is the only way to know really.

The only thing I would caution is that you watch that his milk intake doesn't come down below 24 ozs a day...

Are you in Canada/USA?  If so, you can get the "Add Milk" version of baby cereals and use his formula to make it - just to get a little more into him.  I wouldn't do more than 2 tbsps at this age though...  5 tbsps is a full serving (1/3c) for a 6-12 month old...