From Prosobee to Nutramigen..

Hi--
He is probably eating less because babies who are allergic to their meals (which he clearly was) will want to suck all the time to ease the stomach ache. Now that his stomach isn't cramping he doesn't need to suck as much. Incidentally, I'm sure the reflux is a result of being allergic to his food. And because he is clearly prone to allergies, you should take him off the solids at least until he is six months old. It's been shown repeatedly that solid food is not good for the digestive systems of young babies and makes food allergies worse. Recommendations are to wait until six months if there is a history of allergies. Just thought you should know.
J.

12 weeks and cereal is your entire problem.

A baby cannot digest cereal at this age, whom ever told you to do that is incorrect. You are entirely causing this little baby's gas issue. The cereal is sitting for days in this little ones stomach rotting. He cannot digest it. It eventually moves on through due to the milk going in but as it rots it puts off the digestive gasses. That is most likely where the gas is coming from.

I would say if your pediatrician told you to give the baby the cereal I would run to a different doc.

A baby who has reflux is having enough issues digesting the food they are taking in, to add a carbohydrate their body can't do anything with...well, stop the cereal and you'll see a lot less problems.

The doc should give you some sort of liquid med, like Reglan or Zantac but 90% of the time if the parents will stop over feeding the baby it goes away. The med relaxes the baby's tummy muscles so they are not spasiming, the food goes out of the stomach quicker since the muscles are relaxed, the opening at the bottom of the stomach works faster and better, more food is used.

One thing we did, with the gastroenterologist full supervision and at his suggestion, was to put Mylacon Gas Drops in the bottle, then add the water, mix that up, then add the powder formula. When the boy got months older we added sometimes 16 drops to his nursery water.

The thing is that baby's don't often have actual reflux, the kind that is a muscle movement that pushes the milk back out. This shows up on an upper G I Series in the X-Ray department of a hospital. It does not only happen when food is going in, it happens all the time regardless of what the baby's mouth is doing.

Docs know that most times it is over feeding, not being held upright enough, etc...that is the culprit of the milk coming back up and out not an actual medical defect with the stomach.

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So, stop giving the baby cereal, give him smaller bottles, try to make feeding time and the time right before feeding time very calm so the baby is not sucking in a lot of air from crying, hold the baby nearly upright, keep the baby propped up after he eats for about half an hour, and see how that does.

Add the gas drops directly to the water before the powder, do not shake the bottle when you add the powder, gently swirl it. The air bubbles in the mixture also contribute to the gas.

I would say that if he's spitting up way less, then he's probably keeping more of it down and that's why he doesn't eat as often. And yes, I think it's normal to sleep more at night, because his tummy isn't waking him up in pain. And eating 4 ounces per bottle is totally normal. My kids never ate more than 3.5 to 4 ounces in a feeding. As long as he's acting happy and energtic, it sounds fine to me.

He is eating less because he needs less. He's keeping all of it in his stomach for one thing. No spit up. And his body is able to digest it better. And he's not eating in an effort to ease the pain.

And 3 months is too young for cereal imho.

You described our son when he was a baby to a "T." We had to switch him to the expensive stuff too and it was worth every dime. It sounds like your little man is very content with the new diet and it's agreeing with him wonderfully. He'll definitely let you know when his appetite calls for more.