Sorry this is long. But I think with the details that someone will think of something I have not. My son Gavin will be 8 months old on Tuesday. He was exclusively breastfed until 7 months. He was born at 8 pounds 10 ounces, 20 and a half inches long and breastfed without any problems. He grew a lot in the first 4 months, gaining 7 pounds (!) and growing 6 inches!!!!! It was all breastmilk and the doc made many comments how hearty my milk was. He showed an intolerance to milk, soy and peanuts so I completely eliminated it from my diet. He has silent reflux and went on Zantac at 10 days old, and by 5 weeks he was switched to prevacid because his throat was red and irritated even on the zantac. His eating habits did not change throughout that as you can see by his growth at that time. At 3 months, he started teething and it bugged him a lot. He had occasions where he would refuse to nurse and scream his head off, I would give him tylenol, he passed out from exaustion and would wake later to eat. This didn't happen all the time but I noticed a gradual change after this started--he just wasn't as interested in eating and didn't nurse for as long as before. We started cereal with breastmilk at 5 months and fruits and veggies and meats at 6 months. My supply had gone down A LOT by then because of the decreased demand. On days that he wanted more, he wouldn't suck to help produce it, he would just stop sucking and get mad. I tried to pump but was not consistent enough. He didn't want a bottle and absolutely refused the 2 milk free formulas in any way, even in his cereal. So I started putting enriched rice milk in his cereal and giving him more solids because he really wanted the solid food--I figured it was better than nothing! From 4 to 6 months he only gained 1 pound and grew a half inch. So the doc told me to start putting formula in his cereal and putting him on my breast at least 5 times a day to increase my supply (he had started sleeping through the night). He still refused the milk free formulas in his cereal so they suggested I try Nestle Good Start to see if he outgrew the intolerance, because it tasted better. He liked it and would eat it when mixed in his cereal and seemed to tolerate it. I did that for 2 weeks and nursed 5 times a day but my supply wasn't feeling like it was increasing. Then he got sick--bad congestion and coughing, and started refusing all solids and still wasn't nursing that much. I took him to the doctor and he was put on antibiotics (it had been 10 days) in the hopes that clearing it up would make him want to eat again. He had lost 5 ounces from 6 to almost 8 months and was now in the 5th percentile. So we changed him to all formula in a desperate attempt to get some weight on him and the doctor told me to aim for 24-32 ounces a day. On average he is getting 18. 4 days after we started the antibiotics, he got up to 22 ounces, then 24 ounces on the 5th day, but then slowly it went back down to 20 and now it averages at 3 (6 ounce) bottles. He has been off the antibiotics for 4 days now--is still not wanting solids like before, although he accepting a little more than one jar of something now, no cereal and 3 (6 ounce) bottles. He is getting congested again so I have considered that he is still intolerant to the milk based formula, but the not eating started when he wasn't getting any of that in my milk. It takes hours to get all 6 ounces in him, he will eat an ounce or 2 then an hour later eat another ounce--sometimes I have to give it in a dropper to get it down him because he is still cutting teeth and it clearly hurts. I just can't understand how teething could make him not want to eat for 5 months though. That seems a little excessive to me. His reflux seemed to not be an issue but I am second guessing that now due to this stuff. He definitely still has silent reflux, but it does not seem to hurt or so I think. I ruled out metabolic disorders in my head because that is not absorbing nutrients taken in, and he doesn't have the intake for that I would think. His stools are normal, but often constipated so I thought of DGE, but can a silent refluxer have DGE??? Other than the lack of vomiting, everything in my head points to that.....I just want him to start eating and I am racking my brain trying to figure out what is causing all this. He went from the 75th to the 50th from months 4-6, and from months 6-8 he went from the 50th to the 5th :cry: . Please help!!!!

Hello there, a silent refluxer can certainly have DGE and I am sure in the case of my 5 month old daughter Maya, this contributes to the fact that she eats little and often i.e 3oz every 3 hours . She has 16-20oz per day. Have you explored whether it is possible to get more calorific formula. Maya is on a special formula with 30 calories per oz, but it is not available in the US. This certainly helps as you can get a decent amount of calories in smaller feeds which takes the pressure off the lower amounts of feeding.

You can easily increase regular formula (milk-based, soy, hypoallergenic) that is normally mixed 1 scoop powder:2 ounces water from 20 calories per ounce to 24 calories per ounce by mixing it 3 scoops to 5oz instead of 3 scoops to 6oz.

You do have to be careful increasing the concentration of normal formula though as the osmalarity of the milk increases making it more difficult to absorb and this can impact on gastric emptying further. When we concentrated Neocate, Maya drunk far less milk. So if you can get milk that is specially designed to provide additional energy it is better, but I am not sure if there are any such milks in the US. Maybe the US members or your GI can help on this.

"EnfaCare® LIPIL® is a milk-based, 22 Calorie formula that provides high quality nourishment for the growth and development of babies..."

This formula is made by Enfamil, there are also formulas for premature babies and low birthweight babies that have more calories 22-24calories per ounce. You can look around for them. Havent seen any higher than that but they may have some.

Hope that helps!