My son refuses formula and baby cereal and cannot sleep through the night

[Fairouz]

My son is 5 months and two weeks. He has been exclusively breastfeeding. He never gets full so he never sleeps through the night. I tried to give him a night bottle of formula for him to be full and be able to sleep through the night. I introduced the NAN1 when he was 3 months. He took it for 4 days in a row as a top up night feed. Life was great and he used to sleep through the night for 4 consecutive days. Then he threw it up one night and had fever. He stayed for one week without formula. When I started again the formula he refused it totally. I tried other brands including S26 gold, aptamil,bebelac, similac, hipp organic... u name it. He refused them all.I asked his pediatrician to introduce solids early so he allowed rice cereal. I tried to give himthe rice cereal ( cerelac) he made faces and spit it up and wouldn't swallow it. I tried the flavoured cereal with fruits.. he hated it as well. I need my son to be full and sleep through the night. I went back to work since he ws three months and a half and full time. I can't function at all with the interrupted sleep as he wakes up every two hours to feed. What can I do? why isn't he accepting formula? would follow on formula from 6 months onwards be any different in taste? Why does he hate cereal even though it tastes yummy?

[Renee Radenberg]

Most breast-feed infants do not like infant formula and need it mixed with breast milk to accept it. If the bottle of infant formula tastes like breast milk he will accept the bottle more. Try mixing ¾ breast milk and ¼ infant formulas at first. If he does accept it, then after a week or so, try doing a bottle mix of ½ breast milk, and ½ formulas. If you wish, you can gradually go to a bottle mix of ¼ breast milk and ¾ formulas, then totally to all formula depending on how he accepts it. This way you will use up the breast milk and he will get used to the formula taste. Once you are on formula and he is accepting it, do not reintroduce breast milk bottles. Try mixing the infant rice cereal with breast milk. He may accept it that way, and then add a small amounts of formula, as above. Thank you for your question.

[Crissy2]

I had the same problem. I found out that my daughter was allergic to milk and her doctor put her on the formula for fussiness and gassy babies. I don't know exactly what it is called but it helped so much. She used to throw up her food and not sleep. All she would do it cry. but once she switched she was so much better. He might be allergic to milk. I would ask the doctor and you might have to give him soy formula.

[BRIKIT]

My daughter did the same thing.. She would refuse cereal and formula, wouldn't drink out of a bottle much less. I didn't find anything to work for her except the Sam's club brand formula.  I put her on a stricter schedule and tried a bottle of that before bed.  Worked after a while. As she got older it became easier though. You might just have to keep trying what your doing and eventually you'll get him to like something. It will be hard, but don't give up.  Good luck! :)