Four Month Old Seems Not Satisfied with Formula

My mom had this same problem with my little brother. For the first year of his life, he could not double his birth weight because of acid reflux. She finally got advice to take him to the chiropractor and he never spitup/ threw up again. You might take him in. Chiropractic care is an amazing thing for kids. I take mine just days after they are born and continue every 6 weeks. If they start to get sick, I take them and they get over it almost immediately. It's amazing!

Just a thought.
When my kids were that age they were breastfeeding on demand. I don't quite understand the "schedule" thing for babies feeding. If the baby is hungry at 1 1/2 hours....feed him!
What's the harm in that?

How often are you burping him? For how long, and how firmly?

Often, I notice that mommies tend to not burp firmly or long enough. So I would recommend starting there.

Babies can't be allergic to their mother's breastmilk. It's hypoallergenic. However, baby can be sensitive to what you are eating.

Again, I suggest that you start with burping him much longer and more firmly than you have been.

Yes, I agree with others about the reflux. It is ok to feed him 2 ounces every 1.5 hours if that's what works with him reflux. I know it probably seems like you are doing nothing but feeding the baby all day. And it's true, but he will grow out of it and this is what he needs right now.

Have him check for acid reflux.-maybe it is time for meds.

My daughter had it, we had to feed her and keep her upright for 30-45 mins after feedings.

They act like they want more because drinking is soothing when there is a flare up.

My son had excema, turns out he is allergic to Gluten (which is in everything, well it feels like that anyhow).

Good luck

Talk to your doctor.

My personal suggestion would be to try to feed him some rice cereal (not in his bottle) during a feeding. Typically a four month old would not still be eating so little every two hours. I know my son was not typical because by two weeks he was not only up to 8 oz but also back to every two hours...could not get enough. My doctor had me start him on cereal (he said via bottle but then my son wouldn't take it at all so we mixed it and spoon fed him...very messy but he thrived).

Your son sounds exactly like my daughter. When she was born there was something immediately off with her feedings. Burping was not a problem, but she would throw up everything from both breastfeeding and formula at least three times a day. We did the hold the baby upright and burp for 30 minutes after every feeding thing, the elevated sleeping thing, and so on. Then we moved to soy based formula. Three weeks later it was still happening, and she was not gaining any weight, still less than 10 lbs at one month old, so we did an allergy test where she ate nothing but breast milk for 3 days (I had already cut out basically everything from my diet that could have been affecting my milk) and then nothing but the Alimentum for 3 days. There was a noticable shift after that, so they pinpointed something in the make up of my breastmilk, the natural sugars or proteins, that was an allergen for her (respectfully diagree with what ChristyLee said below) and causing her pain, discomfort, and vomiting.
We cut out the breastfeeding, and went to straight Alimentum. She still had issues, but it was much less often. Fast forward two months, still having problems and still not gaing weight, we finally came up with this, that worked:
1 tsp rice cereal, 2 droppers of Mylicon, 1 dose gripe water per 4 ox. bottle. This was all done under the advice and assistance of her pediatrician. When you find the right combination, it will be somewhat of a miracle, since there are options that really can work.
The good news is, he will grow out of it. Our daughter is now 3 1/2, she can eat pretty much anything she wants. She is still low on the weight chart, but nothing like she was before.
Good Luck!!!

I agree with having him checked for acid reflux. Babies with acid reflux need to eat smaller amounts at each feeding so that it does not start to come up on them, and so they need to eat more frequently to make up for it. Eating too much at once probably makes him feel very uncomfortable.