Seeking Advice on Change in Eating Patterns for a Soon to Be 4 Month Old Baby

It's hard to eat when your mouth hurts... same for little ones. Try giving him tylenol (paracetamol in most countries outside the US) and see if both his nursing and behavior return to a little more normal. If he's in a LOT of pain you can give both tylenol and ibuprofen at the same time (which is VERY effective on mouth pain, and neither are addictive or have side effects, and can be taken together safely because they have different "modes of action" meaning the biochem involved with them are 2 totally different things even though they "do" the same thing, they "do" it differently on a chemical level), or you can alternate them. Tylenol takes care of pain from trauma and ibuprofen lessens inflammation and pain from inflammation. Both come in infant drops, and both are dosed by WEIGHT, not age. There should be a chart on the back of the box or on their websites if the chart is not in a language that you can read.

Teething pain comes and goes... so it's not like you'll be giving him tylenol 24/7 for weeks or months. With my son 1 dose in the morning, and one dose before bed on cranky days set things right. My friend's son needed tylenol every 4 hours for 2 days, fine for a few weeks, every 4 hours for a day, fine for a week. My neice only needed it during the day, and my nephew only at night. Every child responds to pain differently. Many stop eating, many eat more. So you just dose them by weight as needed.

He's become a slightly more efficient nurser, so may not need the same amount of time at the breast as before. Also... teething, and impending growth spurt, learning new things all create a distraction to babies. Just keep offering the breast, if he refuses - fine, if not - great!

If you are living in Europe - these women are pros and so are their medical staffing! Breastfeeding is a common, normal big deal in most European nations, so don't feel shy about calling around their Midwife Offices for help! If you are on a base, most places around it will speak English. Also, feel free to personal message me for other issues.

When properly latched and drinking correctly a baby CAN drain the breast in about 10 minutes...So he is getting his food... Keep offering it every 3 hours and maybe if he's really fussy offer it as a soother also...
Teething does impact behaviour!!! But he's also becoming more aware of his surroundings and yes, the attention span of a baby is small... The mouthing everything could also be his way of exploring and learning!
Keep offering and nursing, lots of hugs and cuddles, and ask your Ped about pain management for him...

Maybe it's time for a schedule change. He may be ready to go longer between feedings. If he has teeth coming in you should be able to notice as well. His gums should be swollen, excessive drooling, putting everything in his mouth and you may be able to see tiny white spots where the teeth are coming. Just remember new teeth can take forever to come in sometimes.

Teething can absolutely effect their behavior.
I have a lil girl that is about to be 4 months also.
But besides the teething I've noticed my lil girl is starting to show he "picky" side. Meaning she's started to decide what kinds of things she likes and doesn't.
For instance, I would normally just feed her on the couch, so I could also watch my 2 y/o son. But now, when she is tired, she won't eat unless I'm sitting in my rocking chair in her room, in the quiet.
Pay attention to the lil queues that he is giving you.

yep some kids that are teething want to nurse every 2 minutes, others dont want to at all. keep offering it to him, and DO NOT give bottles or solids to compensate. he isnt going to starve himself to death

My youngest refused to eat every time he got a tooth and was very cranky it definitely could be teething. Don't worry too much. My kids prefered a frozen washcloth to chew on when teething over the teething rings.