If your child is breathing heavily, take him to the doctor. I would consider that an emergency. He probably isn't eating because he can't breathe. Also ask the pediatrician to show you how to use a suction bulb to suction the mucus out of the baby's nose. Ask them to watch the baby's throat right where it meets the collarbone, and the sternum, to see if he's "retracting" when he's breathing. He may have gotten weakened by a rotavirus or whatever he had that made him throw up, and he could be recovering from that or have something else. Make sure when you call for the appointment that you tell them you're worried about his *breathing* and don't emphasize anything else. They should weigh him as a matter of course when he gets there, so ask them then if he's lost weight since the last visit. But the breathing is the thing to worry about.
It is irritating to give them $25 every time you go but yes, every time you go you use their time which is a service you have to pay for. The co-pays really add up.
If you don't get satisfaction from the pediatrician and feel that they are discounting your concerns -- they ought to at least explain to you why they're not worried and not just say "everything's fine" -- it may be time to switch pediatricians.
