Overweight EBF baby and rice cereal

DD is *technically* 4 months now (she turns 16 weeks tomorrow) but her doctor still refers to her as 3 1/2 months old.
Anyway, I took her to the doctor's today because she had a weird rash on her belly, which turned out to be heat bumps and dryness from using Johnson & Johnson, we've got to switch to Dove now..
And she's gone from having been 14lbs, 15oz on June 11th to being 18lbs, 8oz today. Her doctor says she's overweight and I need to start giving her rice cereal once a day so she'll be fuller longer and hopefully not nurse as much as she does now.
I was slightly rushing to catch the bus home (which I still missed) so I didn't really ask questions, but she says we'll talk more about it at her next shot appointment in 2 weeks.

Anywho, I was curious to know a few things:
How would rice cereal help her lose weight?
What will it do to her bowel movements?
The doctor mentioned mixing in a little applesauce in a week or two. What will that do?
I was really hoping to do BLW or at the very least, not start her on cereal until she was 6 months old. Should I hold off on the cereal? I'm also worried that if I don't give her the cereal, she'll gain too much weight.




Being a first-time mom is hard.. ._.

really said she was overweight? maybe because she gained 4 lbs pretty fast when the weight gain usually slows down. my son is 2 months and almost 14 lbs himself. hes just a healthy baby. if you dont want to start cereal you dont have to

My daughter gained weight on rice cereal. I would just keep nursing her when she's hungry.

If she is EBF she shouldn't be considered overweight. My doctor always told me there isn't such a thing as an EBF overweight baby. Hmmm...

IDK about the rice cereal thing. It never made my kids feel fuller longer. She is 4 months and I guess you can give it to her by spoon. It is wierd that she is so large. Is there a possibility that she has some gas issues and when she cries you think she is hungry so you feed her?

DD only gained weight when we added cereal for her reflux, so *shrugs* I thought BF babies were supposed to be a little chunkier  

Also, to add.
My son couldn't handle rice cereal so be careful.
My MIL would give it to him and it took me months to get him to have a normal BM after I quit letting him have it.
He was always constipated and what little he could get out was always in little hard balls.  

<blockquote><b>Quoting Not tellin:</b>" IDK about the rice cereal thing. It never made my kids feel fuller longer. She is 4 months and I guess ... [snip!] ... is so large. Is there a possibility that she has some gas issues and when she cries you think she is hungry so you feed her?"</blockquote>



I was thinking this, too. I thought it was pretty rare for an ebf baby to over eat?

Quoting Whitney&3 (+1):" If she is EBF she shouldn't be considered overweight. My doctor always told me there isn't such a thing as an EBF overweight baby. Hmmm..."

There isnt such a thing, weather the baby is FF'ed or BF'ed.  

Babies CANNOT be over weight, your doctor seems stupid and I'd be getting a new one.

OMG no. don't start rice cereal. that dr. sounds like an idiot (sorry)

read this and print some of it for him:
http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about2124087.html

your baby is fine. continue to EBF and feed on demand.

Your pedi is not a good one. It would keep her full longer because it wouldn't be properly digested. It would help her not gain as quickly because she'd be having less of the nutrition and calories from breast milk. I wouldn't follow that advice at all. Once she's more active (crawling) she will thin out anyway. There is nothing wrong with your child's weight. All babies gain weight a little differently, we're all still individuals.

I personally think that's crazy lol My DD has been losing weight, she fell off the growth chart so her dr told me to give her cereal. I personally use oatmeal because she has had constipation issues but her dr said it wouldn't make a difference if it was rice or oatmeal, it should still help her gain weight. She has been on it for a while (started for constipation) and then increased for reflux, and increased again for the weight issue.

Overweight, lets feed you more? That makes no sense. If you wanna to BLW, do it!

How would rice cereal help her lose weight? I don't see helping lose weight, my son still nurses as much as he has after I added in some solids.
What will it do to her bowel movements? EF em up, atleast it did with my first and now has started with this one now I just add prunes to the cereal.
The doctor mentioned mixing in a little applesauce in a week or two. What will that do? give it taste maybe.....doctors are so weired sometims.

Quoting Da Mommy:" DD is *technically* 4 months now (she turns 16 weeks tomorrow) but her doctor still refers to her as ... [snip!] ... I'm also worried that if I don't give her the cereal, she'll gain too much weight. Being a first-time mom is hard.. ._."

Seriously!?! I would get a new doctor. Now.
If your baby is EBF then she is not overweight. Babies can not overeat from breastmilk! Apple sauce is an insane thing to give to a tiny baby - it is almost pure sugar! Make sure that you are eating a good clean healthy diet and baby is getting everything she needs from you. Not all babies are the same size. Exposing a 3 1/2 month old to solids when her stomach lining is still vulnerable is totally crazy.