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My son was already gaining weight quickly at 5 weeks when we discovered that he had reflux and an allergy to his formula. The doctors put him on a new formula, zantac, and told me to add cereal to his bottles to keep the reflux down. He is 10 weeks old and weighs 14lbs 14oz, he is the cutest little chunk! But nobody in my family or dh family has weight problems. I was a chubby baby with fat cheeks and was always skinny as a rail. Even in pregnancy was all baby. All babies in my family got cereal at 2 months or younger, and are all of average, slim size. I have heard to think of babies as puppies, the more they eat now, the less they will eat later. Also, docs have told me babies do not really know how to overeat, they take in what their bodies need. Eating out of boredom are all things we do as we are older and sort of learn to be that way. I believe in feeding babies sooner than 4 or 6 months. And I also believe that the cereal was what finally made my son start sleeping a little better. Use your best judgement as a mom. But I would not worry about a fat baby. I have also seen large couples have the skinniest babies, but their heredity in the weight thing usually does not come into play until late in childhood, not when a baby. I say go for it with the cereal!

Both my boys started cereal early. They are big eaters even now at 17 months and 6 months. My husband is a REALLY big guy so I know they get it from him. It's okay because they are both of average weight for their ages and both are over the 75th percentile for their height. My husband is very tall also so things even out pretty well. BTW, cereal actually helped me get them to sleep through the night. Good luck!

Also, most of the items I read about when to start solids for babies state that when their neck control is good enough to sit a__sisted, they drink about 32 oz per day and still seem to be hungry, can take and swallow food from the spoon, and seem to take interest in you eating, they are ready to try. my son has been doing all these things. He can take food from the spoon and swallow it and even opens his mouth wide for more. I am going to start orange veggies next week!

I didn't start my baby on cereal until 6 months, simply because it made her really constapated, otherwise I would have because it keeps her full longer.

i don't think it would make her gain too much if you just gave it to her at night...i would talk to your doctor just to see what he says about cereal...mine said it was fine to give it to my son twice a day--2tbsp total--1tbsp per 4oz (since 8 weeks) for the day and he is not too chunky at all. some people do have a problem with that though.

Again i will get bashed for this but maternal health nurses said to me not b4 6mths, i am gonna start at 5 to get her ready, they really push not before 4, i dont understand why ppl do it before that time when its not suitable and can make baby very sick.....they arent even awake long enuff and dont have the mechanism to really swallow it as they still do the motion with their tongue, even that is an indicator .. u need to wait til that stops with their tongue...and yes hr obesity is another factor, each to their own though.. Before u do anything crazy hr, speak to a health professional,

I totally agree with Ally. My mom and my mil have been telling me to use cereal for my almost 2 mo old and I refuse. His little system is not ready for it and your baby might not be ready either. Now on the topic of chunky babies, I think that sometimes that is the case. I do not think that it happens to all babies though, but in all the babies that I have seen (I am an infant and toddler teacher) that have started cereal early, they have incredible appet_tes.

hr, the night feedings could be because of a growth spurt. I tried giving my daughter cereal at 2 months, and she didn't like it, so I'm waiting it out. I have given her little tastes of different fruit juices, though, by dunking her paci into a gla__s of fruit juice; I've done it with stawberry-kiwi, orange-tangerine, cran-grape, and pear. She loved all of them...should've seen her expression with the tartness of the cran-grape juice...too cute! I think in another week or two, I'll give her cereal made with juice, see how that does for her. (She's currently 12 weeks)

Your baby may be going through a growth spert.

SO AS OF SAT, SUN, AND MONDAY SHE HAS BEEN SLEEPING WELL AT NIGHT LAST NIGHT SHE SLEPT 9 HOURS SO I GUESS IT WAS JUST A GROWTH SPURT, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR RESPONCES.

My son is getting 2 months and i asked my DH about giving him cereals early and he said not until 4 - 6 months so i won't be giving him, but my sisters and brothers gave their babies cereals from 3 months itself and they are still skinny , i don't think it that might be the reasons for obesity.

With my son I started him on cereal at about 2 months. He acted like he was starving to death and he needed something besides formula. He is 3 now and just the right height and size for his age. He went through a chubby baby stage but he has always been a big eater. My new son is 2 weeks now and is the same way so I am sure I will give him cereal early as well.

that's a growth spurt age, hr. i would caution you giving your girl cereal that young. the intestines just aren't ready for that yet, and can cause allergy problems.

I started my 12 week old on pears yesterday, between nursing sessions. She only had a few spoonfulls, and I think more ended up on her chin than in her belly, but she did sleep from 9 pm til I woke her at 5:30 am to nurse. Could be coincidence.

My mom started me on cereal and baby foods at 1 week. By 3 months I was off formula, on whole milk, and on real food. I am not overweight....well..before I got pregnant I wasn't overweight :) I still have to lose all this pregnancy weight.