Borderline Anemia in 9 Month Old

Although she is breastfed, and, if you're both doing well on that, should continue being breastfed, you can obtain the benefits of iron-fortified formula without her actually drinking it.

If she is eating baby cereal, you can simply add a scoop of formula powder to her cereal, and add 2 oz of water, and mix it all together. (Do this in place of breastmilk, if that is what you normally add to the cereal mix.) If you do this for her a few times a day it should help get her iron levels up.

(I wasn't able to breastfeed since I produced almost NO milk at all, so I am very supportive of anyone who IS able to do so, but I do think that formula is also a very wonderful option.)

It is quite common for exclusively breastfed babies to be considered anemic. The fact is that iron available in breast milk is more readily absorbed than in formula...and ADDING iron artificially (like with vitamins) can actually inhibit absorption. So, it is great that you are avoiding that.

The most easily absorbed iron is called heme iron. This type of iron is pretty much exclusive to animal products. Liver, of course, but also all "dark meat chicken and pork, red meat, and seafoods (tuna, clams, oysters, shrimp).

You might be surprised how easy it is to get a young child to eat chicken liver. I would saute them in a little butter and then put them in a food processor. My daughter would eat it spread on whole grain toast or crackers. Also, I would cook lentils in beef stock and then chop the livers small before a quick saute...mix and enjoy.

Other non-heme sources are things like dried apricots, oatmeal, lentils, many types of beans, dark greens, firm tofu. These are good to have in the diet in combination with the heme sources to maximize absorption.

One thing I did was make a point of paying attention to food combinations. Calcium can inhibit the absorption. So I tried to keep dairy products for snack times and serve water or juice (vitamin C helps absorption) at meal times to ensure my daughter was getting the maximum benefit. Egg whites can also inhibit absorption.

I added a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses to her one serving of juice that she got each day.

I tried the drops, but got much better and faster results when I made a point of correcting the potential issue through her diet.

Grape-nut also has a good deal of iron. You can make a nicely flavored warm cereal with apple juice. Just let it sit long enough to soften.

Try bundling her up and getting outside on walks or pulling her on the sled.

Rev up YOUR intake of IRON!!! Also Vitamin E makes iron more absorbable (is that a word).

Spinach has a load of iron. I use to steam fresh spinach (make sure to drain off the water, and don't use the water, it has a lot of nitrates.), then mix it with bananas or yogurt.

My son was also boarderline anemic - I think it's fairly common, especially in BF babies. Personally, I've always been close to borderline myself so I wasn't surprised.

I did give him the vitamins with Iron, but only once or twice a week because it did upset his tummy (I continued with the other vitamin the other days). I also started "hiding" spinach in a lot of things (spaghetti sauce, chili, meatloaf). I figured it was healthy for the whole family.

He was fine when they checked again at a year. Good luck!

My son also was borderline anemic at his 1 yr check up (still breastfed at that point)...I attributed it to him having a slight cold, but went along with the doctors recommendations for polyvisol w/ iron. Bad mistake he was so constipated and had stomach cramps that were just awful. I felt so bad for him. I stopped after 2 days of using it. He wasn't much of an meat eater at all so I supplemented with oatmeal, and any iron fortified cereal ( I was surprised at how much iron was in "Life". I also mixed a little bit of spinach in his spaghetti sauce but it had a tendency to make him a lil' gassy. The doctor wasn't too worried about it and so they didn't do another blood check until is 18mth check up and he was A okay at that point.

I really won't know if my son's anemia was because of his cold, but if your little one is at all sick I would just see if you could supplement maybe her breakfast or one meal a day with a little bit of iron. if your little one is prone to constipation I would be cautious with how much added iron you give her. On a side note I know prunes have iron in them, not so sure with the juice, but if your little one is prone to constipation already maybe just adding that would be enough to help her iron levels.

I can't really help you regarding your child, but I would be concerned about what carrying and then breast-feeding a child has done to your nutritional stores. Perhaps I can help you. I'm a wellness consultant and I'm happy to give you a free consultation. Here is how I work:

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A.

All three of my children when they had their 1 year bloodwork were slightly anemic. I believe this about when the supply from you wears off. I nursed my last one for a year and it happened to her too. I ended up giving them the iron supplement in the dropper (forget the name). for about 6 mos. and redid the blood and they were alright. My 1st was also very constipated before the supplement and after. I dont think the extra iron made him worse. good luck to you and your little one.
J.