Please help. My baby girl, just turned one, and i recently found out that she is deficient in iron. She is on Wic, and when I took her there the other day, they pricked her toe, and got a reading of 8.8. Knowing that iron rich blood brings oxygen to the growing brain, i feel this is an urgent subject, but don't know what all to do. She was unable to breastfeed, and primarily loves to eat her formula with rice cereal mixed in.
hey there is a liquid iron supplement you can give her that is over the counter. My kids had the same problem and thats what the doc recommended
I would start to introduce some of the low sugary cereals. There are quite a few that have like 80% of a recommended daily allowance of iron in just one serving. Also just because something may be high in protein, it may not be high in iron. On these things give her a vitamin C enriched food or drink to go with it. I hope this helps.
I have always tended to be anemic, both as a meat eater and as a vegetarian, so I know all about this!
First, you need to feed her any iron supplement or iron-rich foods separate from her formula and/or any calcium-rich foods, because iron and calcium basically cancel each other out, and she ends up missing out on, and being deficient in, both.
Feed her a citrus food soon before or together with her iron-rich foods. (This is assuming that you have already observed her for four days after feeding her a citrus food and have established that she is not allergic.)
Leafy greens are an extremely good source of iron. I was able to raise my iron levels really well just by eating a lot of oranges and spinach.
Dried fruits are another good source, but they're also a great source of *cavities*!! Because they're sticky and stick to teeth. So if you go this route, make sure you brush her teeth soon after she eats them.
I'd go with beans and legumes, and the leafy greens, and of course the citrus to enhance iron absorption. These are far more nutritious sources of iron than dried fruits and meat, and they don't run the health risks and hazards of meat (partly why I went vegetarian).
You will see an improvement in just a week or two if you do this.
Oh, and if you have cast iron, cook with it more. The iron actually gets into the food that is cooked in it! It's a perfectly healthy way to get more iron (but it won't be enough on its own).
Be careful if you decide to use iron supplements. First, ask your daughter's doctor what s/he'd recommend in terms of which one and what amounts. Check the amount of iron per dose *and* estimate very carefully the amount of iron that she gets every day from her formula and food sources. Make sure that the *total* amount from her food sources/formula, together with the supplement, does not exceed the recommended daily allowance for her age and weight. Also, if you go the supplement route, be careful that it does not cause constipation! To avoid this, add more fruits and veggies to her diet (except bananas, which can cause more constipation).
Also, you can improve the oxygenation of her blood by giving her some chlorophyll. There is a liquid version at our local health food store. You can ask at yours. It tastes pretty good. You could just put some drops into your daughter's sippy cup and she shouldn't mind a bit.
Finally, I do recommend food sources of iron only, and not a supplement, because if you go over the recommended daily allowance for iron through food sources, the risk for poisoning is much less. Instead of poisoning, the body just decreases its absorption of the iron, and it is simply carried out of the body (up to a point, I believe). But with supplements, of course, if she gets into them, it's a life-threatening situation, and if you accidentally give her too many, it can accumulate quickly, and similarly cause iron toxicity.
L.
Hi K.,
When my son was 1, he too was found to be very iron-deficient. The first thing the pediatrician did was put him on prescription iron, not supplements, so I would start there and see what they say. They also checked his iron again a month later to make sure it helped because anemia can be a symptom of several bad diseases. However, it's also somewhat common at that age. That way you can double check the finger prick too. Perhaps it was wrong!
Here's what helped us...
1. When you give her iron, or iron-rich foods, don't give her any milk or dairy products for a while before or after. Milk causes the iron not be absorbed in her system. Give orange juice always with iron. We switched one meal a day to no milk (usually breakfast) because OJ or vitamin C is necessary to absorb iron.
2. For breakfast, and lots of snacks, give her multi-grain cheerios, specifically the multi-grain ones. For some reason they are VERY high in iron (100%), higher than most other cereals. They are also very lightly sweetened, which tastes really good...I like them a lot too!
3. We searched the supermarket for toddler-friendly iron-rich foods. One of the best we found was liverwurst. My son LOVED IT! If you've never tried it, you can find it at any supermarket (I think) near the hotdogs in a soft tube (kind of like cookie dough tube but smaller). It's a soft, spreadable meat that's VERY high in iron. I think we used the Oscar Meyer brand, but it doesn't matter. I would spread it on a ritz cracker and my son would eat 3-4 of them with lunch or for a snack.
4. Creamed spinach is another great toddler-friendly source of iron. My son used to eat it like crazy.
5. If she get a little constipated from it, try pear juice of soft fresh pears. I believve they are second only to prunes for their laxative properties.
Hope this helps!
My daughter was also iron deficient at 1 yr. We kept her on formula instead of transitioning to milk until she was 18 months and fed her food rich in iron. Try beets first because they are a little sweet. You can ask a nutritionist which vegetables are iron rich and puree them yourself if necessary. The best thing is not to worry. Have her checked again at her 18 month visit and see how the new food is working.
J.
Hi K.! Since your daughter likes rice ceral with formula, you might want to try some Cream of Wheat. It has extra iron in it and if you fix it correctly, it would be just about the same consistency of her rice cereal. Good luck!
If your little one is still on formula make sure it has added iron or you can use the Enfamil Vitamin Drops with Iron (located down vitamin aisle). Talk to your doctor first before adding iron vitamin drops. Hope this can help a little.
I know that dark green foods are rich in iron, so if your pediatirtion aproves, you could blend baby food into the cereal and formula mix that you are already giving her.
However, my concern is why is she iron deficient? Formulas and cereals are formulated to provide the proper amount of nutients for an infant when fed consistantly, so there may be a medical reason why she is not absorbing the nutients properly. If your pediatrition is not willing to investigate why you must immediatly find one who is, because if she is not absorbing iron she may well not be absorbing other nutients not as easily tested for.
My sisters' pediatritions called her son a picky eater, then blamed his poor development on being tounge tied, he is now 9 years old and has been reciving growth hormone injections for the last 6 months because his pitutary glands were not producing a certain hormone he needed to grow. They wouldn't investigate the "why" until he was in the bottom 1% for 3 years. Outrageous! She found a new pediatrion when they moved to Texas who immediatly ordered a test to check for this hormone, he was very concerned about organ development, the test took one day in the hospital. He has grown 6 inches since the shots began.
Good Luck
We also had this problem, although I breast fed. Our ped said to buy the drops at the pharmacy called Fer In Sol. Follow the directions on the bottle. Our daughter weighed 20#'s and we gave her three doses in a 12 oz cup of juice and let her drink it through the day. Now we do not have any problems with it. I hope this helps. We delt with it for about 6 months. She is now 16 months! No worries!
Hi, K.,
Are you using a cereal or formula fortified with iron? What does your pediatrician say about that? Using either one or both should help. Have you been using a good multi-vitamin (liquid for infants)? Praying for you and daughter.
Hi K.,
My daughter is also (slightly) anemic, so her Dr. put her on an iron supplement. It's called Icar, and it's OTC, but it's expensive. About $35 a bottle. I would ask your daughter's dr. about it unless he/she specifically wants you to just work on it with diet. Seems kinda low, though, to not take a supplement of some sort.
I do know that Vitamin C helps iron absorb, so maybe give her the supplement or the food with oj or something like that. Just please be VERY careful, since iron is very toxic in higher amounts. The Icar is carbonyl iron, which is a type that is not as toxic as the ferrous sulfate if she accidentally gets too much. Watch her closely around it, like any other drug.
Good luck!
they have iron enriched formula that may help I was low on iron when I was a baby my mother had the choice of iron shots or feeding me liver boy do I hate liver after eating it 3 times a day as a child good luck
I have the same problem with my 22 mth old. The nurse just told me to give her vitamins. Since she is still on the bottle you can get Polyvisol and just put it in her bottle. I get the chewables for my little girl and I am anxious to have her checked again to see how her iron level is now.
Read Liev's post!
It's the best and most thorough recommendation.
Let us know what works!
Hi K.,
Yes, your baby is old enough to be eating some "normal" food! My little one loved black beans, and as Liev said, serve it with something with vitamin C. This time of year berries are great and very kid friendly. Lentil soup is easy to make and kid friendly and can include the iron and vitamin C all in one bowl(email me if you want a basic recipe). Refried beans are also fun. Peas may still be a choking hazard, but you could always mash them. I think it's still too early for peanut butter, but you might consider that down the road. Greens of all sorts are great, but mine seemed to be disturbed by the texture. Try it, though! They're all different.
If you haven't been feeding your baby anything but formula and cereal, I'd try food solutions before supplements. That way she gets the fiber she needs from the iron-rich foods to stay regular.
Good luck!
L.
My little girl is also iron deficient. What you need to do is get poly-vi-sol infant vitamin drops. They contain extra iron.
Go to Walmart (or wherever) and buy Poly Vi Sol vitamins with Iron. Check the box or talk to a pediatrician (or the pharmacist) about how much to give her. Mix it with her food or milk. Be warned, though, this can cause constipation! Any iron supplement will do that. Just add a few bites of prunes to her diet each day and/or try to up her fiber.
My 9 mos. old has the same problem. Don't feel bad!
Good luck.
It sounds like you need to talk to her pediatrician. They make formulas with iron. Ask the dr if this would be right for your daughter.
Check out this site, it has piles of great - and natural - iron sources. :]
