Breastfeeding and anemia

[ColoradoHELLP]

Found out by accident last week that our daughter is mega anemic.

History:
c-sectioned at 32 weeks
had TPN for a couple of weeks, and has been EBF since then
not interested in solids
bottled once a day at night with BM
no supplementation

So here we are, and she is very anemic. Docs are suggesting Ferrisol (sp?) and its pretty obvious we need to do something. Her total iron is less than 5 and her ferritin is at 2.1.

With no interest in foods, we can't exactly bump up the iron consumption that way. And I wouldn't say that I am totally opposed to adding iron supplement to her bottled BM in the evening - but I am worried that I don't know enough about supplementing with iron. Also worried about possible constipation.

None of the docs have suggested discontinuing BM or adding formula, which is awesome. I guess another one of my concerns is that I have heard that the iron in BM is low, but highly absorbed - and in supplements, iron is high but poorly absorbed. To compound things, iron from outside sources in a breastfed baby apparently competes with the absorption of iron in the breastmilk.

So I suppose I am just rambling, as I'm not sure what I am really asking or seeking from you guys. Weigh in, please. And thanks in advance.

:-)

[ColoradoHELLP]

Uhmmmm, anyone?

[YummyYarnAddict]

Hmm... I'm wondering how old your daughter is? Those are very low iron levels and something does need to be done about it. The options I can think of though, are somewhat influenced by her age.

Have you checked www.kellymom.com for ideas? This is one article I came across: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vi...on.html#atrisk and another: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vi...emia-gone.html. They have a few things that come up if you put "anemia" in the search engine.

I'm on my way out right now, but a couple of years ago, there were some studies out that showed that anemia in breastfed babies had more to do with whether or not they were full term and when the cord was cut than how they were fed, so it could be related to the fact that she was born early even though she received TPN for a couple of weeks.

[PatioGardener]

It sucks that she's anemic, but it's great that you found out so now you can correct it. I agree with the PP about the likely causes (it's not a breastfeeding issue).

Me, I'd find a good supplement for baby and keep on nursing. I have super low ferritin too - I try to get as much as I can from natural sources, but I'm vegetarian and can never quite eat enough, so I end up taking supplements as well.