Cousin's toddler has low iron, advice?

[MissRubyandKen]

x-posted in toddlers and nutrition

First let me say I tend to be a worry wart. Okay, now, my cousin's toddler's doctor has said her blood has low iron. He prescribed iron drops. The toddler is a little girl who is almost 2. She hasn't been breastfed, she is on whole milk, not formula, and from my experiences of watching her (three times now, yay!) she eats quite healthily. Much more than my own toddler girl who is just a few months older.

However, she has been passed around between family members and hasn't had a primary caregiver for any length of time. I've been told she hasn't been fed well. Lots of milk and cheese. I'm not sure the truth of this as I haven't been there, yk? She ate a good variety of foods when she was at my house alongside milk and cheese (which she did specifically ask for). Prunes, craisins, cheerios, beans, applesauce, orange slices, to name a few.

I worry about her taking the supplement. Should I? I've read that iron overdose is the number 1 poisoning death in children. Is this true? I worry because I know she's being passed around and I don't know if there is good communication. What if more than one person is giving it? Or what if only one person is giving it and they aren't changing her diet?

I want to print off some good info about iron for them. Any sources? I'd like for them to not use the supplement and feed her iron rich foods instead, but she isn't my baby and I really have no control and very little say in this. I'm thinking printing off info should be pretty non-confrontational, yk? She has been having constipation since she's been on the drops and the doctor's advice is cut out all dairy besides milk and give her very little milk.

Any advice? Would you say something?

[sbgrace]

It's about impossible to correct iron deficiency with iron rich foods unless the child will eat large quantities of red meat and liver and that has it's own issues (especially if you had large quantities of liver). Iron fortified foods might work but then it's still an iron supplement.

Ferrous bis-glycinate has a high threshold of safety. It's absorbed at least three times better yet doesn't build up in the body. It's what is used to fortify foods/it's safe. You can research ferrochel to see information about that.
http://www.koshervitamins.com/shop/s...zmap=MXS-17608 This is the form I would use for her because it's liquid and so easier for adults to give her.

The thing about foods is most contain things that inhibit iron absorption.
Prunes, raisins, etc. all are high in phenols an antioxidants. Any bright red or purple fruits are iron inhibitors.
Eggs are huge iron inhibitors as well--the yolk and white contain different things but both really block iron heavily. I recommend avoiding all eggs when trying to correct a deficiency but it doesn't sound like diet changes are going to be easy in this case.
All beans and seeds and nuts inhibit iron absorption.
Greens are either high in oxalates or calcium and both inhibit iron.
Dairy does too of course but a lot of foods we'd think are good iron sources are the opposite. The exception is red meat but I've yet to find a toddler who would or could consume enough to correct a deficiency.