Recurring Anemia in 3 yr old

[awallrising]

DS has had anemia since he was a baby. At 9 mths we discovered that his hemoglobin was several points below normal (he tripled his body weight in 6 mths & has always been bigger/taller than other babies/kids so maybe he blew thru his iron stores sooner than other babies plus I was very anemic during pregnancy & he might not have been getting a lot thru my milk). We gave him iron supplements for a while but stopped b/c he seemed ok. Now at 3 I suspect that he has anemia again b/c he has been extra tired & cranky & has dark circles under his eyes even though he gets plenty of sleep & eats an organic healthy diet. I don't want to put him thru blood tests again b/c they have such a hard time finding a vein. Any suggestions on tried & true remedies to quickly increase iron? His crankiness & inability to "behave" is driving me nuts even though I know it's most likely an iron-deficiency problem. One thing I'm going to start doing again is check my list of high iron foods, particularly plant based, & start feeding him those more.

[mom2tkh]

I could have written this exact post excepty DS has always been small. We have to use iron supplements because his iron levels fall to a dangerous level fast. He has always had growth and feeding issues that I now believe have been caused by iron deficiency.
We deal with the "bad" behavior when he is deficient also. It is hard to manage because you know there is an underlying cause. We are currently waiting to get into a hematologist because without supplements my DS will not thrive. Hoping you get some answers as far as home remedies.