Concerns about low iron when EBF 6+ months

[Peace+Hope]

i'm not in any hurry to start solids, we're just at the playing with food stage, and my son charlie is six months + one week. this week he played with a wedge of tomato and an orange slice, so really not much at all.

i was reading on kellymom that preemie babies are more at risk of having low iron after 6 months if they are EBF. my son was born at 37 weeks which isn't very early, but had IUGR and elevated hematocrit (which i think would have meant higher iron at least for awhile) as a result of my pre-e.

does anyone test for iron if you are not making sure your baby has another source than breastmilk around/after this age? i discussed it with our dr., who said, well, you could do rice cereal, which i don't want to do. i asked about testing his blood, but all she said was that they do that at one year. .

would you/have you tested for iron levels before one year?

just trying to decide if i should be offering iron rich food purposefully and regularly, or not worrying about it.

[Knitting Mama]

Can you ask the doctor to test even though it's not generally done at her practice until a year old? I know some friends who insisted on the test early for the exact same reason you're concerned, and for one, the baby's iron was fine whereas for the other, iron was low. I think if it was me, I would want to know before I moved forward with any plan of action.

[momto4plus4]

I request testing because ds1 had low iron (6) by 6 months. He had allergic colitis so there was a "cause" for his but still, it was that extreme without us realizing he had it so I just request it now.

[coldandsleepy]

Our pediatrician routinely checks iron on breastfed babies at 9 months. From what I understand, supplies _begin_ to diminish around 6 months but you're not likely to see a problem til later than that. (I don't know anything about preemies, though!)

We had the check at 9 months (still PLENTY of iron! despite very little solids) and it was no big thing. Little poke, then all done. It's the sort of thing that might seem invasive for a newborn but that the average 9 month old can definitely handle if his mama (or dad) is holding him.

[Oliver's Mama]

Our pediatrician just recommends giving the multivitamin with iron in it. No one else is mentioning this.. hm, is there something bad about it that I'm not aware of? I don't do it every day because I get lazy since it gets messy, but at least a few times a week he has it. He's been EBF except for a few bites of bananas starting this week as he turned 6 months, and I'm in no hurry to be expanding his diet/menu.

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by Oliver's Mama

Our pediatrician just recommends giving the multivitamin with iron in it. No one else is mentioning this.. hm, is there something bad about it that I'm not aware of?

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html

i would not supplement iron without a confirmation of low levels - nak, but kellymom explains why

especially http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vi...on.html#whynot.

[ann_of_loxley]

I would not have my baby stuck with a needle at all - so no I wouldn't bother with a test.

The iron in your breastmilk is far more bioavailable (easily got and absorbed) than any crappy processed and 'fortified' foods.

[Peace+Hope]

thanks, ladies, i think i will ask for a test. i'm at the opposite end of pushing solids, except for this one concern, so why not test! and unfortunately my little guy was well acquainted with pokes from the beginning, as my opening post may indicate.

patiogardner, thanks for posting those links - those are the exact pages i read that led me to post here for advice...

[BathrobeGoddess]

moved to breastfeeding...

[Quinalla]

There is iron that your baby gets from BFing, so if your iron is good, your baby is likely fine, but if you are ok with a little needle stick to test blood, then I would just do that for peace of mind. My ped does that routinely at 9 months. If you want to offer higher iron foods that you are ok with meat is the best if you are ok with that, that is what I did and she loves meat, but some folks like to delay or not do meat at all. Rice cereal is such a weird rec, though common, since the iron from that is so poorly absorbed

[maddymama]

Are there any other "markers" for low-iron, i.e. no growth/ weight gain? If there are no other markers, then I'm not sure I'd do a test yet. Maybe at 9 months.
FWIW, DD2 had low iron at 1 year (barely under the acceptable limit), which wouldn't have worried me except she had no weight gain from 9-12 months.
We aren't doing iron supplements, we are just feeding her iron-rich foods like beans and greens in addition to BFing, and we'll test her again in a month or two.
~maddymama