Anemia in breastfed 15 month old?

[mio2323]

I just found out my 15 month old is anemic and am pretty freaked out. 

He still nurses many time throughout the day and night, so I thought this covered his needs. 

He has not had meat yet, so I am starting to really ensure he is getting beans, quinoa etc with each meal.  He is a little picky, so that is going only ok. 

My pediatrician wants me to give him a supplement.  Can anyone recommend one?  I looked up a bunch, but mostly I found that the ones by enfamil taste terrible and many supplements cause bellyaches.  I would prefer something without a bunch of additives, that is gentle.

Is this a common thing? Even Dr. Sears says breastmilk should cover a baby's iron needs. 

[crunchy_mommy]

Floradix is a pretty decent supplement & tastes good too. It's in a fruit/herb base.

One thing that can contribute to anemia is early cord clamping... Was his cord cut quickly?

DS was not anemic but did have low iron stores and I attribute it to his cord being cut immediately (he was born not breathing so I guess they felt like cutting off his oxygen supply was the best way to resuscitate him ) So even though breastmilk should have provided enough iron, his stores were so low from birth that he needed additional supplementation when he was around your DS's age.

[pbjmama]

Floradix is good. If his level is anything more than mildly anemic I would do a supplement until it is with in an acceptable range. If you are not opposed to meat why not go ahead and introduce it? I'm surprised you said that Dr Sears says breast milk should cover iron. Full term healthy infants should have iron stores for 6-12 months. First foods should be iron rich, lots of options there like tofu, sweet potato, squash, egg yolk, etc. You can also cook with a cast iron skillet, add blackstrap molasses to foods (works great in oatmeal), give iron rich foods with citrus and not calcium to help with absorption. As long as his lead levels are okay I don't think there is too much to freak out about if he is just mildly anemic.

[mio2323]

Thanks for the replies!

I will ask his ped. what his levels are at his 15 month wbv next week. 

Regarding the Dr. Sears info, I might have read the article incorrectly.  In general, I would like to learn more about iron from the mother passing through breastmilk, but that is for another day!

My DH has always felt strongly about the boys not eating meat for the first 18 months.  This went well for DS1, as he would eat anything.  DS2 seems pickier and is has been harder to feed him a well rounded diet.  We agreed last night that if his levels do not significantly improve with the supplement, we would introduce meat earlier than planned. 

I am getting Floradix tomorrow and hope it works well!!

[pbjmama]

I can talk to you about iron passing through breast milk if you have any specific questions. You are right about iron from breast milk being easily absorbed by baby. But increasing your iron will not help increase the amount of iron in your breast milk. When you ask the ped about his iron levels get the # of the hematocrit, hemoglobin and serum ferritin. Find out if they did a lead test, if his levels are low I would suggest that for sure.

Also, iron can be constipating but I think the problem is much less likely with floradix. Still, start slowly :)