Iron rich foods for babies

[CJsMama]

We're vegetarian (and dairy free - we very occasionally eat pasture raised eggs but haven't given them to dd and dont know if we will) and I want to make sure my 11 month old is getting enough iron but she still doesn't eat large quantities of food (I feed her three times a day but most of her nutrition still comes from brest milk). When I look up iron rich foods I find a lot of what we eat (lentils, soybeans, etc); however theres no way I can get her to eat a cup of any food a day and that is about how much it would take to come close to her daily requirement (or 2 tbsp of blacktop molasses and I don't want to give her that much sugar daily). What do other veg families do to make sure their little ones get enough iron?

[omMommaom]

If you are BFing still, and plan to continue for some time, DC is getting adequate nutrition already! 

That said, we're veggie over here too.  At that age we did great with steamed broccoli, or you can mix some chopped spinach into some pastini.  Put a sprinkling of nutritional yeast on top and viola! 

[ninakomel]

only organic food is good food for your babies..

prevent iron deficiency with iron rich foods, and iron rich diets in pregnancy and in baby food after...

that's the best way

[dovey]

I agree that the portion sizes suggested for babies and toddlers are way out of normal range.  Many babies want to consume mostly breastmilk when given the choice.  My son is 18 months old, and he probably eats about 1 cup of food total, daily, on a good day.  There's no way I could get a cup of beans into him without him getting sick. 

I do give him the molasses.  He likes to eat it off a spoon, and it is so high in minerals that I figure it offsets the sugar content.  Sugar is better for babies than it is for grownups - they need concentrated sources of carbohydrates.  Breastmilk is very sweet.  That being said, 2 Tbsp. is quite a bit of molasses.  I'd say my baby eats about 1 tsp. every other day.  I try and follow it with a sip of OJ or a bite of grapefruit to give him vitamin C for the best iron absorption. 

Another thing that I feed him (aside from the beans and lentils) is boiled kale, collard greens, or broccoli cooked very well until they are soft.  They are a decent source of iron.  I've read that it helps absorption of iron from greens if you add a little oil to the broth. 

It's possible that just the exclusion of dairy from your diet probably helps your baby absorb more iron from food.  I don't know if the RDAs for iron were made up for people who eat a lot of dairy, but it seems probable.  I have read conflicting information about whether or not dairy can cause iron deficiency anemia.....Who knows?

Have you had her blood tested for iron?