[Flor]

My little guy (10.5 months) is anemic (9.3)! I feel so bad but since he doesn't eat cherrios and baby cereal, I guess it isn't so suprising. He is purely into fingerfoods right now (no spoons for him) so, are there finger foods that are high in iron? Can I bake with baby oatmeal (he'd eat a cookie or bisquit)? How do you do it? Can I mask the taste of iron drops so he won't throw them up? He doesn't drink juice so I can't use that. I looked in a couple of books at the bookstore this morning and they all said that breasfed babies rarely become anemic. Well, that wasn't helpful! What do I do now that he is?

 

[stafl]

here's a link to some great information. http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html

I suggest you also search the breastfeeding forums here for lots of support and suggestions, as this is a common recurring topic.

 

[Flor]

I went 15 pages back on the breastfeeding forum and no mention of iron or anemia. Would it be mentioned somewhere else? I of course read the info on kellymom. Unfortunately, I seem to be feeding all the foods it recommeneds. I guess I need a way to mask the flavor of iron drops because so far, he has thrown them up each time.

 

[gratefulmom]

My DS was anemic awhile back. TYhe link above ws great. You could add molasses to oatmeal, high in iron. Tough though he is so young. DS was over a year at the time, we increased his vit c as well. Maybe a supplement would help. From what I remember, vit c helps the body absorb iron. Calcium inhibits iron absorption. Hope I remember that correctly.
I have also heard that early cord cuttting can lead to iron deficiency.
Goos luck

 

[stafl]

here are some threads I found:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=142864

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=119259

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=104177

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=115906
I hope they help!

MDC has a nifty search feature here - it can also be found at the top of the page, right under where it says "welcome, your name"

 

[sarahmae1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gratefulmom From what I remember, vit c helps the body absorb iron. Calcium inhibits iron absorption. Hope I remember that correctly.

Try and serve foods that are high in iron w/ foods that are high in Vit. C, and not w/ foods that have calcium. I would continue to offer your baby cheerios or another adult cereal that is high in iron. Also, I have several recipes for making things like baby cookies w/ the infant cereal. If you'd like them you can pm me.

 

[Flor]

Thanks! I couldn't find the search button since things have been redesigned. I thought it was gone.

 

[Ravin]

Could you post those recipes for baby cereal stuff? I get the stuff from WIC and just can't bring myself to feed DD the straight cereal. I mean, yuck! Plus if I could bake it into some fingerfoods it'd be handy to send them off to daycare w/ her.

 

[sarahmae1]

I don't know if I can post them because they're long and also the copyright stuff here, but I would be glad to send them to you in a PM or email.

 

[Rach]

I use 1 cup of rice cereal (I'm sure oatmeal might be okay too)
1 cup of flour
3 tablespoons of oil
and instead of water, I used apple juice to give it more flavor since I had to use the plain WIC cereal.
Then I rolled them out, cut them into strips, baked at 420 for about 10 minutes.

They're kinda weird, more chewy for teethers, but Eva liked them. I recommend making them thinner, and watching your cooking time.

How about whole peas? Will he eat non mashed peas? Or even green beans? To get Eva to take her iron, I gave her a few spoon fulls of applesauce mixed with iron. When added to juice, she wouldn't drink it. And I tasted the iron before giving it to her, so there was no way I could give it to her undiluted (It was so YUCKY!!) I also gave her less than half the recommended dosage.

Good luck and I hope you find what you're looking for.

 

[Flor]

Thank you all! He is eating the cookies made with baby cereal and eating cheerios and meatballs. Hopefully that will do it. I got the iron drops flavored at the pharmacy but they are still pretty nasty. Now they are orange creamcicle rusty nail flavored.