[babygrant]

I am in BC Canada and my almost 3 year old and my 9 month old son's have never ever had their iron checked. They both go to their WBV and 3 year old son gets a check up every year but their doctor has never mentioned checking their iron levels.

DS#2 is 9 months and still breastfeeds a LOT. He doesn't get baby cereal. He gets fresh fruits and veggies but has never had meat. I also haven't ever tried him on beans. I just get nervous.

 

[shannon0218]

I was asking this ages ago too. It would appear that this is a US thing primarily. My doctor when I asked her about it said "Well...does she act like she may be anemic??" (this while dd climbed her exam table), I said NO.
She did check iron levels after dd had a nasty virus and had stopped eating (they were fine btw)

 

[LolaK]

Most US doctors do it around 9 months. Although if you have a reasonable doctor you can just ask them not to.

If you are worried give her some red meat. Lamb is a great first food in general and high in iron.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9646449/

 

[babygrant]

The thing with the meat is, I've been gradually transitioning to vegetarian diet, and I'm still on the fence if DS is going to eat the same way I do or same way as DH and ds#1 eat until he can decide on his own...that's why I havent tried meat yet.

 

[Destinye]

I use an ND and have not had DD's iron tested since she shows no signs of anemia. She is still nursing and does not eat a lot of meat (occasional chicken) and is off veggies lately - though loves fruit.

 

[sarahmck]

I've been told that breastfeeding children very rarely have iron problems because the iron in breastmilk is absorbed extremely well. I wouldn't worry about it. Oh, and I live in the Netherlands and I know they don't do any routine iron testing here, either. They're big into testing in the States. I say don't worry unless you see a symptom.

For what it's worth, my 15 month old is still a big nurser and eats primarily fruit (no meat, and I'm a vegetarian -- she is so far too). I haven't had her tested, but she seems fine to us.

 

[Llyra]

I'll have DD's tested occasionally, but that's because she's not nursing anymore and her diet is really, really limited. I do give her a supplement, but iron supplements are often poorly absorbed, and I've struggled my whole life with iron deficiency.

I had it done at 9 months, and I'll have it done again at 2 years.

I don't agree with having it done routinely, though. Only if there's reason to suspect that the child's diet is not providing his nutritional needs.

 

[Shanana]

I have not had my 12 month old dd tested and am leaning towards not doing it. Although our doc is "okay" with us not vaxing, he said he would bring it up at every visit and ask if we're ready to do it yet. Sigh. I therefore don't do WBV and am not eager to become his captive audience. So I really don't want to go in for the iron check (or lead test? our house was built in the early 60s, so I'm conflicted about that one). We're going to change insurance plans in January, and I think I'll be able to find a better ped then.

We've been seeing a holistic ped to help dd with her digestive issues (paying out of pocket -- ouch! -- although it's really helping her), and surprisingly, she recommended the iron test (she doesn't act as a primary care physician, so I'd have to take dd to her "normal" doc to get it done). I commented that dd doesn't show any symptoms of anemia, and she said that most of the time there are NO SYMPTOMS. This is coming from a woman who is an MD, in addition to practicing acupuncture, CST, homeopathy, etc. Generally I really respect her opinion, but I'm not too sure about this no symptom thing. When she saw how reluctant I was about getting the test done, she muscle tested dd and said she seems okay, and just recommended giving her red meat whenever we eat it (about once a week). She knows we are not doing fortified cereal and that dd is still bf.

 

[LolaK]

Here's a good link for iron rich foods, you can try some of the options other than meat.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t043100.asp#T043107

 

[LolaK]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shanana I commented that dd doesn't show any symptoms of anemia, and she said that most of the time there are NO SYMPTOMS.

Maybe she meant more that the symptoms are easy to miss until the anemia is really bad?

Here are symptoms:

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t043100.asp#T043105

The thing about breastfed babies having high stores of iron and getting bio-available iron from mom is true - but those studies tests were done on 4 and then 6 month olds. So after 6 months of age there hasn't been a lot of study of iron stores in breastfed babies.

Our ped did an iron test at 9 months and my daughter was below the lower end of the range for acceptable hgb levels. Now I have never had a problem with anemia and I eat a ton of red meat so there was no logical reason for my daughter to be low. I just added red meat to her diet and she was good to go. My point is that you can have a child who is on their way to really low iron/anemia without having symptoms - my daughter had not a single symptom. Granted she wasn't anemic yet but I think it is better to catch something like that early and correct it with diet then catch it late and try to get a baby to take iron drops - worst tasting stuff on earth.

 

[Shanana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LolaK Maybe she meant more that the symptoms are easy to miss until the anemia is really bad?

Yes, I do think that's what she was trying to say ... that much of the time, there are no symptoms until one is very anemic. So going on the assumption that she's not anemic just because she doesn't have symptoms isn't necessarily correct.

Good link, thanks for sharing!

 

[babygrant]

I was looking at the website links. One thing that is higher than meat in iron is Spirulina. But what is Spirulina??

Also, in the link about the symptoms....it says that one symptom in a child is constipation. I thought TOO much iron caused constipation???????