[puffelly]

Hello,

My twin boys are 8 months and I'm looking for a way to add iron and healthy fats to their diet. Any ideas? I'm adding fat because they're both pretty small and I'd like to introduce more healthy fats in addition to the fat their getting through breast milk.

Thanks.

 

[mimid]

Dr. Sears recommends avocado and salmon. That's all I can remember off the top of my head.

 

[4daughters]

As soon as my kids could eat avocado's and salmon I gave it to them. They still love it to this day. I make the avocados with a little salt lemon and olive oil and they can't get enough. Also you could add a tea spoon of fish oil, pretty nasty, but you could mix in some applesauce or something (lots of good fat in this!)

 

[royaloakmi]

My kid sloved avacado at that age. Be choosy when you buy fish and fish oils, remember that a lot of them contain high amounts of mercury.

You may want to have their hemoglobing levels tested, not all kids are low at that age. Ours were low, so I gave them a vitamin drop for a few months and by 12 months they were off the extra iron.

 

[redwolf2]

I second avacados. Great souce of healthy fats. My boys love them.

 

[AmyY]

If you cook

maybe cook their food in a cast iron skillet?

FWIW, my girls were preemies, heavily supplemented with formula at that age, fairly small, etc etc, and still not low on iron, so I agree that it's good to check it if you're concerned - there may not be an issue. Good luck!

Oh - my girls HATED plain avocado so I'd mash it with banana, they gobbled it up. Pureed carrots addressed any resulting, um, slow-downs.

 

[puffelly]

Thanks for your suggestions. The boys have been tested and they both have low iron.
I've given them salmon and avacado. We mixed the avacado with black bean and that went over really well.
Fish oil

. I'll try that.
They're just so little, just 14 and 16lbs.
The pediatrician ran test and only their iron is low.
They are perfectly healthy, I just want to put a little fat on them!

I read that canned tuna would be good. Any thoughts about that?
Also, are they too young for plain yogurt or cottage cheese?

 

[4daughters]

I just got some Krill oil for my kids, no mercury or toxins. I'd stick to the avocados for now. Canned tuna too much may be bad because of mercury.
I tried yogurt with mine at 7 mos. they loved it.

 

[puffelly]

What kind of yogurt did you use? I've been eyeing that yobaby stuff...but I don't know.

 

[redwolf2]

I looked at the yobaby yogurt when dd was a a babe. It is pretty mych the same thing as their other yogurt. I couldn't see any differences. There was still sugar in it. There aren't fruit chunks but besides that nothing different.

 

[mamajody]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redwolf2 I looked at the yobaby yogurt when dd was a a babe. It is pretty mych the same thing as their other yogurt. I couldn't see any differences. There was still sugar in it. There aren't fruit chunks but besides that nothing different.

It's the texture and fat count that are different. The baby yogurt is a little thicker so it will stay on the spoon better.

 

[4daughters]

I started with yobaby then just got any organic yogurt with/out chunks of fruit (they hated that).

 

[millermama]

I think that the difference between the yo baby and other yogurt is the yobaby is fortified with iron. My girls(now 14 months) love plain whole milk yogurt(Brown cow is good,so is Nancys')If your babies aren't already accustomed to the fruity yogurt they really might like the sour of the plain yogurt,if not add applesauce or other fruit puree.Just remember that dairy can inhibit iron absorption,where vit C helps iron get into your body!

 

[roomformore]

One of the food threads just had something about black olives containing lots of iron. I haven't looked into it myself, but maybe you could check it out.

 

[4daughters]

So do raisons, I eat them myself for the purpose of keeping my own iron levels up.

 

[4daughters]

So do raisons, I eat them myself for the purpose of keeping my own iron levels up.

 

[twinmommykc]

Just a few points, look at the top ingredients of the fruit (including the baby one) yogurt-- yes sugar!!! Plain yogurt mixed with your own fresh fruit (mashed bananas, mashed peaches) is really best. It also intruduces various textures to your babies. If you are adding flax or oats to their food you could put that in the yogurt too. Also consider adding crushed up tofu to their veggies. And you can cook up some broccoli and mash it with a fork and mix it with other veggies, yogurt, or give it to them in small chunks.
Check out the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. There are tons of great suggestions in that book.
And what is considered anemic by your pediatrician? Is it just on the low end of the hgb normal or are they really anemic?? I think some pedis freak out and over react with breastfeeding moms. It is normal for breastfeeding babies to be a little low on their hemoglobin levels.

 

[puffelly]

I was looking at the Super Baby Food book on Amazon, I should check it out.
The boys actually like to eat Tofu with fruit and love yogurt now, especially buffallo yogurt

.
I'm not sure what the levels were, but I have to go see a nutrionist. I'll see if I can find out then.