[delaneymom]

My one year old dd is eating vegetarian (I'm working on getting on the same page with her). At her one month well baby yesterday they checked her iron and said it was low. She was 10.3 on their meter thing, and said that the threshhold they liked to see for normal was above 10.5. This seems like a really small difference to me. They advised iron drops which I'm not going to give her, and said we'd re-check in 5 months when she's supposed to go back. We have Super Baby Food and I'll work on making sure she's being offered good sources of iron, but just wondering if this is something I need to worry about? Have any of you who are vegan/veg. dealt with this particular concern?

The more mainstream ped. that we were seeing with dd1 talked of tests, etc. to make sure that she wasn't anemic, and made it sound like they weren't fun. We most likely wouldn't do these tests anyway, but I just want to make sure I'm not off base. I really like the ped. we have now, but it was her nurse talking to us abou this, not the dr., and it almost bordered on coming across as anti-breastfeeding. She made some offhand comment about how we should be giving her a vitamin if we're nursing-which we don't. I'm still learning, but I believe that she has a healthy diet.

Any information/advice is appreciated. TIA!

 

[Raene]

My daughter is vegan and her iron is always above-average. The nurses get really excited about it and are shocked that we don't follow a more mainstream diet. I would think as a vegetarian family you'd have many more iron options, and if we're doing well, I would think you'd be fine too. My daughter mostly was breastfeeding when she had her iron levels tested, so it surely must go through the milk just fine. Iron drops are really constipating and often kids are constipated enough without that. I sure wouldn't go that route if it's not necessary.

I am not good at remembering what ages kids can eat certain things, but if yours can/will eat raisins and dried apricots, those are great sources of iron (though not great on the teeth). Would you want to try green smoothies with your little one? If you put in mostly fruit and a few pieces of kale, chard, parsley, cilantro, etc, it tastes sweet and kids really like them. Greens are a fabulous source of iron, especially when raw.

I think as veg families, our bodies absorb the iron better than meat-eaters do. We don't require as much to absorb more. Just my experience.

 

[anomaly13]

we are vegan and we never had iron issues but it was always on my mind. we never did the iron cereals but i did do a lot of homemade cerals with blackstrap molasses, lots of iron in that stuff. you only need a little bit. now he is 2.5 and eats in his oatmeal everyday. i would check his iron at home by pulling down gently on the skin under his eyes to see how red the inside of the skin was, basically a bunch of blood vessels there. (pale pink - low iron, red - good, not sure if this is medically accurate but made sense to me) also when i was pregnant with ds2 i took all natural non contipating liquid iron, flordix to be exact, and ds1 took it too sometimes, depending on his eyes and what he had eaten. floradix is made from plants and herbs. he would also drink my herbal tea which was full of iron. what about beans or tofu, they have iron. we don't eat eggs but you could try them if you eat them, not sure of the iron content.

 

[Lynn08]

I was going to recommend the "under eye exam" as well. Lentils are also a great source of iron (and fiber in case your lo has problems in that area). And nettle tea is high in iron and calcium.

And make sure you are getting enough iron if lo is still bfing. Breast milk, while being relatively low in iron, has the form of iron that is easiest to absorb.

 

[delaneymom]

Thanks everyone! I'm definitely going to try your suggestions.

 

[Lynn08]

oh - i forgot about beets. the kids i know love them cuz they stain everything, tho, so just make sure your lo is not in her sunday best

 

[delaneymom]

oh we love beets! I just found out that lentils didn't need to be soaked like other beans. I'm excited to cook some for her-she loves black beans and likes chick peas.

 

[Lynn08]

Keep trying things out and don't worry about it too much - most non-ff (or fortified foods) babies are iron-deficient/anemic at this age which to me says that they don't really need as much iron as believed (im-non medical-o).

 

[SollysMom]

My DS (18 months) pretty much eats vegetarian. My (very AP-friendly) doctor said that the iron in breastmilk is very easily digested and he nurses a lot. He also eats Cheerios which are fortified with iron. If I recall correctly, I think chickpeas are supposed to be a good source of iron, and my DS loves hummus.

 

[veganf]

It's actually the beet greens, not the beet roots, that are high in iron.
Blackstrap molasses, cruciferous & some leafy greens, beans, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, watermelon, quinoa, potato...
...Floradix, alfalfa, liquid chlorophyll...

 

[Lynn08]

Quote:

Originally Posted by veganf It's actually the beet greens, not the beet roots, that are high in iron.

Thanks - I didn't know that!

 

[GreenSmoothie mama]

Great whole food vegan Iron options:

- Spirulina
- Agar
- Irish Moss
- Spinach
- Winged bean leaves
- Beet greens
- Jerusalem-artichokes
- Dandelion greens
- Kale
- Chard
- Sprouted lentils
- ...