BLWers: Iron?

StrawberryAlarmClock · September 2010

The only nutrient I've heard that LO must get from solids is Fe after 6 mo. Did your pedi suggest rice cereal? Meat? Drops? Fe-rich veggies? How do you ensure that LO gets enough Fe?

MissyOlivePants · September 2010

Spinach & lentils. (We're vegan)

princessjenney · September 2010

Our ped suggested rice cereal because it's iron fortified but I also read here that BM is a good source of iron. We haven't decided what we are going to do just yet but I'd really like to do true BLW and skip the cereal. We'll see.

https://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html

kiarox2002 · September 2010

We would occasionally dust things in rice cereal to make them easier to pick up (banana, avocado), but for the most part we just didn't worry about it. I mean, I don't eat rice cereal and my iron levels are fine.

When they checked her iron levels they were right where they needed to be.

StrawberryAlarmClock · September 2010

kiarox2002:
We would occasionally dust things in rice cereal to make them easier to pick up (banana, avocado), but for the most part we just didn't worry about it. I mean, I don't eat rice cereal and my iron levels are fine.
When they checked her iron levels they were right where they needed to be.

Is that a routine check? When is it done? Dusting finger food is a great idea. I'll also incorporate spinach & lentils into his diet. To PP: I was under the impression that iron levels dropped at 6 mo. I'll read that again. Thanks!

MissyOlivePants · September 2010

I think iron was checked at 12mos?

Baby Snowflake · September 2010

At our 6 month appt my doc wanted her back in at 9 months to check her iron level. My doc was worried because we were not doing cereal or puree's and going straight to BLW. Also I didn't plan to start BLW until 7 months. When they checked at her 9mo appt her levels were perfect and I don't do anything special to ensure an Iron rich diet.

WyoGal · September 2010

Baby Snowflake:
When they checked at her 9mo appt her levels were perfect and I don't do anything special to ensure an Iron rich diet.

Same for M.

Zoe'sMama · September 2010

I mostly blew off rice cereal and went for pureed fruits & veggies without worrying about the iron thing. But at DD's 9 month appt she was anemic.

Pedi suggested vit drops with iron, so we do those (3-4x/wk). We've also added more beans, lentils, spinach, etc. And I'm better about taking my prenatals again- something I'd really dropped off in the last few months.

babydragonsister · September 2010

We do spinach (sauteed in scrambled eggs), eggs, lentils, beans, and fish (tuna, salmon, sardines). We also do oatmeal with blackstrap molassas in it.

We used to be veg at home but added fish for the iron. One of the peds we interviewed on our long journey to a new ped told us that LO is at risk for developmental problems unless we give iron supplements...I think she's wrong, but it made me nervous enough to add the fish. In general, I'm a firm believer that as long as you don't eat any junk food and your diet is full of fresh whole foods and is varied, you will get all the nutrients that you need.

ncbelle · September 2010

I asked to have his iron checked at 9 months just to be sure since we didn't do anything special - his levels were great. The iron in BM is more usable so if you are still nursing quite a bit, it's likely to be enough.

maloriee · September 2010

instead of rice cereal i give him multigrain cheerios (and some fruit) for breakfast. they are lightly sweetened but have 100% of their daily iron intake.

Zoe'sMama · September 2010

ncbelle:
I asked to have his iron checked at 9 months just to be sure since we didn't do anything special - his levels were great. The iron in BM is more usable so if you are still nursing quite a bit, it's likely to be enough.

I do think it's smart to have LO's levels checked at some point (9 mo seems like the average- and we combined it with a routine Pb level test). Despite our frequent nursing and my good diet, DD was still anemic. We've made improvements and I'm considering having her retested at 12 mo to be sure her Fe has improved.

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